Matthew 4:12-23 Epiphany 3
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
January 25, 2026
Darkness is not your friend. I don’t care how confident a person you are. I don’t care how capable you are. Go stay overnight at a friend’s house and try to find the bathroom in the middle of the night. You are not a ninja—not even close. You do that awkward shuffle thing with your feet trying not to hit anything, arms stretched out like a timid zombie, trying not to hit a wall—and just when you think you’re going to make it— bam—you hit a table! You tried, but darkness wins. Or you’re out hiking. You can pretty much walk the path with your eyes closed, and you give no thought to walking the trail back later on. But on your return, as it gets increasingly darker, every shadow looks suspicious, every sound gets your attention, every path looks the same. You panic a little. Darkness has stolen your confidence and replaced it with confusion and frustration—and a little fear! Darkness wins again. Bring light into the picture and things are entirely different, aren’t they? You see the table. You see the trail. Your shin is fine. You don’t get lost in the desert. What a difference light makes! It doesn’t just make things brighter; it allows you to understand the things around you. It eliminates confusion and brings peace where there was anxiety. God uses this contrast of darkness and light to teach us something more important than to use the light on your phone to find the bathroom and to not forget a flashlight for your hike. Darkness represents a life apart from God. Sin is the thing that distances all people from him and causes confusion and frustration and fear—it’s like living in the dark. The arrival of Jesus into this sin-darkened world was like a light switch being flipped on. And Jesus entering the life of a person brings light to the spiritually dark soul. Darkness does not win anymore. JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, the one who helps us to see things clearly and find joy instead of fear. Light That Was Foretold by The Prophets When the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land after slavery in Egypt and wandering in the desert wilderness, each of the twelve tribes received a portion of the land. The most important tribe was Judah. Those people lived in the south. They had all the advantages. They had the capital city, Jerusalem. They had the temple. They had the king. They had the promise that the Savior was going to be born from their tribe. As the years went by, most of the Israelites figured that since the Savior would come from the tribe of Judah, he would be born in Jerusalem. They also figured he would be an earthly king.