A Light for Sinners
One of the most hopeful prophecies about the coming of Christ into the world was delivered to the Jewish people some 700 years prior to his birth. Isaiah 9:1-7 is a promise from God, about a time in history when the light of God’s forgiving grace would dawn upon the Jewish people and upon the rest of the world.
A light, as we see in this passage, that would come in the form of a person. A real, living person. The person of Jesus Christ.
The passage reads like this:
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:1-7 ESV)
In this post I want to fast forward in history with you, to around 700 years after this prophecy was first given, to see how at least much of it would begin to be fulfilled and to better understand the reason that Christ has come. My hope is that this might serve as helpful to you, as you celebrate Christmas this year.
So, speed ahead with me then, to some 700 years after the days of Isaiah’s ministry. The child that this prophecy proclaims has been born. The long awaited king that this promise teaches us to look forward to has come to the world. The Savior it predicts is here. And he’s now a grown man; 30 years old or so. He is a man named Jesus, whose family is from the town of Nazareth. And the time has come for him to start showing the world who he truly is and what he has come to the world to do.
The apostle Matthew walks us through the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on the earth in a way that makes clear that as Jesus sets out to begin his ministry, he has the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-7 (or at least the first couple of verses of that chapter) on his mind.
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles- 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:12-17 ESV)
Matthew tells us that as Jesus sets off to begin his ministry of preaching and performing miracles on his way to the Cross, that he is intentionally fulfilling the promise of Isaiah 9:1-2.
Some Critical Historical & Geographical Details
Now, there are a at least a couple of geographical and historical details that are highlighted both in Isaiah 9 and in Matthew 4 that are important to understand, and are essential for grasping the significance of the promise Isaiah gives and Jesus fulfills.
The first critical detail here is that the land of Zebulun & Naphtali (mentioned in Isaiah 9:1 and Matthew 4:13) are at the northern border of the land of Israel. They are north of Jesus’ hometown (Nazareth) near where the Jordan River meets the Sea of Galilee.
Originally in the Old Testament, these were the territories that were assigned to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali (2 of Jacob’s sons) after the nation of Israel entered and conquered the Promised Land. Then later in the OT, these were the territories that were first attacked and conquered by the Assyrians (2 Kings 15:29), as they sought to invade and overthrow the kingdom of Israel.
But the second thing we need to know about the land of Zebulun and Naphtali was that the reason they were attacked, ultimately, was because of their sin. They were attacked because they had over time turned away from God; the one who created the nation from scratch with their patriarch, Abraham; the one who had saved them from the Egyptians by leading them through the Red Sea; the one who had given them his law to live by in gratitude and love for saving them from slavery; the one who had provided for them in the wilderness; and the one who had brought them safely and victoriously into a land that he had been promising to give them for centuries.
The Jewish people had turned away from their Creator and Redeemer. They broke his law. They lost sight of his goodness. They became ungrateful and apathetic toward him. They worshipped idols. They broke their promises to be obedient to him. They violated the covenant he had established with them. They failed to live as his people, and for years they lived just like the rest of the world. And God punished them for it – sending enemies to attack them and take them captive.
And the first territories in Israel to feel the brunt of God’s just punishment, were the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali. Over seven centuries before Jesus was born, these lands were ransacked and the people living there were punished for their sins.
This is what makes the promise of Isaiah 9:1-2 so bright. In that passage, God promises through the prophet that they will see the light of the goodness and grace of the Lord once again.
And this is what Jesus has in mind as he sets off in Matthew 4 to begin his ministry on his way to the Cross. He intentionally makes his ministry headquarters the town of Capernaum; a town set on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the very territories of Zebulun and Naphtali - in the very places that first felt the brunt of God’s just punishment and judgment of sin.
There Jesus goes intentionally and there he establishes his ministry base, in order to fulfill the promise of Isaiah 9:1-2. He goes there first, so that the lands that have long lived under the burden of divine judgment might again live under the blessing of divine grace. Strikingly, it is there in that same land that had long lived under the weight of God’s dark judgment, that Jesus begins to call people back to God (Matthew 4:17).
Now, what does all this mean for us? And what does all this tell us about Christ and about his purpose for coming into the world?
