DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE LIGHT HAS COME

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE LIGHT HAS COME

"Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 'the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.' " (Matthew 4:12-16)

It is striking that Jesus did not being His ministry in the center of the Jewish religion. Jerusalem was where the temple was. It was the seat of worship and of religious power. All of the bigwigs were there. Instead, Jesus chose to begin His ministry in out-of-the-way places, like the city of Nazareth, and the areas of Zebulun and Naphtali.

Nazareth was looked down on by the rest of the nation. In fact, it was a common saying, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). And the areas of Zebulun and Naphtali – which were assigned when the Promised Land was divided by Joshua (Joshua 19) – were on the northern edge of the land of Israel. They were at the edges of the nation, far removed from Jerusalem.

It was into these obscure places that Jesus first came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. They were sitting in darkness. They needed the light of the Gospel. And the light of the Gospel shined. As John wrote, "That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:10

I wonder if we look in the wrong places for Jesus. He will probably not be found much in Washington, D.C., the center of power. He probably won't be found much in the bright glitter of Las Vegas, which, despite the neon lights, actually is sitting in darkness. He can be found where there is darkness, because that is what He came to do – to bring light into darkness.

From the beginning of the creation of the world, when darkness was on the face of the deep, God said, "Let there be light," and the light shined (Genesis 1:2-3). "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (John 1:5). Jesus came and shined into the dark places. Wherever Jesus is, there is light. But the most relevant to us was when "God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 4:6). The light of the world has come!!

Love, Dad