A Great Light

Few comparisons are as stark as the comparison of light to darkness. In the passage we will be looking at, we see how light intrudes upon the domain of darkness. Like the sun rising in the morning, this Great Light awakens the slumbering soul and beckons him to abandon his dark and dreary life. The Great Light shines in the darkness and illuminates in such a powerful manner that the man touched by it is changed to the very core of his being. Spoiler alert: The Great Light I speak of is none other than Jesus, the light of the world. The One who was sent to give light and life to men. The One who calls us to follow Him out of the darkness. This Jesus came to earth and was born in the town of Bethlehem. We all know the Christmas story. He was taken to Egypt when Herod went on his murderous rampage and was brought back to Nazareth when Herod died. It is in Nazareth that the Messiah grew up. Jesus wa baptized by John and immediately went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Following that, He returns to Nazareth and begins His ministry.

So in a sort of prologue to our main text, we read in Luke’s gospel about how Jesus stood up to read from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth:

Luke 4:16–21 CSB

He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

What? Imagine that! The people gathered in the synagogue must have been taken aback. Here was Joseph’s boy, Jesus, making Himself out to be something quite important. Oh, but some of the more skeptical of the bunch listening were not convinced. Who did this Son of a carpenter think He was, exactly? They had seen Him grow up, (and yes) He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people. Sure, He was a good kid, but the fulfillment of prophecy? The long-awaited promised Messiah, standing there in their midst, the hope of Israel? Some thought maybe this could be true. Others couldn’t believe it in a million years. We read on in Luke:

Luke 4:22 CSB

They were all speaking well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

The crowd was divided, and in this case cooler heads did not prevail. Jesus calls them out on their unbelief, warning that judgment would be upon them for rejecting Him. This ‘Prophet without honor’ was kicking off what would be the greatest ministry ever in the history of ministry, but the people were not on board with it. The crowd turned mob, and the mob did what mobs do:

Luke 4:28–29 CSB

When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They got up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff.

But the deranged, blood-thirsty pack of wolves was unsuccessful in eliminating Jesus. Jesus passes right through the crowd and gets out of Dodge. Then Luke tells us:

Luke 4:31 CSB

Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.

Prophecy fulfilled before your very eyes, doesn’t matter when those eyes are blind. The longing of the heart will not be rectified when the heart is rock hard. We do Christmas because we are celebrating the birth of Christ. The coming of the Savior. God keeping His promise to Israel and to the world. The arrival of light in the darkness. Yet people today don’t believe ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’, even if they send Christmas cards that say so. That’s just a nice story we tell the kids, similar to Santa Claus and the Grinch and other holiday mythologies. When it comes down to it, they insist we don’t really need Christ to celebrate Christmas. It’s not much an improvement on the behavior of the people of Nazareth on that day. Let us not lose sight. Let us not be ones to cheer ‘Hosanna!’ one minute and ‘Crucify Him!’ the next.

Spurgeon comments on this ordeal we read about in Luke:

FULL OF LOVE to the place where he had been brought up, our Lord had gone to Nazareth, and in the Synagogue he had preached the gladdest tidings; but, alas, the greatest of prophets end the Lord of prophets, received no honor in his own country. "He came unto his own and his own received him not." Expelled the city by violence, the patient one turned his footsteps another way, yet, even when justly angry, love guided his footsteps. He must go for the Nazarenes had proved themselves unworthy, but whither shall he go? He will go to the outcasts, to that part of his country which was most neglected, to that region where the population was mixed and degenerate so as to be called, not Galilee of the Jews, but Galilee of the Gentiles, where from distance from Jerusalem little was known of the worship of the temple, where error was rampant, where men's minds were enveloped in darkness, and their hearts in the gloom of deathshade.

Main Text

Matthew 4:12–17 CSB

When he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

A bit of background: Matthew quotes Isaiah 9 in this passage and applies Isaiah’s words to the ministry of Jesus. We note a subtle yet perhaps important difference between Matthew and Isaiah that is worth paying attention to.

Isaiah 9:2 CSB

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.

Jesus went to minister among people, not just walking in darkness, but living in it. Other translations of the Bible have it as ‘sat in darkness’. This is next-level darkness dwelling. Being active in the darkness, walking in it, gives the impression that there is hope. Perhaps these people in their stumbling and fumbling might find their way out of the darkness. Maybe they might escape that land of darkness and journey to a new homeland. However, Jesus observes people who are not walking, but living and sitting. Quite content in the darkness, these people are comfy on the couch with feet up on the coffee table, binge-watching Netflix.

