Updated: Jan 7
[Isaiah 60:1-2] “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you…”
Your Light Has Come
The effective distance of a signal mirror – if you’re lost on your mountain hike – can be upwards of twenty miles. Maybe more. The surface of the mirror reflects the light of the sun, shining out the brightness it receives.
But if you take away the light source, the mirror shines exactly -zero-. The mirror in your bedroom is as bright as the light that’s on and as dark as darkness when there is no light. A mirror is bright because it reflects light from another source.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come” – your Source of Light has arrived – “the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” You are mirrors. Dark with the darkness that surrounds you. Or light with the Brightness that shines on you.
Jesus is the Light: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” – “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” [John 1:4-5,9]
The people to whom the words of the prophet Isaiah in our Old Testament reading [Isaiah 60:1-6] were first spoken – the people of Israel – were darkened in the shadow of captivity. Chained and taken captive as a severe consequence for their sins.
To maintain their prosperity and place in this world, they went with the flow and sought the gods which were favorites of the greatest nations around them. Now, in God’s judgment, those nations would become their captors.
But the day would come when light would dawn again. Their Light would arrive. The nations would now come to them, bringing their wealth and gold and frankincense on camel back, to receive the Light reflecting in them.
“Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising… A multitude of camels shall cover you… They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.” [Isaiah 60:3-6]
These words of Isaiah were spoken around 700 BC, and, about 700 years later, they were fulfilled. Jesus Christ, the Light the World – the One who is Light and God with the Father in all eternity – was born of Mary in Bethlehem.
And, on the backs of camels for sure, came many Wise Men of the gentiles – of the nations – arriving from the east, bringing their gifts of gold and frankincense (and myrrh). And their arrival came with good news – “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” [Matthew 2:2]
Today we celebrate Epiphany, which means “a revealing” (a manifestation) – the Light of the world is first revealed to the nations when those Wise Men come from the nations to see Him.
Amazingly, these Wise Men, the Magi, coming from a far away nation, who wouldn’t even be expected to have any clue that there was a promised Savior coming to be born in Judea —
(though, if these Magi were from Babylon, they would have knowledge of the Scriptures from the prophet Daniel 600 years prior, who led the Magi during his time in Babylon [Daniel 2:48])
— these Wise Men are the first to declare to the ruler of Judea, King Herod, that the Savior has been born. This news then became very public: “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” [Matthew 2:3]
King Herod, notorious for his violence and villainy, was king of the Jews. He was a dark cloud over the people. He is troubled to hear of another King of the Jews being born, and, as the people likely feared, his response eventually leads to more slaughter [Matthew 2:16].
But Jesus Christ is the Light that no darkness can overcome. Jesus is not a mirror. He does not need the world around Him to be light for Him to be Light. Jesus is the source of light.
Like a flashlight or a bulb – or like the sun – Jesus makes the dark room light, and His light reflects off those who are in it.
How do you handle light and darkness? Sometimes we find ourselves depending upon the world around us to become light so we can have light. Or we depend on the circumstances of our life to change so that we can have light.
When these remain dark, so do we. We are misplacing our faith.
Jesus is the light that lightens the darkness. From the dangers and darkness of the womb, to the shrieks and cries of His mother’s labor and His birth, to His life in this world – surrounded by the same darknesses of disease and loss and death as the rest of us – to rejection by His brothers and countrymen – to suffering under the hand of cruel rulers
– to carrying our sins in His body and soul on the cross – to suffering God’s judgment against our sins in our place – entering the complete darkness of being forsaken by God for our wrongs that He carried in Himself [Matthew 27:46] – to His last breath and entering the darkness of our death –
In every way, Jesus entered all the dark rooms of sin-fallen human existence – from the womb to the tomb – and shined His Light into every place.
Your light has come. In the troubles of child-bearing – in the hardships of being a child, which we shouldn’t underestimate – in sickness and in death (yours and that of others) – in the tossing and turnings of your conscience – in your terrors of conscience – and in your last hours and the day of judgment. And in the grave. Jesus, your Light, shines there.
Your light has come, and like turning on the sun in a closet, He lightens every bit of darkness. Now, in every circumstance – in your life or in the world – you have the Light of Life and His peace and joy. Peace in trouble. Joy in sorrow. Light in darkness.
He is the Sun. May you be the mirrors. That promise of the nations coming is the promise to His Church for the sake of those lost in a dark world.
As you, the members of His Church, are receiving Him, the reflection of His Light shining in you – even dimly – becomes a signal light for others. A reflected light showing them to come to the same source.
May His Light shine in us more brightly as we receive Him and lean on Him more and more consistently in times of difficulty and in our daily struggles. Amen.
[John 1:1-5,9-14] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…
9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
God’s Word Became Flesh
“Actions speak louder than words”, we say. We probably can’t say that about God in exactly the same way we say it about each other – because His Word is always true. But God has more than put His Word into action.
God has been speaking from the beginning – and His Word is more that just words. God’s Word – His speaking – is a person, God-with-Him. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
In the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – that second person, the Son, is the very Word of His Father.
Through His Word, God made all that was made – “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
His Word is the light and life of men. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” – though men did not know Him.
God cannot deny or break His Word because His Word is God – God with Him. God cannot deny Himself nor can He be broken. (This is why Scripture, the Bible, is undeniable, unbreakable – because it is the Word spoken to us, in words.)
God’s Word is a word of both commandments and promises. When God’s commandment was violated by man, sin entered the world – and death through sin – and then God’s Word, His promise of a Savior was spoken.
