Deo Gloria
Sermon for January 26, 2020
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Isaiah 9:1-4
Theme: Rejoice in Jesus, Our Light!
- A light for all, including Gentiles
- A light that brings victory and freedom from our enemies
I want you to think back a little this morning, back to the last time you were really, really happy, jumping up and down kind of happy, high 5’s all around kind of happy, can’t wipe the smile off your face kind of happy. Was it a few weeks ago when the Vikings beat the Saints, or a couple weeks ago when the Packers beat the Seahawks? Was it about a month ago when you were opening presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and you got the one present you really, really wanted: a stuffed, plush, huggable Olaf? Was it the day you got that big promotion or the day your first child was born?
That’s the kind of joy Isaiah describes in the verses we have before us this morning. People are rejoicing. People are singing. People are whooping it up and celebrating. Why? Because they have seen a great light, a light that is for all people, including Gentiles, and a light that brings them victory and freedom. This morning I encourage you to join with them in the celebration because their light is your light too. Rejoice in Jesus, our Light!
The people Isaiah is talking about in these verses are the people of Israel, particularly the people who lived in northern Israel in the land of Galilee. It was a dark time for the people of Israel. Idol worship had pretty much taken over the land. In addition to the golden calves Jeroboam had set up at Dan and Bethel, people were also worshipping Baal and Asherah, Canaanite fertility gods that people worshipped in some rather vile and disgusting ways. God had sent prophets like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah to call the people to repentance, to call the people to turn away from their wickedness and idolatry and turn back to the Lord, but by and large the people ignored their message and continued to wander further from the Lord.
It was a dark time politically too, a time of war between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. In fact, Israel had formed an alliance with Aram, their neighbor to the northeast. They had joined forces and had invaded the land of Judah, even attacking Jerusalem itself. Unfortunately, instead of looking to the Lord for help, Ahaz, the king of Judah, sent money and a delegation to the king of Assyria, asking him for help, asking him to come and save him. So he came, and he saw, and he conquered. He started with the nation of Aram. He and his armies invaded Aram and defeated their armies and ravaged their land. Next he invaded northern Israel, territories like Zebulun and Naphtali, and conquered them. After that he invaded southern Israel, this time laying siege to the capitol of Samaria and conquered it. And finally, a number of years later, he even attached the city of Jerusalem. It was a dark time for the people of Israel, a time of gloom and distress and death, friends and family members killed in the fighting, homes and villages burned to the ground, and many of the people taken away into captivity, never to be heard from again. Isaiah refers to that in these verses, doesn’t he? He talks about gloom and distress.(v. 1) He mentions how God had humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.(v. 1) He talks about people walking in darkness and living in the land of the shadow of death.(v. 2)
But one day all of that would change. One day the people walking in darkness would see a great light. One day a light would dawn for God’s people, especially those living in that northern region of Galilee. Anyone like to guess who or what that light would be? Matthew told us in our gospel lesson this morning, didn’t he?
[Jesus] returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned”(4:12-16)
The light was Jesus. He was the one Isaiah was talking about, the one who would bring light to this region of darkness, the one who would bring light and life and joy to the people of Galilee.
So was that a mistake of some kind? I mean, Galilee was still a land of darkness, even in Jesus’ day. Sure there were numerous Jewish settlements there, towns and villages where there were synagogues, where the people worshipped the Lord and listened to his Word, where people were still waiting for the promised Messiah to come. But there were lots of Gentiles living there too, foreigners, non-Jews, people from strange places who had strange ideas and worshipped strange gods. It was called “Galilee of the Gentiles” for good reason. So was this a mistake, that Jesus, the Light of the world, would appear here, that he would, in fact, spend the majority of his ministry preaching and teaching in the land of Galilee, in the land of Gentiles? Not at all, it was a clear and vivid reminder of a wonderful and comforting truth: Jesus is the Savior of all people. Yes, he is the Savior of the Jews—no question. He is the Savior God promised to their ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But he is the Savior of the Gentiles too, of all those walking in darkness, of all those living in the shadow of death. He came to save them all. So what a reason to rejoice, for the Jewish people living in Galilee to rejoice, for the Gentiles living in Galilee to rejoice, for all the people of Galilee to rejoice!
