FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12

Light in the Darkness – Continued

The story is told of a young Jewish girl in a Warsaw ghetto who managed to escape over the wall and hide in a cave. She died there shortly before the Allied Army came to deliver her. Before she died however, she scratched on the wall three things: First, “I believe in the sun even though it is not shining.” Second, “I believe in love, even when not feeling it.” Third, “I believe in God, even when He is silent.”

We are like the old-time mariners of the sea guided by the North Star. When the star is hidden by a heavy overcast, we know it is still shining, that the overcast will sooner or later pass, and the star will reappear. In the meantime we keep sailing, remembering the direction where we last saw the star.

So in the darkest hours we keep remembering the light we have seen in Jesus, believing it is more powerful than the overcast which temporarily hides it. We are sure that His light alone is strong and that someday it will completely rout and destroy all the powers of darkness, not leaving behind them a trace of their presumed glory. Then will come the perfectly lighted city with not a shadow of darkness in it.

Walking in the Light

The New Testament assures us that Christ delivers us from the powers of darkness into His marvelous light. There is a fragment of an early Christian hymn that Paul uses in his letter to the Ephesians: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14). We, therefore become children of light. “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

We are to walk in the light we have seen in Jesus, be reflectors of it, and “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). We should not forget what Jesus, who confessed that He was the light of the world, said of His followers: “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

Let us make a determination and pledge ourselves to walking in the light we have seen at Christmas. Let us not forget that the star that shone through the darkness of that first Christmas was His star. Let us walk in confidence, believing that if we are faithful to the light we have today more light will be given tomorrow, more the next day, and more the next, until at last we shall walk into the perfect day.

Please keep this in mind and remember that Jesus came as a weak and fragile child, a baby dependent wholly on others when He first came. He is coming again and there will be a final Christmas at His second coming, but He will be neither weak, nor fragile, for He will be coming with the host of angels, sounding the trumpet call, to announce to those believing in Him, that He is taking His bride, His church, home to be with Him and our heavenly Father!

A Blessed Christmas to all who walk in His love and light.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12

Light in the Darkness – Continued

The light that shone in Jesus still shines on, and the darkness has not been able to overcome it, put it out, quench it, or extinguish it.

Now this does not mean that the light that has been seen in Jesus will never seem to flicker low, indeed, seem to have gone out or have been lost.

The wise men must have lost the star. The star is introduced at the beginning of the story, but as it unfolds Matthew says “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:10). But why such an exclamation of joy? Maybe we can assume they had lost the star, and greatly rejoiced at finding it again. Obviously, they had lost it by day when it had been eclipsed by the sun. But they may have lost it by night as it dipped beneath some Judean hill. They continued their traveling, however, remembering where they had last seen the star, and they journeyed in the faith that it would appear again.

How often the influence of Jesus seems eclipsed by mighty powers just as the star was eclipsed by the sun. He often seems so weak and the forces pitted against Him so strong.

This was certainly true at the beginning. There was the helpless baby Jesus and King Herod with his legions seeking the child’s life. We see Mary and Joseph fleeing with the child to Egypt. They were so weak in their flight and Herod was so strong in his search. But it wasn’t the way it seemed. It was the baby who was strong, Herod who was weak. Matthew tells us that when Herod was dead, an angel appeared to Joseph in Egypt telling him to take the baby home. Jesus outlived Herod, and His influence has had a way of outliving the powerful, cruel, and tyrannical forces of history.

Or take Good Friday for instance. Jesus seemed so weak, stumbling beneath His cross. Tremendous powers of church and state had joined forces to crush Him. Why the amassing of such power against one so weak? And did anything ever look weaker or more helpless than His limp body on the cross? But then came Easter morning, and then they knew that He who stumbled beneath His cross alone was strong.

How often the forces of propaganda, discrimination, injustice, dehumanization, and war seem so powerful and Jesus so weak. They seem to eclipse Him.

Like a star dipping beneath some Judean hill, how frequently the influence of Jesus seems to get lost behind some high mountain of fear, prejudice, hatred, cruelty, and death.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture References: Matthew 2:1-12

Guiding Light

Jesus Christ, to whom the star led, also leads us somewhere. He leads us in two directions, to God and to our brother. These are the two poles of great religion.

The God to whom Jesus leads us is no cosmic blur. You can almost say He is a God with a face. He is a God of truth, love, and justice, and He demands these of us. There is rigor in the demands of this kind of faith.

Jesus also leads us to our brother. He leads us across all kinds of barriers and all kinds of social proprieties to get to Him. He takes us to where men and women are lonely, rejected, poor, dehumanized, sick, and lost. Follow Him in any of the four Gospels of our New Testament, and He will take you to where people are hurting.

There are those who want Jesus to lead them to God but not to their brother. They want a religion that is essentially personal, spiritual, ethereal, and other-worldly. They want to be lifted above the loneliness, injustices, and brokenness of our world. Such a religion will allow us to live side by side with the inequalities, racism, and exploitations, and never lift a hand to change the situation. Indeed, it will allow us to profit from these inequalities and to share in these injustices in a most respectable sort of way. To those who are satisfied with this kind of religion Jesus says: “It is not enough. Come, let me take you by the hand and lead you to your brother. He is afraid and he is hurting. He needs you.”

On the other hand there are those of us who are willing to be led to our brother but not to God. Personal and spiritual religion turns us off. We had rather spend our time feeding the hungry, healing the sick, defending the weak, and championing the cause of justice in our world. If we are to believe in anything, let it be in humanity. Essentially they say, “our works are enough. Our works are our religion.” Jesus says to us: “It is not enough. Come, let me take you by the hand and lead you to God. You not only need to serve; you need to worship. You are too weak and frail to be the object of your ultimate trust. You are like a broken reed and cannot stand the weight of heavy faith. You must trust in something and somebody beyond yourself.”

Light in the Darkness

The light of the star that identified Jesus will never go out.

Someone has said that there is not enough darkness in the universe to put out the light of one small candle. It is true. If darkness cannot put out the light of a small candle, how helpless it is to put out the light of a star.

John in his Gospel speaks of the light in Jesus which the darkness has not put out. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The New Living Translation (NLT) says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015 by Tyndale House.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.