Isaiah 9:1–4

Is. 9:1–4

¹But 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. ²The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. ³You 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. ⁴For 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.

In former times God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Notice this motif: former days, later days. The prophet speaks to us of the former time and the later time.

What does he say about the former time? He says that in the former time there was contempt for the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. Now these names may not be too familiar to us today. Zebulun and Naphtali were sons of Jacob. They were two of the ten brothers who sold their brother Joseph into Egypt. The lands of Zebulun and Naphtali were the territories that their descendents were given after they entered the Promised Land. They were part of the northern kingdom of Israel and were near the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan.

But these regions were brought into contempt. In the time of Jesus they were in what is known as Galilee. The Jerusalem Jews looked down on them. They were the low-class Jews. The wrong side of the tracks. The good for nothings in society. We hear Nathaniel ask, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" This was not a place where tourists went, nor was it filled with vacation homes. It was not the resort area filled with spas, country clubs, and mountain resorts. It was a place that decent people avoided. Galilee. They even talked funny; had a different accent. The slave girl at Jesus' trial identified Peter as being from Galilee on account of his accent. The prophet in our text today refers to it as "Galilee of the gentiles." For there were many Gentiles living in that area. It was an area that had not been completely freed from the Canaanites when the Israelites settled there in the first place. Then more pagan peoples moved there after the northern kingdom had been invaded by Assyria.

So it was held in contempt by the establishment among the Jews. Those of Jerusalem and Judea looked down their noses at the people from Galilee. But, that is exactly the place where Jesus was from. He grew up in Nazareth, in the territory of Zebulun, and then moved to Capernaum which had been the territory of Naphtali. If we were God, we would have chosen the land where the respectable people lived. The good areas with nice homes, spas and resorts. We would want the respect, the prestige, the bragging rights of living in the upscale neighborhoods—Beverly Hills, West Palm Beach, Martha's Vineyard, Maui. We are full or pride.

But God himself chose this despised area of Galilee to live in, preach, and do miracles. It was here that he changed water into wine. It was here he called his disciples. It was here he cast out demons, healed Peter's mother-in-law, walked on water, raised the widow's son. It was here he was baptized and it was here he began to preach saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Yes, repent of your pride!

It was here, in this land of darkness, the land held in contempt, that the light had come and the sick, the afflicted, the diseased and the oppressed by demons came to Jesus for help.

Yes, it was here that God chose to come to live among those living in darkness. It was here in the darkness that a great light shone.

But what is the darkness like? In the Hebrew there are several words for darkness. Two of them are used in our text. The first word is when he says, "The people who walked in darkness." This is the word used for the plague of darkness that struck Egypt. It always indicates judgment or curse. The other word for darkness the prophet uses in our text is where he says, "They dwelt in a land of deep darkness." This is the word that means shadow. It is the word used in Psalm 23 for the "shadow of death." It is the thick darkness of death, the darkness of the tomb, the internal anguish of the one who has rebelled against God.

So we have the people who lived in darkness; in the judgment and curse of sin, in the shadow of death, in anguish and gloom. And we get a glimpse of this darkness in the gospel reading. "Jesus went throughout all Galilee teaching and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people." That's what darkness looks like: disease and affliction. And they brought to him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics. That is the description of darkness: sickness, diseases, pains, epilepsy, paralysis. We see dark forces of darkness, those oppressed by demons. The darkness is the realm of the devil, it is the realm of the dead. For it was in this darkness that Jesus raised a little girl from the dead. It was in this region of darkness that he raised the son of a widow. That is the darkness: death, sin, evil, the realm of the devil.

But wait! That sounds exactly like the world we live in: sickness, disease, pain, paralysis, epilepsy, cancer, heart attack, Alzheimer's, old age, death. It sounds like a walk down a hospital corridor: ER, ICU, surgery, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, cancer ward, morgue. It sounds like a visit to the jailhouse: murder, rape, burglary, theft, drugs, prostitute. Or is it a look into your own heart: pride, jealously, gossip, bickering, selfishness, lust, adultery, temptation, sin, lack of love? After all, we're the ones who would not dare be born on the other side of the tracks. We want to be from the upscale neighborhoods, the respectable part of town. We would never condescend to be born in a barn, in the poor neighborhood, among the lower classes of society.

Seems as if we are the ones living in darkness, deep darkness; living under the judgment of sin, the kingdom of Satan, the shadow of death. Perhaps it is to us the Lord preaches, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For we are the ones living in darkness, or rather, we are the ones in whom the darkness lives. We are the sinner, the fallen, the one who deserves eternal condemnation. We are the ones who walk in darkness.

"But the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone." He went about all Galilee preaching "repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come." He healed them of every disease and affliction. He healed the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains. He healed the epileptics, make the paralytics walk, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead. That is what the light looks like. Once again we have a description of the light given in our Gospel reading. Jesus went around the lands of darkness healing, cleansing, casting out demons, raising people from the dead. This is what the light looks like. It looks like people repenting of their sin and coming to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. It looks like cleansing from unclean hearts and thoughts. It looks like healing from sickness especially on the day of resurrection. It looks like freedom from the prison and slavery of sin and death. It looks like the devil being cast out and Satan defeated. It looks like the raising of the dead on the last day and life everlasting. Upon us who walked in darkness has risen a great light; the Lord Jesus Christ whose light shines in the darkness of our world.

Into our darkness a light has come! A light to bring us great joy as at the harvest. For he has broken the yoke of our burden and the staff of our shoulder. He has lifted the rod of the oppressor. He has come to preach saying, "Repent of your sin, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He chose disciples, Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathanael, James and John and made them fishers of men and sent them to make disciples of all nations. And he sends out his disciples today, his church, you and me, to be fishers of men. In all the lands of darkness we go preaching the word, administering the sacraments. Calling people out of the darkness and into the light. We preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come." We administer the sacraments and bring people into the kingdom by baptism. We nourish and strengthen faith so that they persist until the judgment day. We go out to our neighbors and family to invite them to come to Jesus. We send missionaries to all the world. The light has come and we spread that light to all who still live in darkness. The church is living and active and on the move to reach the lost and strengthen the weak. To cast out the devil by the preaching of God's word. To raise the dead by the gospel of forgiveness and life. As Jesus says, "You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth." Amen.