Jesus Came to Shine Light into the Darkness

Jesus came to shine light into the darkness.

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. –Isaiah 9:2-7

We love to see great reversals, things changing in a dramatic way that you would never have guessed. That is what is so good about this text in Isaiah. The situation of Israel up to this point may have had some shining moments, but at the exile all things look bleak. The text describes the people of God as suffering contempt, oppression, and most evocatively, walking in darkness. The people were wandering around blindly, with little hope that they will stumble across good news.

But Isaiah is telling them that the great reversal is coming! Joy, justice, and light will dawn upon the broken people. But where will it come from?

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” That’s why this reversal is so shocking. The hope of the people does not come riding in on a white steed with the royal pomp and circumstance that one might expect. Instead, He comes as a child.

God has always been one who displays great reversals, from taking the nomadic shepherd Abraham and promising him a land and a nation to taking the youngest son of Jesse, David, and giving him a kingdom. But His greatest reversal is His most dramatic. He sends His own Son, in the form of a child, and in this we who have walked in darkness and gloom now have light and joy from our Prince of Peace.