NIV Once-A-Day Walk With Jesus DevotionalSample

Great Light in the Shadow of Death

Jesus came to bring light into a darkened world, and having been announced by John and tested by Satan, he was ready to begin his public ministry.

But where? Jerusalem, the capital of the nation? Or Samaria, a hotbed of ethnic unrest? Maybe Nazareth, his hometown?
The answer may surprise you!

G. Campbell Morgan probes the significance of Capernaum as the place where Christ’s ministry began.


Walk With G. Campbell Morgan
“When God visits his people for redemption, he comes where darkness is greatest, where the people sit in the shadow of death. Both in terms of geography and principle, Jesus did that very thing.

“Capernaum was in a despised region of the land of Palestine known as Galilee of the Gentiles. This portion of the country had been overrun more than any other by foreign invaders. Therefore, it came to be called ‘the region and shadow of death.’

“That was Capernaum; and Jesus started his public ministry there.

“He did not commence where people were least likely to need it. Rather, the people who sat in darkness — ​in the region of the shadow of death — ​saw the great light.”


Walk Closer to God
Shine a bright light into an already lighted room, and you have changed nothing. Shine that same light into a dark corner, and you have shattered the darkness.

For you, Capernaum may be as near as your neighborhood, school or office.
Who in your sphere of life sits in ignorance and darkness? Which friends or neighbors of yours are craving the light?

Where the light of the gospel needs to penetrate, there is your Capernaum.