❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
The light of the world
The first Advent (Isaiah 9:2-6, John 1:9-14)
Andy Nagahara
Starting today, the Christian church’s calendar begins a four-week period of anticipation for Christmas called Advent. Every year at this time, four candles are placed like this, and one candle is lit today, the first week of the month, and each week the number of candles is increased by one. All four candles are lit during the Christmas service on the last Sunday of Advent. It expresses the feeling of waiting and longing.
The text we will read first today is a prophecy recorded in chapter 9 of Isaiah, one of the prophetic books in the Old Testament. This prophecy by Isaiah was made around the 8th century BC. The situation in Israel at that time was such that the country was divided into north and south, with the northern kingdom under the control of a powerful nation called Assyria. I think you can understand how tragic this is when you consider the current situation in various regions of the world. Many of the people living in Kiev and those living in the Gaza Strip have nowhere to escape even if they want to. The people of Israel were in similar fear when Isaiah made this prophecy.
Let’s start by reading all of verses 1 through 5.
2 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.
3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
6 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.
1. The Coming of Light Prophesied in a World Like Darkness (2)
2 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
Isaiah describes the situation of the people at that time as “once walking in darkness, living in the land of the shadow of death”. But, in reality, people still continue to walk in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death. The light that people are waiting for has not yet shined.
That is, Isaiah emphasized the fulfillment of the prophecy by describing the future in which this reality was overcome, as if it had already happened. All of the following verses are expressed as if they had already happened, but none of them actually happened.
In the next three verses we can see what kind of situation the people were looking forward to. Let’s read on.
2. What people expect in the dark (3-5)
3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
What they expect is for the country to become prosperous and strong. It meant freedom from slavery and captivity, and an end to the attacks and violence of invaders. The description that “The clothing and shoes of the enemy soldiers who occupied the country were burnt in the fire” meant that Israel would win and become a powerful nation that would not tolerate invasion from neighboring countries.
By the way, these things are no different from what people living in modern times expect. National leaders, of course, should they find themselves in such a situation, but even before they have been attacked, they will be afraid of it and will focus their efforts on gaining more power than their opponent and increasing their allies. This is true not only in countries but also in smaller groups.The same thinking was at work in the street gang conflicts on Manhattan’s West Side in the 1950s and the biker gang conflicts in Japan in the 1970s, but arms races never brought peace at any level.
This is because all of them aim for the prosperity, peace, and strength of their own group, and are selfish wishes that can only be based on the misfortunes of other countries, other ethnic groups, and other people.
In times of darkness, people look to strong leaders. In this way, Hitler and the Nazis “legally” took over the regime, and instead of bringing peace, they plunged the people even deeper into darkness. Around the same time, the Japanese military regime invaded many countries in Asia, and many people still suffer from these inhumane acts. It is not only other nationals that this regime has made suffer. It has caused many of its own citizens to die in war and starve to death.
When the war ended, the Japanese people vowed never to wage war again and set out on the road to rebuilding with a new constitution promising to do so. Today, however, in various parts of the world, there is a noticeable tendency for parties and politicians to come to power in favor of parties and politicians who advocate prosperity, peace, and strength for their country alone. In Japan as well, the previous prime minister said, “I want to change the constitution and make Japan a ‘normal’ country capable of war”.
As long as the leaders of each country think of preserving peace by becoming stronger, peace will never come to this world. So how can peace really come?
Do you remember the last week’s message? It was about “We who try to be strong, and Jesus who chooses and loves the weak”. Unless we realize this and give up on becoming strong, conflicts and wars will never end, whether between nations, ethnic groups, or individuals.
But peace has already arrived in the world. Just because many people do not want to accept it, the darkness in the world continues. Let me read the last verse of this prophecy again.
3. Light far beyond human expectations (6)
6 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’s prophecy was not immediately fulfilled. No such great leader was ever born, and for the next 800 years, Israel continued to be ruled by neighboring powerful nations of the time. For that reason, they kept waiting for the Messiah and Savior.
So, as we learned last week, the people of Israel initially expected Jesus to be the Messiah when He appeared to them and showed them powerful teachings, signs, and miracles that they had never heard before. However, the people soon became disappointed in Jesus. Because Jesus was not a military or political leader. The Gospel of John explains this in the account of Jesus’ birth.
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:9-14)
John introduces that Jesus, who was born on the world’s first Christmas 2,000 years ago, is the Savior and Messiah prophesied by Isaiah, the amazing leader, the mighty God, the eternal Father, and the Prince of Peace. As I mentioned earlier, that would be difficult for those who aspired to have power, whether in those days or today. Jesus’ teachings are simple. If everyone lives knowing that God is the center rather than being self-centered, the darkness in their hearts will be cleared. Then, the darkness in their hearts will be lifted, and those who begin to live relying on the words of Jesus will become the light of the world and illuminate the darkness of the world.
The light of the world, Jesus, came into the world 2000 years ago. It was passed down from person to person, just as it is during a candlelight service, and it took 2000 years before it was finally handed down to you. And now it’s your turn to pass this light on to someone else. It’s about loving and introducing Jesus. Jesus himself is the light of the world, but it is left to us to illuminate the world with his light.
(Prayer) God, thank you for giving us the light of hope that is Jesus.
Although evil, the power of darkness, still has a great influence in this society and in our hearts, please shine more of You in us, cast out the darkness and fill us with Your light.
Make each one of us a light in the world pointing to You.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
Isaiah’s prophecy was not fulfilled in the time of the people of that time. It was fulfilled as the Nativity of Jesus. But Jesus was so far beyond human expectations that most people of His time could not recognize Him as the Messiah. In particular, his call to love one another beyond ethnicity, nationality, and even religion was unacceptable. Jesus’ way is not to take political or religious leadership by visible force. Jesus seeks to bring peace to the world by lighting the darkness in the hearts of each of us and letting those who have lit that light shine throughout the world of darkness.
For Discussion
- What kind of situation in society does darkness represent?
- Why didn’t the people accept Jesus when he came?