Rev. Peter J. Haugen
St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church
Herod was troubled at the news of the Christ Child’s birth, as were the religious leaders and all of Jerusalem. But the magi rejoiced and worshipped the Infant King, even as had the shepherds before them. God grant us the faith to join the magi and the shepherds!
“For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples,” the prophet says (Isaiah 60:2). That is a simple statement of fact. It should not surprise us when the world that loves the darkness rather than the light is itself consumed by darkness. It should not surprise us when we find that darkness overwhelming those around us and surrounding even us. It should not surprise us when government and society and culture and technology and on and on participate in that darkness, expand that darkness, nurture that darkness, strengthen that darkness. Such is the reality of sin. That is why our Christ has come.
“But the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you,” the prophet says (Isaiah 60:2). That is just as much a statement of fact. So fear not, not even in this present darkness. Darkness covers the land. Of course it does. Darkness is inevitable here, in this valley of the shadow of death. Creation is still groaning, awaiting the day of consummation. Satan still screams and thrashes in his death throes. The oppression of our present still seeks to crush us.
But it is the Lamb who breaks the seals on the scroll in the hand of God, and where there is darkness, there the light shines brightest. In the Christ “was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (St. John 1:5). The darkness could not overcome it. The darkness, finally, is not any actual thing. It is but the absence of light. And the darkness does not overcome the light; rather, the light overwhelms the darkness.
And the light has come. The light has clothed Himself with flesh and blood, the same flesh and blood we wear, in order that He might die. The light has taken up our cause, and so has rendered powerless death, and the devil, and the world itself. The light shines upon us, and He delivers us “who through fear of death were subject to slavery all our lives” (Hebrews 2:15).
The light has come. The Only-Begotten Son of God has been revealed to us, Jew and Gentile, shepherd and magi, poor and rich, slave and free, male and female. “Lift up your eyes round about, and see”: “The glory of the LORD has risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:4, 1). “Lift up your eyes round about, and see”: Your salvation has come. “Lift up your eyes round about, and see”: Your Christ, your God, in flesh made manifest. “Lift up your eyes round about, and see.” God be praised. Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen.
Leave a Reply