Century after century, sin and death ruled mankind – as a whole, with war and trouble in every age – and individually, with all the ruin it brings to our body and soul.
And century after century, God’s promise remained a word spoken that we were waiting for – waiting for the Word of promise to be kept.
Then, in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Caesar Augustus [Luke 2:1], God more than put His Word into action. His Word became flesh – a Man – dwelt among us, and lived all that was spoken.
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”
The Word which was with God from the beginning and which is God took on flesh – a fully human nature, body and soul – from the Virgin Mary – “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary” – and was born in Bethlehem to be the long-awaited Savior. God kept His promise and put His Word into action for your salvation.
“This is good news of great joy that will be for all people” [Luke 2:10] – people of every nation – “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
The actions of the Word-made-flesh speak loudly. He was born to a lowly family, lived unnoticed by most of the world – though the world made through Him – was despised and rejected by men, those He came to save —
— and, by His suffering and death upon the cross in our place – He absolved the world of sin – and conquered death by His death —
— and gives new life, a new creation, by His resurrection, which He now causes to be born in you – to those “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
God is a Man of His Word. It would be enough if He simply promised and only spoke the words. But it is something much more that all He has commanded and all He has promised has become flesh and has walked among us.
And Christ still lives. The Word of the Father is still that One born in Bethlehem. All that God has promised you is that Person, Christ the Savior, who still lives and reigns for you. He is not just a memory about a child but is “with you always” [Matthew 28:20].
The Word of God made flesh, born in Bethlehem, is still with you – in His Word. And He is still with you in His flesh and blood – His body and blood in and with the bread and wine. The Word became flesh and dwells among us.
Every hearing of the Word of God – and every celebration of this Supper – is Christmas. Every Bible is a manger. Every time you come to hear His Word, you are those shepherds in the field who came to see the Word in swaddling clothes.
All of God’s promises to you have been completed in His Word made flesh. He cannot deny them because He cannot deny Himself – nor will He ever ignore the sacrifice this Child born has made for you. Amen.
What God Has Given
Perfect cakes, delicious cookies, and good tasting homemade eggnog, require not just the right ingredients, put the correct proportion of each. Chocolate chip cookies are not just flour, sugar, eggs, oil, and so on, but two cups of this, a cup of that, a teaspoon of this.
If you’re missing an ingredient, you might be able to compensate with another. Yet some ingredients are indispensable. No amount of anything will compensate for the absence of flour in the bread or of meat in the meatloaf.
A perfect holiday season might also be seen as a collection of all the right ingredients. The right family gatherings, the right food, the right friends, and the right gifts received.
Yet, without the One essential ingredient, these others get more and more out of proportion. No amount of gifts or gatherings – or familiar carols – can compensate for the absence of sincere thanksgiving for the birth of Jesus.
But the presence of Jesus Christ in Christmas – the inclusion of the True Flour in the recipe – sets all the other parts of the holiday in their proper proportion and compensates when some of those ingredients are missing or broken in our life in some way.
The more Christ is present the fuller and simpler the holiday is. The more He is absent, the more we overcompensate and overcomplicate with sentimental or material things which can never deliver what we’re really looking for.
What happens in the Christmas season is perhaps a snapshot of our lives – overcompensating with the other ingredients of life because of the absence of Jesus.
What would be the outcome of a properly put together life? Joy and genuine happiness. Contentment. Fulfilled purpose and meaning. Wholeness and completeness.
And, goodness. Pureness. A clean conscience.
We are not accidents that happen to exist. We are creatures, created by God. We are morally accountable to Him. And we are only complete when we are complete in God.
All the ways we seek to compensate for God’s absence – the good things and the bad things that run our life or that we run after – fall short. They fall short more the more they increase.
Without God, we are each a recipe without the main ingredient. With Jesus we have God.
That is what Christmas is about. Christmas is the thanksgiving celebration for the day God gave Himself to us in a way we could receive Him – In His Son Jesus: God as a Child; God as Brother; God in human flesh. God for sinners.
In the little town of Bethlehem – a real place at a real time – Mary, who was with Child, gave birth in a manger where the animals stayed. The “manger” was a feeding trough. And Bethlehem, her hometown – the city of her ancestor, David – means “House of Bread.”
Born in the House of Bread and laid in a feeding trough, God gave Himself as the ingredient needed – as the “Savior, who is Christ the Lord” [Luke 2:11].
“The hopes and fears of all the years” – all that our frail life needs and lacks – is met for us in that Child. He lived the life for us that had to be lived – He gave His life on the cross for us as the atoning payment that had to be paid – so that God and sinners are reconciled.
In the birth of Jesus, God joined the human race and, as a man, did for man what we could not do for ourselves. He lived the perfect life and died that perfect death.
He did this for us, so that we no longer must do it on our own.
And He shares His perfect life and death with us – within us through our Baptism – so that we do have His satisfactory life, born and growing up within us.
Just as He was born in Bethlehem, He is now born in you who believe and are baptized.
He is the true Flour and Meat in the recipe of your life. He is pure and good and gives a clean conscience – by the forgiveness of your sins – and a renewal of your life.
So, believe in Him – “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” [John 6:36]
And, if you haven’t been, be baptized – “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” [Mark 16:16].
What God has given on Christmas morning – His Son, born in Bethlehem – is the missing part, the puzzle piece, the main ingredient that makes your life whole and gives peace and reconciliation with God – in this life, and in the life to come. Amen.