Do you know such a person? Who has tired himself wandering around in the darkness and has given up? He looks around and tells himself, ‘I guess this isn’t so bad. I might as well make myself comfortable and stay awhile.’ Maybe you’ve urged this person to come on out of that darkness. Because isn’t it miserable and depressing and what kind of life is this anyway? And isn’t the land of darkness an awful place to be? Very often, a such person, being so accustomed to his unlit environment, even enjoying it somehow, will not react in the way you’d hope. ‘No, I’m fine the way I am.’ If the person is particularly annoyed that day, he might throw in a ‘don’t judge me’ and finish up with a ‘leave me alone’. Either way, he’s not in as good shape as he may think. Sometimes, he’ll go through a difficulty in life (as all of do), and he’ll mourn the hopelessness of his situation, the pointlessness of his existence. But is that enough to rouse him and get him moving?

Let’s take a closer look at what living in darkness means for those people. After all, before the light of Christ entered our lives, we were there too.

A Land of Darkness

We may note several consequences of dwelling in the darkness upon the human soul as almost a progression of increasingly severe side effects. It reads like one of those commercials for medications you see on TV. As Paul writes in Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:18 CSB

They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

Here we see what living in darkness can do: 1) It distorts a person’s understanding. 2) It excludes a person from the life of God. 3) It causes ignorance. 4) It hardens a person’s heart.

Let’s examine each of these one by one:

Ignorance

You might have heard of this strange breed of people who call themselves ‘agnostic’. The term is nothing more than a fancy way of saying ‘I don’t know’. When it comes to the God question, when it comes to questions about purpose and meaning and right vs wrong and and truth and life after death, these guys will say no one knows, nor is it even possible for anyone to know the answers. Agnostics are professionals at using the darkness to hide in. The fact of the matter is that they claim to not know because they don’t want to know. Because if there is a God, He must require something of me, and I don’t like anyone telling me how to live my life. If there is purpose and meaning, there must be a God who assigns purpose and meaning, and we’re back to ‘He must require something of me’. If there are such things as absolute, black-and-white right and wrong, there must be a God who sets the standard for right/wrong, good/bad. Again, what does this God require of me? If there is such a thing as life after death, then what I do during my life counts for something. Which means that I can’t just live any whichever way I please. Which means I am accountable to a God who decides what happens to me after I die. No, says the agnostic, better to life in ignorance.

Distorted Understanding

Perhaps only slightly worse than ignorance is false belief. False religion. There are as many false gods out there as there are people to invent them. Adherents of these beliefs misinterpret reality. They see God’s creation and come to wrong conclusions about it. They contemplate life and morals and how all of this came to be and what is the point of it all, and they go down different paths. They’ll tell you quite confidently that all of these various and diverging paths eventually lead to the exact same place, similar to the way detours are supposed to get you to a destination via a different-from-normal route. Religious pluralism it’s called. Whether you call it Nirvana or Enlightenment or Heaven or Paradise, whether you call it God or the Universe or the Great Consciousness or the Supreme Being or the Man Upstairs or I don’t even know what, we’re all talking about the same thing in different languages. Even within Christianity (or so-called Christianity) we have certain groups who would call themselves Christian and claim to believe in Jesus. I’ve encountered the Mormons, who say they believe in the same Jesus I do. I’ve invited them in to talk. The young men were confident that our beliefs are pretty much the same, but Mormonism just added a couple extra holy books to the mix. I’ve encountered the Jehovah’s Witnesses (or maybe they’ve encountered me). I’ve been told, again, that my beliefs, my Christianity, is almost like theirs. I just needed a little tweak and I would have it. Just stop believing in the Trinity and that Jesus is God. That’s all. The point is: there is such a thing as truth. People don’t like hearing that. Because saying what I believe in is the ‘truth’ automatically means that other beliefs are false.

