Light in the Darkness

 Psalms 27:1-3; Matthew 4:12-23

 John the Baptist’s job was to prepare people for the day of the Lord. Well, when Jesus hears that John has been arrested, he leaves Nazareth and begins his ministry. In doing so he fulfills Isaiah 9 which prophesizes his new location of Zebulun and Naphtali. Most important, it tells how the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. It says in the Matthew passage, light has dawned to those living in the shadow of death. This great light is Jesus Christ who starts his ministry by shouting, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

We then have a calling of his first disciples, four fishermen. A ray of hope appears to the people when Jesus proclaims the good news of the kingdom and cures and heals those with diseases and sickness.

The Psalmist in Psalm 27 recognizes the Lord Jehovah as their light and their salvation. The Lord is their stronghold – so who do they need to be afraid of? In the darkness of evil doers assailing them, armies camping against them, and war rising up against them they will be confident in the salvation of the Lord.

The people in Jesus’ new location were living under oppression of the Roman empire fearful of the assailants, Roman armies, and war rising up against them – the very things the Psalmist is confident will not harm him since God is their light and salvation.

The Roman kingdom was hard on the Jewish people at the time of Christ – yet a light arrives in this darkness telling about a new kingdom that’s coming soon. Christ goes around proclaiming the good news of this kingdom.

If the Psalmist can have confidence in the salvation of the Lord, why can we who have become recipients of God’s kingdom through faith in Jesus’ work on the cross be fearful and allow darkness to prevail in our lives? We need to look to the light Jesus has shone into our lives bringing us into his kingdom where God is truly our stronghold. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Job’s Restoration/David’s Redemption

  Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalms 34:1-8, 19-22   After Job has a long talk from God, Job answers acknowledging his own lack of knowledge compared with God’s. He talks about uttering things he did not understand. Now after hearing and seeing God he repents in dust and ashes. What is his reward for this humility? God not only delivers him from all his troubles, but God restores his fortunes twice as much as he had before. He lives till 140 seeing four generations. In the 34 th Psalm, David praises God for deliverance from trouble. He addresses the myth that the righteous have no troubles – just ask Job. David says in verse 19 that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will rescue them from them all. He brings up the point, however, that God is with us during our struggles. This suffering soul cried out and was heard by God who saved him from every trouble. He tells how the angel of the Lord surrounds those who fear him and delivers them. Verse 8 talks about t...
Read more

Wiping Away Tears

  Isaiah 25:6-9, Revelation 21:1-5a   It was hard choosing which two Lectionary readings to write on this week. The gospel story of the Rising of Lazarus is one of my favorites. But since I’ve touched on that account in the past I was drawn to the Isaiah and Revelation passages that talk about wiping away tears. Isaiah prophecies of a time to come where the Lord of Hosts will make a feast of the best foods for all people. Earlier in verse 4 it tells how the enemies of the Lord will be defeated and the poor, needy, and distressed championed. Then it is said that the Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces and disgrace will be removed. Not only this great feast for all but the Lord will swallow up death forever. Salvation has come to those who have waited on the Lord. Instead of tears they will be glad and rejoice in God’s salvation. In Revelation we have John’s vision of God’s final salvation coming. He sees a new heaven and a new earth. A voice tells him this is the...
Read more

Reverent Submission II

Mark 10:35-45, Hebrews 5:1-10 In the gospel of Mark, James and John ask Jesus if they could have the high status of sitting next to Christ in glory. In answer Christ asks the question of whether they can drink the cup – basically go through the same suffering Jesus will go through and be metaphorically baptized by fire like Christ will be. To this they reply yes. Jesus confirms that they will actually do so – little do they realize what this will mean. However, he can not appoint who will sit next to him, only God can. The other ten disciples when they hear of this arrogance of James and John become angry with them. Jesus turns this into a teaching moment turning the hierarchy of the world upside down. He says he who wants to be great must be a servant. In regard to James and John wanting first place in the seating Christ says who ever wishes to be first must be a slave of all. He hits them with a surprising sentence – something they didn’t expect. It is that he, the Son of Man, ca...
Read more