Shed Light on the Darkness

The LORD bless you and keep you!  The LORD let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you!  The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who lived in a land of gloom

a light has shone.  (Isaiah 9:1)

Have you ever taken the time to just lay back and stare at a full moon?  Especially on one of those nights when the moon is larger than normal, low on the horizon, brighter than anything else around?  God created that beautiful moon.  He saw that it was good.  And Jesus (Who is God) must have looked up in the night sky once or twice and seen the same moon.  I often wonder what His thoughts were as He gazed upon it.  Did He look upon it with His divine nature and have a sense of pride in His creation?  Or did He look at it with His human nature and feel the same feelings I get when I look to the skies?  When He looked at it, did He chuckle at the thought that thousands of years later and more, people like me would be fascinated by how the moon, the stars and the sun interacted with one another or did He lament that they wouldn’t realize it doesn’t matter?

Imagine complete darkness covering the entire land.  Perhaps imagine being out in the wilderness on a very cloudy night with the stars and moon completely covered.  Imagine, then, the clouds parting as the sun immediately begins to rise.  Slowly the darkness is cast aside as the rising sun sheds light across the entire land. 

This is not only an image of what happened long ago when Jesus came and began His ministry, it also happens every time we sincerely listen to the Word of God and allow His Word to penetrate our minds and hearts.  Jesus is the “great light” who continues to shine in whatever darkness we encounter.  Jesus’ words must fill us with Himself for He is the Great Light of Truth. (Matthew 4: 12-17)

We are in a period of great darkness; a darkness of hate.  It cuts through families, communities, and nations.  It has placed the entire world in great darkness.

Jesus understands this.  He knows our darkness and how much it brings us to despair and death.  He calls us to repent, or turn away, to focus away from the darkness and to focus on the light, which is the kingdom of heaven in our midst.  Look for the light!  We must draw on the courage of our faith to share the Gospel Light of Christ with others.  We can share the good news that the kingdom of heaven is indeed at hand!