A new day dawning

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

 NEW DAY DAWNING

Matt 4:12-17

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 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."  

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 

NIV

We should make one more note about those temptations the devil presented to Jesus before we dive into these words. If Jesus had yielded in the slightest way, he would then not be qualified to be the sacrifice for sin. He would have been a sinner himself. After pondering on those three temptations we come to consider there may have been a pattern. The first, the stones into bread presumed on the goodness of God, the second throwing himself down, presumed on the power of God, and the third accepting the kingdoms from the devil would have rejected the honoring of God. These are areas we should be watchful of as well. Now onto these words regarding who Jesus is and what he is engaged in doing. Sometimes there are things we are told that cause a bid of pondering. When Jesus headed back to Galilee, but left Nazareth and went to Capernaum instead, to fulfill what the prophet said, did he do it in order to fulfill what was said about him through the prophet? He would have known what Isaiah said concerning him. So was he acting out the words to fulfill them or was he doing what he was doing because that is what he decided to do and it was just that Isaiah had been told that was what he was going to do? We just cannot be certain of which is the way it was, although we would have to believe Jesus knew what had been said about him, as it was him who told Isaiah in the first place what he was going to do. But it is in those words that we find our life lesson. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light.” We once lived in the land of the shadow of death, but we saw the dawn of light. When walking through a dark tunnel without even a glimmer of light there is no hope of coming to the end of the darkness. We would have no glue as to how long we must stay in the darkness of that tunnel. Our lives before Christ were just like that, no hope of ever seeing anything but darkness. Yet a light has dawned, and we finally began to see the light. The light of Jesus broke into our darkness and we could see again. There are people in this world who are still groping through the darkness of the shadow of death. Although they are in the darkness, death awaits them at the end of their journey. We know Jesus is the light of the world, and that he can find a way to be the dawn of light in their lives. But he has also told us that we are also the light of the world. Jesus said that while he is in the world he is the light.

John 9:5

5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 

NIV

But Jesus has left the world, he ascended back into heaven and both sits as the right hand of the Father, as well as makes continual intercession for us. So having left the world, he makes sure we know that now that we have accepted him as our Lord and Savior, we become the light of the world.

Matt 5:14-16

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

NIV

It is up to us to become the dawn of light in the darkness of their lives. We can bring them hope of an end to their journey in the shadow of death. When Jesus arrived in the land of Zebulun and the Land of Naphtali he began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near”.  He began to tell people they needed to have a change of mind, a change in their thinking, a change of heart concerning the path of life they were on. This is our mission as the light of the world. We put our light in a lampstand, living our faith out loud, unashamed of the gospel. As the light of the world we need to be shining our light, being that dawn of light to those who are walking in the shadow of death. We can give them hope of a new life in the light. We also know there will be some who refuse to come into to the light for their love darkness.

John 3:16-21

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.   19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

NIV

Although this is true, Jesus never condemned anyone to stay in the darkness, he brought the light so all men may have life. This too is our cause. We might find some who would prefer to stay in the darkness, that is their choice, but we cannot stop shining the light of Jesus into that darkness in hopes some will see the light as we did while we were in that same darkness. We must let that light shine. Let the dawn begin. Let us be that new day dawning for someone in the darkness.