Psalm 119:105 CSB

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

If God’s word is a lamp and light leading us to God and His truth, the lack of such a light would cause one to wander away from God and His truth. Christian, this verse, this very familiar verse, don’t let it’s familiarity cause you to overlook it’s importance. Ever try to move around in the dark? If you’ve ever been a parent of a newborn, you understand that these little guys don’t mind being up in the middle of the night. Trying to navigate even your own house to attended to that crying child can be quite the task. It can be dangerous. It can be disasterous. Walls seem to move into your path and make you crash. Various mysterious objects lurk to inflict stubbed toes or bruised shins. And I can’t go just any whichway to find my baby. This is a beautiful illustration of the need for the guidance the word of God provides, a light in the darkness. Every time I’m up here I seem to be encouraging us to make sure we are in God’s word. And I don’t think it can be overstated. Without God’s word, we’re flying blind. You can rely on your own intuition or knowledge or supposed wisdom, your own navigational skills, to get you where you need to go. But it won’t work. At some point, the crash that is inevitable promises to be spectacular.

A Hardened Heart

No one exemplifies hardness of heart like Pharaoh, king of Egypt. The story of the plagues of Egypt as told in the book of Exodus is well known. I believe it is worth running through briefly the situation that presents itself in this portion of Scripture. As you likely know, Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh with ‘Let my people go!’ Pharaoh laughs it off.

Exodus 5:2 CSB

But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

He claims ignorance. Who is this God? I don’t know Him. Never heard of Him. He then demonstrates a distorted understanding of reality. He wrongly concludes that he isn’t obligated to obey this God he doesn’t believe in. And isn’t it the same for the unbelievers we encounter in our lives? You can tell them what the Bible says about this or that. You can encourage them to live right, do good, be better. You can warn them that living in darkness will ultimately lead to their soul’s destruction. But it’s falling on deaf ears most often. More accurately, these admonitions aren’t penetrating the heart of stone.

Back to Pharaoh, plague after plague hit Egypt hard. His people suffered terribly. But he didn’t care. Each time a plague came and went, Pharaoh heart hardened. Let’s look at one particular plague that relates to our topic:

Exodus 10:21–23 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.

Darkness enveloped the land of Egypt. Can you imagine three days of this supernatural darkness. No moon or even stars to provide even small dots of light in this ‘thick darkness’. The people of Egypt could see absolutely nothing. Imagine the frustration; imagine the fear. Imagine the hopelessness. The darkness was such that people were forced to limit their movements; they had to stay put lest they injure themselves in various ways due to not being able to see where they were going. Very similar to the people Jesus ministered to. The darkness was so bad, no longer did they walk around but rather accepted their lots and sat down in the middle of the darkness.

What’s more, the darkness the Egyptians had to endure was described by God as ‘a darkness that can be felt’. How scary is that? Usually, darkness impacts only a person’s ability to see things; in this situation (and the Bible doesn’t elaborate further), there was some sort of physical sensation associated with the presence of the darkness. The darkness could be felt, sensed in a way that had nothing to do with sight. Some looming force that literally touched the people of Egypt. I don’t know what that was like, and I’m glad I never have to find out. Among the plagues, this one probably was one of the worst, if they could be ranked in any way. At first glance, one may be tempted to think no big deal. Or even, cool, I can sleep all day. This plague isn’t so bad, right? No, there was a real haunting involved here. And I think this darkness, a real event that happened in history, also illustrates and helps us to understand the spiritual darkness that plagues the unbeliever. It’s scary. It’s awful. It’s panic-inducing. It’s dangerous and palpable. The way I see it, the man who finds himself in such darkness can go one of two routes: 1) He seeks light. 2) He hardens himself so that he doesn’t feel the darkness anymore.

We know which direction Pharaoh went:

Exodus 10:27 CSB

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.

Throughout the narrative, it is interesting to note how it is said that both Pharaoh and God were involved in the heart-hardening. God’s active role in Pharaoh’s hard heart was an act of judgment against the proud, rebellious king of Egypt. This man had refused to acknowledge the God of Israel even before his initial encounter with Pharaoh. He believed himself to be a god and led his nation in oppressing the children of Israel. Yes, Pharaoh was a stubborn and evil man. And God judged him for it.

Impending Judgment

Which leads us to the last side effect of living in the land of darkness: the judgment of God is looming overhead. Everyone, even the hardest of atheists, knows and can accurately recite John 3:16. But the surrounding verses are just as much inspired by God and just as important to understand. We read in context:

John 3:16–20 CSB

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.