There are many vital truths about Christ to see here, but we’ll focus in on three of them.
First…
We learn that the reason Jesus came into the world was to reconcile sinners to God.
Of all the things there are to know about Jesus, this truth is near the very top of the list. Of all the things we need to know about Jesus, we need to know this: That he came into the world on a mission of redeeming grace – to reconcile sinners to God. To bring God and man together. To save sinners from the judgment that they fully deserve to receive from their holy God and Creator because of their sins.
His foundational purpose in coming to the world as a man, was to bring God and man together. To reconcile God to man and man to God, through the offering of his perfectly righteous life in the place of thoroughly unrighteous sinners on the Cross, so that in him we might be declared righteous in the sight of God, and reconciled to God, and embraced as God’s sons and daughters forever.
The darkness that the people of Isaiah 9 are said to have long dwelt in, is nothing short of the darkness of God’s holy judgment – the most terrifying and horrific darkness that there is. And Jesus is the light that breaks through that darkness, to lead sinners out from it.
The second thing we learn from the promise of Isaiah 9 is this:
We learn that believing we are sinners is essential for grasping the significance of his coming.
The light of God’s grace can only be truly seen and appreciated by those who know that apart from that light, they live in darkness. If Jesus came into the world to save sinners, you’ll never understand or appreciate Jesus until you see yourself as a sinner who needs saving.
Another way to say it is to say that to really get Jesus, you have to admit that you are a sinner without qualification. A sinner who deserves to live in darkness forever. A sinner who has earned his place in “the region and the shadow of death” (as the text describes it here).
To see the light that is Christ, you have to admit that there is not light in you. And that you are not the light yourself. And that you cannot find your way out of the darkness of sin on your own. You will never see the light that is Christ, until you see the darkness that is your own sin, and the shadow of God’s judgment that has been cast upon us all because of sin.
Now to some people, the idea of admitting you are a sinner feels like a very negative or even discouraging sort of thing. Yet it does not have to be this way. We know that because of the third truth revealed here in Isaiah 9 and Matthew 4.
We also learn here that there is more grace in Jesus, than there is sin in us.
Remember who Jesus is coming to in Matthew 4; who he intends to shine the light of God’s forgiving grace upon. A people who had for centuries turned their backs on God. A people who deserved to live in darkness forever. Great and wicked sinners, just like you and me, apart from God’s saving and sanctifying grace.
There is no sin that you or I have ever committed that was not committed repeatedly over centuries among the Jewish people. You name it…you think of it…they did it. And they did it as people who knew better. They did it as people who knew very clearly and had studied and memorized God’s commands. They did it despite having seen the wonderous works of God. They did it as the objects of God’s kindness and covenant love. Their sin was willful and cold-hearted and repetitive and pervasive. Their sin was bad. Just like yours. Just like mine.
Jesus has full knowledge of the people he’s going to. He knows what they’ve done. He knows how bad they are. He sees all and he knows all. He knows the seriousness and the details of our sinfulness far better than we know it ourselves. There are no secrets with him. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali was a land full of half-hearted religious people, total religious hypocrites, all out godless pagans, and everything in between. And yet that’s the land where Jesus intentionally decides to begin spreading the news of God’s redeeming mercy and grace. That says a mouthful. If you see something of your own sins in them, take heart. Your sin, just as theirs, is great indeed. But his grace is greater still.
So then if you are a sinner (which you are), know this Christmas that Jesus came into the world for you, no matter how great of a sinner you are. If you feel the weight of your sins and wonder if the burden of your sins can ever be lifted, rejoice this Christmas that a Savior has come to carry that weight on your behalf. And if you are walking under the darkness of God’s judgment because of your sin, alienated from your Creator because of it, look this Christmas to the light that has broken through that darkness, trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins, and rejoice that our merciful God has shined the light of his saving love into the dark land of sin and death.
The brightest light ever to shine upon our world has surely dawned in the coming of Christ into the world, and upon all who trust in him that light will shine forever. Christ is a light for sinners; a light that breaks through the darkness of sin and eternal death. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. May that light shine upon you this Christmas, and forevermore.
