“Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned…. 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” (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6).
The phrase “shadow of death” is the translation of one Hebrew word, and it is such a strong word that it takes a phrase to capture its meaning. It is the strongest Hebrew word for darkness. It is translated in another place as “blackest darkness.”
Gwen and I have only been in one cavern, Skyline Cavern near Front Royal, Virginia. When we were completely underground the guide demonstrated blackest darkness. He turned out the lights and we couldn’t see anything. No stars, no moon and no streetlights provided small rays of light. It was the darkest dark I’ve ever experienced. That’s the word Isaiah used.
Blackest darkness describes more than the state of Galilee when Jesus was born, it describes the state of all of us who have been born in the dark and long to see the light of Jesus shining into our lives. The message of Christmas has never changed. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
There are many in our world who experience blackest darkness. I was privileged to be born into a family that showed me the light of Jesus when I was a child. Too many children don’t have that advantage.
If Christmas means that light has come to our dark world it means more than our own blessing. In a tenement district in New York City a boy was seen with a small piece of broken mirror in his hand. Holding it high in the air he moved it slowly back and forth, watching the narrow slit of a window above him as he did so. A man was walking past the boy and was suspicious of the child’s activity. “What are you doing?” he asked the boy. The boy looked up into the man’s face and said, “See that window up there? I have a little brother who has a room on that floor. He’s a cripple. The only sunlight he ever sees is what I shine up to him with my mirror!”
Christmas is about Jesus shining on our dark world. This Christmas season let us reflect the light of the Son so that someone in darkness may see.
