January 3, 2016 The Epiphany of our Lord Isaiah 60:1-6 1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 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. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD (ESV). A Light to Lighten the Gentiles The citizens of Barrow, Alaska are well acquainted with darkness. You see, Barrow is the northernmost city in the U.S. And now its residents are in the midst of polar night. It is dark there 24 hours a day. The sun sets on November 18 th and doesn t rise again until January 23 rd. It stays below the horizon for 65 days! For over two months of the year the sun doesn t shine. When the sun finally peeks its head over the horizon for a brief moment on January 24 th, the entire town celebrates. 1 Is this the kind of darkness Isaiah is thinking about when he says, For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples? 2 In a word no. He is talking about a different kind of darkness. And when Isaiah says to the people, Arise, shine, for your light has come, 3 he is speaking about a different kind of light, a special light. This light will be so glorious that, when it finally breaks through the thick darkness, the people will be far more joyful than anything the citizens of Barrow could possibly imagine. But first we must talk about the darkness. This darkness is not physical but spiritual. Darkness, here, is a symbol of sin, ignorance, destruction, and hell itself. This darkness covers the earth so completely that no light can penetrate through its thick clouds. It is the consequence of Adam s sin which has become human sin. Although we cannot see the darkness, we can see what it does. Behold what darkness produces: A year or more after Jesus was born wicked King Herod ordered the slaughter of all boys in Bethlehem, aged 2 and under. It has come to be known as the slaughter of the innocents. On June 26, 2015, contrary to Scripture and nature, the Supreme Court legalized gay Page 1 of 5
marriage. To date, ISIS has killed at least 170,000 people. 4 On 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon resulted in 3000 deaths. It was the day when Americans no longer felt safe in the world. Since 1973, 1½ million pre-born babies a year have been killed in the abortion factories of our land. That s over 60 million unborn deaths since legalization. In America today, every second of every day, $3000 is spent on pornography. 5 Thus, we can see that the darkness of sin is producing evil of every kind. In times past, what was evil was called evil. No more! Evil is celebrated. But God says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. 6 Have you noticed? Those who commit deeds of darkness do not do so in the light of day. No one wants to be in the dark unless they are doing evil. Darkness hides our wrongdoings; light reveals them in stark clarity as great wickedness. But the darkest place in the world is not Barrow, Alaska or even the North Pole. No, the darkest place in the world is the human soul. For generations we have been told to look within. Look deeply within, says Oprah, and see the beautiful person that you are. Look deeply within, says celebrity preacher Joel Osteen, and find that goodness which is capable of transforming your life into endless possibilities. 7 Look deeply within, say today s New-Age sages, and you will find a divine, inner light. But it s a lie. Introspection does not reveal an inner beauty, but only the corruption of an evil will. We find only a cesspool of sin and death. As God says, There is none righteous, no not one. There is none who does good, no, not one, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 8 And our inborn depravity gives birth to sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. Darkness! For us as Christians, we must daily fight against our besetting sins. Besetting sins, the ones that seem to revisit us again and again, are especially dangerous, for they can so entangle us that we become addicted to them. What is your besetting sin? Worry? Stuff you simply must buy? Sexual sins in thoughts, words deeds? Gossip, jealousy, drunkenness, or road rage? But, behold, Isaiah sees a light. Arise, shine, he says, 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. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.... They shall bring gold and frankincense and good news. 9 Rejoice, for this light casts out the darkness. This light is Jesus. He is pure light come to cast out the darkness of human sin by earning forgiveness and salvation for all humanity. If you want to know how much God loves you, look at the cross. We are guilty, yet Christ takes our Page 2 of 5
punishment. We are sinners, but Christ bears our burden. We are worthy of death, but Christ dies in our places I remember visiting a well-known cave when I was young. After we had descended to the bottom, the tour guide told us that he was going to turn off the lights. After the warning, everything turned black. The darkness was overwhelming. After we all were suitably frightened, the guide lit a match--just one match. It lit up the huge cavern. Its light reached from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. That one little match cast out the darkness all of it! Man-made religions, philosophies, and wisdom have tried to fill the dark void of the human heart. Utter failure. But, at just the right time, God lit a match by sending his only-begotten Son into the world. Just as the match cast out the darkness of the cave, so also Jesus, the light of the world, in whom there is no darkness, casts out the darkness of guilt by forgiving the sins of those who trust in him. Arise, shine, says Isaiah, for your light has come. Indeed, he has. In the first chapter of John s Gospel, the apostle says of the Son of God, In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 10 That is the nature of light. Light, however small, prevails over darkness. Darkness cannot cast out light. Jesus is not for the Jews only. He is the Savior of all the nations. And, behold, on Epiphany magi, guided only by a miraculous star, visit Jerusalem. They ask, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. 11 The coming of the magi represents the first influx of Gentile blood into the New Testament Church, the family of all believers. Their coming begins the fulfillment of Isaiah s prophecy which says, And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 12 And when they came to the Savior they saw their salvation. St. Matthew writes, They saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 13 The birth of Jesus brings great light into deep darkness. He is the light of salvation for all nations. All who trust in him alone inherit the kingdom of heaven. The magi gave Christ gold, frankincense, and myrrh. gold is the gift given to a king, Page 3 of 5
frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for one who is to die. These were the gifts of the magi. And, even at his birth, they foretold that he was to be the kingly Savior-priest who, by his dying, would open the door of eternal life to all who trust in him! A great Light has come to deep darkness. And no one can put it out! His enemies tried when they crucified him. But his death was salvation s triumph, for it atoned for all sins. And his resurrection from the dead is the light that brings the certainty of eternal life to all believers. Hear the words of Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 14 And because of his rising, we, too, shall rise to eternal life, for Jesus says, Because I live, you shall live also (John 14:19. May God grant this to us all for Jesus sake: Amen. Soli Deo Gloria! Endnotes 1 Taken from http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/barrow,_alaska. 2 See Isaiah 60:2, NASB. 3 See Isaiah 60:1, ESV. 4 See https://www.quora.com/to-date-more-than-170-000-people-mostly-christians-and-shiites-were-killed-in- Iraq-by-ISIS-Why-is-nobody-talking-about-this-genocide. 5 See link at http://www.familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html. 6 See Isaiah 5:20, ESV. Proverbs 17:15 also says, He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD. 7 One remarkable Joel Osteen quote: We were old sinners but when we came to Christ we are not sinners anymore. Check out http://wedaretobelieve.wordpress.com/category/slaves/. 8 See Romans 3:10, 12, 23. 9 See Isaiah 60:1-3, 6. 10 See John 1:4-5, ESV. Page 4 of 5
11 See Matthew 2:2 (ESV). There has been much debate about the Greek phrase, en tei anatolei. Most older translations read in the east. Some newer translations read when it arose. Most modern Greek-English lexicons (including BDAG) prefer the latter. I prefer the latter because it seems the most natural meaning. 12 See Isaiah 60:3. 13 See Matthew 2:11. 14 See John 5:24, ESV. Page 5 of 5