For A Child Is Born To Us
Reading
John 8:12
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
Isaiah 9:1-2 & 6
Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.
2 The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
1 John 1:1-5
We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Reflection
For A Child Is Born To Us
Jesus leaves no confusion as to who he is. From before the dawn of time the Word existed with the Father, ready to break upon a world of darkness and set the world free from the sin that leads to death. Throughout history the prophets told of the coming of a Messiah who would be a light to all the world, a divine judge, a bringer of freedom, restoration and life. In the story of the Nativity we see events gathering toward a climax that would ultimately end in the deliverance and redemption of all the world, the complete and absolute triumph of light over dark.
At Christmas we celebrate the divine plan of God outworked through the lives of ordinary men and women, like us — the collision of the natural and the supernatural, when the glory of heaven invades earth and changes the world forever.
There is no greater truth, no greater hope, no other Rock on which to build our lives. There is no accident or flaw in God’s great story. He holds all in his hand, and the ultimate convergence of these wondrous events is to reveal the truth of Jesus Christ as the salvation of all the world.
Jesus came to bring peace, to unite the nations of the world under one rule, to see an end to war and conflict and terror and darkness so that the whole world would be filled with His glory. His arrival on earth signified the beginning of the end for the darkness that had oppressed the earth for generations. Jesus is the light of the world. If we follow him we no longer walk in darkness, because he is the light that leads to life. The victory has been won. The darkness has been shattered. The Light of the world has come.
Prayer:
Let your heart be filled with the revelation of the Light of Jesus Christ so that it overflows in your life in perfect joy, that his glory might be revealed through your life to those around you and on throughout all the world.