‘This is the judgment’! Other versions put it like this: ‘This is the verdict’. The Judge of all the earth has rendered a verdict, and it is not favorable for the man or woman who loves their darkness. Imagine the standing before that Judge as He declares His decision. The gavel has been dropped; all are standing and are breathlessly awaiting the verdict. And it’s condemnation! Death eternally. The evildoer, the criminal standing before the Judge, was to the point that he began to embrace the darkness. He sought out the darkness. He identified with the darkness. He was the darkness. Any amount of light was offensive to him, for it exposed his deeds as being evil. But hiding in the darkness to avoid the light would only work for so long. Soon enough, he stands in front of the Judge and is declared guilty. Condemned. Excluded from the life of God forever. We have this reminder in Hebrews:

Hebrews 9:27 (CSB)

...it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—

So we have men and women living in the land of darkness. They are doomed. Unless...

A Great Light

John 1:4–5 (CSB)

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Jesus Christ, the word made flesh to dwell among us, is the Great Light. Light here is equated with life. Christ is the source of life and light that every man needs. More vital than a drink of water for the man dying of thirst, more vital than a breath of air for the drowning man, is the light of Christ for the human soul. The most oppressive darkness, the thickest of thick darkness, even darkness so deep it can be felt in a person’s soul, is no match for the light of Christ. It is impossible to overstate the lop-sided nature of this contest between light and dark. The darkness did not overcome the light. Nor could it overcome it. Nor could it come anywhere remotely close to overcoming it. As strong a force as the darkness is, the light is infinitely more powerful. Its shining in the darkness causes the darkness to flee. If gazing at the Sun for any length of time is hazardous to human eye, the shining light of Christ is disasterous to the darkness.

John 8:12 (CSB)

Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

And again, Jesus says in John:

John 9:5 (CSB)

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

and:

John 12:46 (CSB)

I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.

What great news this is! For the man dwelling in the land of darkness, where there seems to be zero hope and only the certainity of condemnation, there is a promise. There is that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. There’s that twinkling glimmer somewhere in the blackest night. And His name is Jesus. Follow Him, He says, and your foot shall never again have to tread that land of darkness. Follow Him, He says, and the light of life shall be yours! For Jesus is the light of the world. And He shines brightly upon the earth.

1 Peter 2:9 (CSB)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We can proclaim the praises of our great God, who sent Jesus to be the light of the world. He has made us His own possession. We belong to Him. We are all at one time among that sad group walking, living, sitting in the darkness. But God, who is rich in mercy and full of love, called us by name. He said to come out of that darkness; you don’t need to live there anymore. He said to come into His marvelous light. This light is marvelous. Meaning it causes one to marvel, to be in awe, to be astonished, overwhelmed in wonder and amazement. If driving by houses and trees decorated with tiny blinking lights causes the young and the young-at-heart to marvel at the sight, how much more does the light of Christ cause the child of God to marvel.

Having made the jump over to the marvelous from the darkness we were stuck in, we actually carry that light with us:

Matthew 5:14–16 (CSB)

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Jesus, who declared Himself to be the light of the world, also tells His followers that they are the light of the world. We are the light of the world? (Question mark.) Here’s what’s going on: As Christians, we represent Christ on the earth. The Bible calls us His ambassadors. We are to shine the light of Christ that is in us wherever we go. In this way, the darkness in the world, when it encounters us, cannot overcome our light, which is really the light of Jesus. The darkness flees; it melts away. As long as we’re here, the darkness cannot conquer this world. This planet cannot be swallowed up in that darkness. Because we let our lights shine before men. Those who see it will recognize it as the light of Christ, prompting them to give glory to God.

This, as you can imagine, is a heavy responsiblity. This light-shining business is no casual thing. The passage assumes that what men see when they see us is the good works we do. Our obedience to God. The way we are blessings to other people. Let this encourage us, knowing that what we do for the kingdom of God is how we let our lights shine. So let us shine as brightly as we possibly can. Perhaps God uses your light-shining to call someone out of the darkness and into His marvelous light.

No More Darkness

Our future is bright… literally. The darkness that is part of our reality is destined to be defeated. Not just defeated by a couple of points, but annihilated completely. Remember, the darkness cannot overcome it. Speaking of the New Jerusalem, John writes this in Revelation:

Revelation 21:23–24 (CSB)

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

No need for sun or moon. No other source of light is necessary when the glory of God gives light to the inhabitants of the holy city come down from heaven. What a glorious thought! The marvelous light of God shall be our the light by which our eyes will see.

Again, in the Bible’s final chapter:

Revelation 22:5 (CSB)

Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

No more night, no more darkness. This is what God has in store for us. For the ones He has called out of darkness. For the ones He plucked up out of the land of darkness. We who God pulled out the ignorance of our darkened minds are never again to set foot in the land of darkness, because it won’t exist. Because we have seen a Great Light.