It’s 6 o’ clock on a Friday morning in December. I’m looking out the window of my back door onto a very snowy and blistery scene. Darkness covers everything except for the single light on the back of the building that faces the back of my house, piercing an otherwise black scene.
My thoughts drift to the scene of the birth of Jesus. No, He wasn’t born during a chilling snowstorm like the one being experienced here now, but He was born in darkness, in a place reserved, not for humans, but for animals. While the inn where Joseph and Mary were turned away was crowded with people, Jesus was born in relative obscurity. Darkness envelopes the scene, save for a small source of light.
Isaiah 9:6 proclaims, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The Messiah, the One all Israel hoped for who would come as a conquering king to rid them of Roman oppression, arrives as a frail, vulnerable child wrapped in linens and placed in an animal feeding trough. Not exactly what God’s people were expecting.
Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.”
The people are depicted as stumbling around in pitch blackness.
Suddenly a great light appears, piercing the darkness around them. What a contrast. Darkness. Light.
Light is not the opposite of darkness. Darkness would better be described as the absence of light. Darkness is a lack of illumination. This is what we find described in John 1:1-5:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 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.”
Here, at the beginning of the gospel of John, we are presented with this contrasting image of light and darkness.
Imagine for a moment you were a baby again, only you’re still within your mother’s womb. Your eyes sealed shut, living within a dark world. One moment you’re enveloped in shear blackness, then suddenly and abruptly you’re engulfed in a world of light.
In one sense this is what happened to us when we were born again. Colossians 1:13 says that “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” Darkness to light.
Jesus, being fully God, existed in pure light. 1 John 1:5 tells us that “God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.” This Light looked upon a formless, empty, and very dark world and spoke, “Let there be light,” and light flooded the darkness. “And God separated the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:4). This was God’s first act of creation.
The Light entered this dark world, the world He created, taking on flesh; “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Imagine, God taking on flesh. The Light entering a world that had become dark once again, blackened by sin. This is the very reason why He came to us, “A light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.”
God again creates light in an otherwise dark and cold world. Jesus came not only as The Light, but also to bear witness to it to a people stumbling about in the dark. “The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”
But even though He was now in the world, the very world He created, many of the people did not recognize Him for who He really was and is. In fact, John tells us that “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.” The very ones who should have recognized Him first failed to do so. “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19). This statement rings true of our world today.
Despite this, “That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” Why? Why keep shining the light into a world that would rather keep on staggering about in the dark?
John gives us the reason; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). This is why God’s light continues to shine into our dark world.
Listen to what John says in another letter; “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins”
(1 John 4:9-10).
Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, continues to shine into the darkness of this world, driven by love, love for you and for me. Jesus said, “Í am the Light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Let’s return for a moment to the scene outside my back door window. Just like the light from the building across from my house pierced the otherwise dark scene, Christmas is about The Light of the world piercing our dark and bleak world with love, hope, and the promise of life. Real life. Life found on Christmas day in the form of a baby: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
But His light continues through us as well, through those who have received the Christ child into their hearts. Listen to the words of Jesus captured by Jesus’ disciple in Matthew 5:14; “You are the light of the world.” Imagine, The Light, who came as a baby in a manger to a dark world so He could spread that light, now uses us to continue to shine His light into our dark world.
Christmas for me is all about light, The Light. “But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”
And Christmas comes with a promise, a present for anyone who would receive it. “But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God.” This gift is still available to all who would accept what God offers them, His own Son, the One we celebrate this Christmas.
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