Light for the Dead

Introduction

Mike Rowe had a TV program called “Dirty Jobs.” One of the conclusions that Mike arrived at was that one cannot advance if there is not imitation.

Imitation is the idea of day after day doing the same thing over and over again. For example, a farmer cannot till the ground and then decide that he wants to be a carpenter. After starting the base of the some beautiful cabinets for a customer he then decides to leave the carpentry and start a restaurant. Finally, he remembers that he tilled the land and he decides to go back to the land and plant. By the time he gets back, the ground needs to be tilled again. One cannot make headway in life without imitation.

Interestingly, movement interrupts progress of imitation. Movement is the antithesis to imitation. But in God’s plan, for there to be light in the shadow, light for those who are dead there needs to be movement. If we decide to move with God in His work, we will encounter three things.

Hostility v. 12

Jesus “heard” that John was arrested. John was preaching in the southeastern region from Jerusalem. His sermons were hard and to the point. He called sin, sin. John did not try to fit into the culture, and he would preach again the politicians too.

John “had been taken into custody.” This did not occur immediately after Jesus was tested in the wilderness. If we compare Matthew with the Gospel of John, we see that John’s arrest happened after Jesus had changed the water into wine (John 2) and after Jesus had talked to Nicodemus (John 3). Some time had passed by, but we do not know how much time.

Jesus “heard” about the situation like God hears our prayers. And we see that Jesus begins to move. But Jesus does not move in the direction that the reader would anticipate. Jesus “withdrew” himself. Rather than drawing closer to John, Jesus moves away, to the north of Jerusalem, too Galilee. But why does Jesus withdraw? Why does Jesus not get some of Johns disciples and some of His disciples and like in the movies, wait for the cover of darkness to rescue His cousin? It seems like Jesus does not care because He goes to Galilee and specifically to Capernaum. He is by the lake.

We have to understand something very clearly, Jesus is acting according to God’s plan not according to John’s plan. V. 14 Jesus is fulfilling prophecy. God has a wonderful and awesome plan and Jesus is acting according to God’s plan. God’s plan is to redeem the world, it is much bigger than just John. But even in God’s plan to redeem the world He is still acting sovereignly in the life of John.

Hostility against God

We live in a word that rebels against God. En a certain way, since John baptized Jesus, John’s arrest anticipates Jesus’ arrest. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:25 KJV 1900

It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Hostility against believers

Logically, if we follow Jesus, and Jesus was killed, we will also face hostility in this world. We can imitate the world, and maybe make a lot of worldly progress, but if we change, and move towards God, then we can expect hostility. There is an incorrect doctrine that is being preached that goes against this idea of facing hostility. It is developed in this way.

1 John 4:8 NASB95

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Jeremiah 29:11 NASB95

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

John 10:10 NASB95

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

But this theology ignores situations like this, where Jesus hears that John has been arrested and does nothing. There will be hostility if you follow Jesus.

Sacrifice v. 13

Again we see movement in the text. Jesus “leaves” Nazareth. This word has an idea of leaving something and not coming back to it (BDAG 2001, 520).

Jesus leaves with the idea to “settle” in Capernaum. Jesus grew up in Nazaret. Nazaret was a small town where probably everyone knew each other. His family was in Nazaret, it is where He worked with Joseph.

Humanly speaking, Jesus is not where He should be. Jesus, being the son of David, should be in a palace in Jerusalem. But He is Capernaum. Here are two points to consider:

It is easy for Jesus

We might want to dismiss Jesus’ resettlement as being something easy. We might say it is easy for Jesus to not demand his rights as a king and that the nations should worship Him because one day every knee will bow before Jesus. But this type of statement is not fair to make because those of us who are children of God that one day we will be forever with God in His glorious and eternal reign. We know that if we die, we will be in the presents of God and one day we will have a glorified body. But even though we know these truths, there are not many who are signing up to go to the hardest, most unreached places on the earth to give our lives for Christ.

My point is that Jesus obeyed the Father’s will because His desire was to do the will of the Father. We have many blessings promised to us, but at the end of the day, our desires keep us from being obedient to the Father.

Requires Sacrifice

If we are going to serve God, it will require sacrifice on our part. We will have to abandon something. Parents will need to say good-bye to their children because you see God working in your child’s life. The shadows will have light because God in His sovereignty has chosen to use believers to take the Gospel. Will we sacrifice for God.

Joy v. 14

What is mentioned in verses 12 and 13 is for the purpose of announcing a plan of redemption that was prophesied long ago by the prophet Isaiah. The word “fulfill” has the idea of finishing something that was started (BDAG 2001, 828).

Joy in the fulfillment of Isa. 9:1-8

This prophecy announces that a King will come to establish His throne.

Joy for the ethnic groups v. 15

Ethnic groups are much smaller than countries. God is not just going to save nationalities but He will save from different ethnic groups too.

Joy in Light v. 16

Some people are drawn to the light while others are not. The light is going to shine on the shadows. There will be an opportunity to receive this light. However, we know that they eventually crucify Jesus. That means that not everyone accepts the light.

God separates light from darkness

Genesis 1:4 NASB95

God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

God gave light to His people

Exodus 10:22–23 NASB95

So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.

Conclussion

Giving light to the dead is not easy. There will be hostility, we will have to sacrifice, but there is joy in sharing the light.