Light in the Darkness

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)

Christmas is about victory. 

We know the darkness of the world well. We feel it sometimes like a heavy shroud upon our shoulders. But his very darkness is what makes the light of hope so dazzlingly bright. Jesus, the “light of the world,” entered into our bleak world in weakness. He took the humblest form of a vulnerable infant, showing us how God can bring beauty and salvation out of helplessness. 

A band of shepherds was watching their flock at night. In the chilly twilight air, they scanned the horizon for robbers and wolves, anything that might be coming to harm their sheep. They rubbed their tired eyes between glances and talked with one another to fight their drowsiness. Suddenly, there was light! In a time long before electricity, the light of a thousand floodlights exploded through the night. The startled shepherds dropped their crooks and shielded their eyes in stunned amazement. They were terrified and awestruck at the same time. The sheep scattered and bleated loudly. 

The Angel of the Lord spoke to the shepherds out of the radiance. “Do not be afraid,” he said. “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). He told the shepherds where to go to find the newborn Saviour of the World, and he vanished just as suddenly as he arrived. The blinding light disappeared with the angel, but the shepherds’ hearts remained ablaze with bewildered excitement. They departed, following the brightest star in the night sky towards the stable beneath it.

It was there in the lowly stable that Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men celebrated the greatest victory the world had ever seen. Jesus had come into the world to rescue us and to overthrow death and darkness permanently. They gave gifts and sang songs of triumph because the Messiah had come. The Light of the World had made his joyous entrance, and to this day darkness has no answer for Him. 

Today, even as we feel the effects of defeated darkness still hovering about us like a lingering fog, we celebrate our freedom. We eagerly anticipate the morning when victory’s rays will evaporate the dark fog into distant memory, and we rejoice because that promise is already sealed. 

Peace, joy, and victory be with you and your families, and Merry Christmas from Commission 127!