Isaiah 8:19-9:4 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Third Sunday after Epiphany Sunday, January 29, 2023 “The Light Has Dawned”
It’s pretty easy to take light for granted, isn’t it? Just about any room that you and I might walk into, if it is too dark for us, all we need to do is flip a switch. In some rooms, we don’t even need to do that. The switch senses our movement and turns the lights on for us. We can see; we can find what we need; we get where we need to go. It is easy to take light for granted, but that doesn’t make light any less important or any less useful. The verses in front of us today from the prophecy of Isaiah use the contrast between light and darkness as a picture that teaches some very important truths. And this is far from the only place in Scripture where that is the case. The Bible uses the contrast between light and darkness to picture good and evil, safety and danger, knowledge and ignorance. And these verses, along with the other readings in our service today, invite us to rejoice because the light has dawned. The prophet Isaiah spoke God’s word in a challenging time in the history of his people. Isaiah was a prophet to Jerusalem and to the southern part of the Promised Land, to Judah. But so much of his ministry was announcing God’s anger against the wicked kings who ruled over his chosen people. So much of his ministry was addressed to kings who would not listen to what God said. And it is unsurprising that as the leaders refused to listen to God’s Word, many of the people followed their lead. King Ahaz was one of these wicked kings. You might recall the prophecy of the virgin having a child. That was recorded in Isaiah chapter seven. That was a message that God sent to Ahaz when he refused to follow God’s instruction and he refused to ask God for a sign through which God wanted to display his love and power. Ahaz continued to stop up his ears against the words of Isaiah, really the Word of God from Isaiah his messenger. God had promised safety and deliverance, but Ahaz did not listen. Ahaz sought an earthly ally in the powerful nation of Assyria. Assyria was powerful against Syria and against Israel, and the Assyrians went so far as to threaten Judah also. And while God would not let Judah be destroyed in this instant, their sin and unbelief was most certainly going to lead to their destruction. And that is the sort of darkness that Isaiah describes in this prophecy. Distress, darkness, gloom, and thick darkness describe how deep and abiding was the unbelief of the king and so many of his subjects. Instead of listening to God, they sought out spiritists and mediums, people who claimed the power to speak with the dead and to tell the future. Sure, they wanted to know. They wanted a glimpse into an uncertain future, but God’s people should have known that this was not the place to look for light. And so there was no light. The people did not turn to the law and the testimony. They did not focus on the message that God had given through the prophets. They could never have certainty. They could never find hope. They remained in deep darkness. They probably didn’t even listen as the message of light and hope was given. The land of Naphtali and Zebulun, the extreme northern reaches of the Promised Land had so often been trampled by invading armies and humbled by that legacy. But at some point it would be glorious. God would bring light into the darkness. He would shine joy and celebration and hope on it. And that is exactly what God did. Many years, even centuries later, that same area became the home base for the ministry of Jesus. Galilee of the Gentiles had been cleared out and resettled by the Assyrians. It was a land away from Jerusalem and the Temple and all that the Jewish believers held dear. Into that land came one who could heal every disease and every sickness, one who preached the good news of the kingdom of God. Into that dark land came the light of the world. And with his call to repentance and with his invitation he made disciples who followed him into the light. He made believers who would have in their hearts the light of life. In him, God kept the promise that he had made to sinners through Isaiah in the dark land and at a dark time. And that should be no surprise. When God makes a promise, he keeps it. This is how the promise was stated by Isaiah: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. For those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light has dawned. Like so many prophecies, God speaks as if what he predicts has