And we can join them in that celebration, can’t we? We can rejoice and sing right along with them, because Jesus is our Savior too. As I look around this morning, I don’t see many people of Jewish descent. I see lots of Germans and Norwegians and Swedes, and a mix of some other nationalities too. I see lots of Gentiles. And yet, that’s the joy and the beauty of the gospel, isn’t it? That’s the glory of the season of Epiphany and the comfort of texts like this one. Jesus, the Light, has dawned. And he brings light and life and peace and joy for all those walking in darkness, for all those living in gloom and distress, for Jews and Gentiles in Galilee, for Jews and Gentiles right here in Minnesota. Rejoice in Jesus. He is your light too.
So what message did Jesus proclaim to the people in Galilee? Isaiah describes it as a message of freedom, a message of deliverance. Look again at what he says:
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. 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.(vv. 2-3)
Who could forget what God did when he delivered his people from the Midianites? It was legendary. It was right up there with David and Goliath. The Midianites had devastated the land of Israel for 7 years—7 long, horrible, awful years. The people had been forced to flee from their homes and villages and live in caves and shelters in the mountains. The Midianite soldiers had plundered their homes and killed their animals and destroyed their crops. They had reduced the people to absolute poverty. And then God raised up a judge named Gideon. And with 300 men Gideon attacked the Midianites and defeated them and delivered the people from the terrible yoke of their oppression. And oh, how they celebrated!
The people of Galilee were living under oppression in Jesus’ day too, cruel oppression under the heavy hand of the Romans. They hated living under Roman rule. They hated paying Roman taxes. And they longed for a deliverer, someone who would rally the Jewish people and drive out the Romans and restore their freedom. So that’s what Jesus came to do, right? And that’s the message he came to proclaim, right? “Come on, people, follow me. I’ll deliver you. I’ll set you free from these despicable Romans. Come on! We can do it. Just follow me.” It isn’t, is it?
You see, there’s another kind of oppression that is even worse than the oppression of the Midianites, even worse than the oppression of the Romans. It’s an oppression we struggle with even today, right here in America. You see, the gloom and distress and darkness that affected the land of Galilee still affects us today. You can see it in the news—another shooting in Minneapolis, another murder in St. Paul, another government official charged with corruption. You can see it in the drugs and the drinking and the pornography and the other addictive and destructive behaviors people engage in. You can see it in the abortions. This past week marked the 47th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision, 47 years since abortion became legal in our country. In that time more than 61 million babies have lost their lives as a result of being aborted—61 million. So much senseless slaughter! So much death and darkness!
We can see it in the broken homes and broken marriages, in the tragic accidents that rob us of our loved ones and the devastating illnesses that rob us of our health. We can see it whenever we go to the funeral home or whenever we go to the cemetery. In spite of all our advances in medicine, we still live in the land of the shadow of death. And yes, we can see it our own hearts and lives as well, in our own struggle with sin and temptation, in our own struggle with depression and addiction, in our own hurtful words and our own loveless actions. And worst of all, unless something changes, we face an eternity of darkness as well, an eternity separated from God in the outer darkness of hell. So who can save us? Who can rescue us and set us free from this awful oppression? Who can bring us light and deliver us from this darkness?
Jesus can. And Jesus has. It’s why he came, to deliver his people, to shatter the yoke that burdens them, to shatter the bar across their shoulders, to shatter the rod of their oppressor, to set his people free. And that’s exactly what he accomplished by his death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day. He won a victory far greater than the victory Gideon won and defeated enemies far worse than the Midianites. He broke the power of sin and Satan and death and set his people free. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection the yoke of sin has been shattered. Your sins are all forgiven. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection the rod of Satan has been shattered. You are no longer under his power and control. You belong to Jesus now, a loving Lord who only wants what’s best for you. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection the doom and gloom of death has been shattered. Death is not the end of the story. It’s not the final chapter in a sad and disappointing life. No, the final chapter is life, perfect life in a perfect place; and it never, ever ends.
Man, what a reason to celebrate! What a reason to sing and shout and jump up and down! This is better than the Vikings winning the Super Bowl. This is better than getting a hundred stuffed, plush, huggable Olaf dolls for Christmas. Yes, we still live in a world of darkness, but the light has come. The light has dawned. And we have seen it. That light is Jesus, the light of the world, the Savior who delivers his people from their enemies, the Savior who brings light and salvation for all. Rejoice in Jesus, our light! Amen.