Isaiah 9:2-7 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“A Light Has Dawned”
Christmas Eve December 24, 2018
Darkness hides and conceals. It is cold and dangerous. No wonder it so naturally represents sin, evil, danger, ignorance, unbelief. Darkness like this does not come from God, but appears when people flee from God’s light. On the very first day of creation, God created light, but that light was so very soon overshadowed by the darkness of sin. Sin is cold and dangerous and deadly. It breeds ignorance and fear. It brought spiritual darkness into our world. On the other hand, light is warm and inviting. It reveals the truth. Even a tiny bit of light changes our whole perception. Light represents love and hope and faith. It represents goodness and knowledge. It displays the glory of God. In our next lesson this evening, we find again this sharp contrast between darkness and light. We find the true nature and true meaning of Christmas as we listen to Isaiah’s prophecy about the light that has dawned. It has dawned on a dark world, and it has dawned through a light-giving child. Before we turn to the words of that lesson, allow me to introduce you to the dark time during which the Prophet Isaiah preached. He spoke to the people God had chosen to live under his promise. That promise was given first to Adam and Eve in their moment of deepest darkness, and it was shared from generation to generation after them. It was the promise of someone to rescue them from sin. The people of Judah, these chosen people of God, had been given the promise, but they were not living in the light of that promise from God. Instead, they lived in darkness. This darkness showed itself in the way that they treated each other, constantly fighting among themselves. It showed in their substance abuse and sexual immorality. It showed in the way that the rich mistreated the poor instead of showing compassion and the young disrespected the elderly instead of showing respect. The very people of God had walked away from God and instead turned to witchcraft and idolatry. Instead of walking in the light of obedience, they had turned to the darkness of rebellion and sin. And that dark time was about to become even darker. An enemy nation was threatening the people and was soon to invade. This nation was known and notorious for their harsh treatment of conquered foes. Torture was a favorite tool of these enemies and terror was their goal. This was the dark world into which God spoke through the prophet the words of our lesson this evening. God did not say to these people, “Don’t worry. Your suffering will come to an end at some point. Fight hard against your enemy. Do the best you can.” No, God spoke to these people in words much more profound. God spoke in words that did not cover up or ignore their situation but offered real help and comfort. The darkness that was over the people of Judah was a deep and spiritual darkness. It was a separation between God and his people, not because God wasn’t loving toward them, but because they had turned away. The worst threat that they faced was not from an enemy nation. Their worst threat was what would happen if they continued to walk away from God forever. What God spoke was his promise. Though they didn’t deserve it, he would save them, not just from earthly enemies, but first and foremost from their spiritual enemy, from Satan and from sin. This is what God said to them through his prophet Isaiah in the book of his prophecy, chapter 9 verses 27: 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and
upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the L ORD Almighty will accomplish this. We have come together tonight to celebrate that this promise has been kept. And we celebrate this fact because we also live in a dark world. Make no mistake about it, it is deep darkness, just like Isaiah describes. Is it really like the terror that surrounded Judah? It is. Our treatment of others has not improved. We don’t treat our neighbors any better. We still suffer the threat of terror, we witness the collapse of families, the permissiveness of sexuality, abuse, and all sorts of other dark activities. And if you would suppose that I am being overly dramatic, that I am being unfair to the situation (after all, it’s not always that bad and there are good times to be had)…If you feel this way, consider another translation of the word Isaiah uses for “deep darkness.” Elsewhere in Scripture the same word is translated “the shadow of death.” And if you are not convinced that we live in a dark world, ask yourself to answer honestly whether we live under the shadow of death. Think about gathering around your Christmas dinner table and realize that someone at that table will outlive everyone else, and will deal with all of those losses and will finally in turn come to that same end. I know that it sounds bleak, and I know that it not the happy news that you hope to hear at Christmas time. But it is the truth. And the truth is that we don’t just happen to live in a dark world, we often relish it. We walk in it. In the words of a previous lesson, we “have loved darkness instead of light.” We have continued in the dark tradition of sin handed down to us from generations before. On our own, we have no light. But there is good news, great news, because Christmas is about light coming into our darkness. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned! It wasn’t that we were able to do anything to fix it. We couldn’t take care of the situation any better than Adam and Eve or the people of Judah. No, this light has dawned for us. This light has come for us. This light is a person. It is a baby. To us and for us a child is born! You have in all likelihood seen the nativity sets that depict the scene. You have very likely heard the story before, perhaps even many times before. We’ll hear it together yet this evening by candlelight. A man and a woman are far from home. She gives birth to a baby and lays him in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, because they could find no better place to put him. The light of the glory of God shines as angels announce the birth to nearby shepherds who come to worship him. To us a child is born. To us a son is given. This baby laid in a manger is the light Isaiah spoke about. He is no ordinary baby. Despite his humble circumstances, he is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This baby deserves these amazing titles because he is God himself, with all his light and glory, born into this dark world of sin. He is almighty and allwise, and yet he is born as a tiny baby to live and to learn and to grow. He is the almighty God, and he is a baby boy, a true human being. He is the light. And that means more than many suppose. Many believe that he came to our world to show us how to live in the light, to set an example of how to avoid the darkness of sin. If that were so, we would still live in darkness unable to follow in the way he came to lead. Instead, he came to remove the darkness of sin and to give us the light of forgiveness. That is why he came as both God and man. As God he is powerful to overcome death, as a human being he is able to sacrifice himself to the death we deserve, the death our sins have earned. God, to rescue his people, becomes one with us, one of us. He comes to live life in the light and not in the darkness. And he comes to allow himself to be overtaken by the darkness of death anyway. But he also came to burst forth from death so that we might live with him forever. We light candles tonight as a reminder that Jesus is our light and that he has made himself known to us. At the end of our evening together, when the candles are extinguished, that light still goes with us. That light is ours to share with others who live alongside us in this dark world. That light is ours, and it shines through every dark shadow of our lives. It lights our way to eternal life. To us a child is born. He is our light in the darkness.