Find Hope: Matthew 1-4Sample

Light Has Dawned

Have you ever had to endure a night? Maybe it was a storm; maybe you were just unable to sleep; maybe it was just the first night in a new or unknown context. Have you ever noticed how horror movies climax at night-time and then resolve and transition into credits as the morning breaks? Darkness is more than just the absence of light; there is something oppressive and uncertain about darkness.

With the dawn comes fresh hope; the start of the day brings new opportunities; the light feels safe and comforting.

After a few chapters of showing us who Jesus is—the fully human, fully God, savior king, Son of God—Matthew paints the beginning of Jesus' ministry as fulfilment, just as the prophets had foretold. The prophets anticipated the location, the nature, and the message of Jesus' ministry, all of which is captured in the image of light dawning.

But what was the darkness? The prophet Isaiah quoted in today's passage describes it as "the shadow of death." The reality of life after Genesis 3, when sin entered creation, is our experience of the shadow of death.

All that is wrong is a symptom of death's presence: sickness as a symptom of the body's decay, injustice as a symptom of our fear of death expressed in self-interest, grief as our experience of loss and death, even our insecurity and confusion about our identity is the result of death veiling our eyes from the glory of God's image in us and our calling to be his. The shadow of death. But in Jesus, light has dawned. We're only at the beginning of his ministry, but already we need to know that death's reign is coming to an end. Jesus brings hope beyond death. And in his death and resurrection, he defeats death and offers that hope to us.

Until Jesus returns, we live in what theologians call the overlap of the ages. Death's shadow lingers, but light has dawned, and we have hope. No matter what is happening in our lives or world, Jesus declares, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand"—walk in that light!

Today, ponder this: Sometimes we live like there is only shadow—overwhelmed, discouraged, and defeated. Take hope from Jesus' words today: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."