Isaiah 9:1-2 “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”
GALILEE! GALILEE OF THE GENTILES! What a backward place! If Galileans had lived in Africa, they would have been called “ignorant people from the bush!” Galilee was a place of mixed races, a place where Greek customs were allowed to flourish. Many Jewish religious leaders had nothing but scorn for anyone from Galilee. When the Jewish leaders were beginning to conspire against Jesus and Nicodemus attempted to reason with them, they replied, “Aren’t you also from Galilee?” they replied. “Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee.” (John 7:52) Actually, they were wrong! The prophet Jonah, who was swallowed by a huge fish and who preached a revival that swept all of Nineveh, was from Gath Hepher in Galilee. But the fact remained, that Galileans didn’t enjoy much of a reputation.
The Jewish leaders knew that Jesus was raised in Nazareth in Galilee. But these proud intellectuals were so certain that they knew everything that they didn’t ask Jesus any of the normal questions such as “where is your family from originally?” The Africans would have said that “Jesus was a royal,” meaning that Jesus was born into a line of chiefs. Jesus was born into the human line of King David and the family was originally from Bethlehem. That was why Joseph and Mary had to struggle on foot for more than 70 miles over terrible roads to reach Bethlehem to satisfy the demands of the Roman census. And that was how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem.
When this upstart young preacher began teaching and healing in the villages around the Sea of Galilee, the religious leaders paid little or no attention. After all, this man was only speaking to ignorant fishermen and tradesmen. So as the light of the Gospel began to dawn on these people who had been walking in darkness, those in Jerusalem who claimed to be looking for the Messiah totally missed His coming.
Martin Luther has been quoted as having said that “we must be little Christs to our neighbor.” Many times, we are surrounded by people desperate for any kind of light in their lives. Because we ourselves are also searching for light, we may fail to share the light we already have with those around us. And sometimes we become light bearers by the grace of God.
Several years ago, we had a young friend who was looking for love and significance in all the wrong places. Drugs, alcohol, even witchcraft -this girl had tried them all, and nothing satisfied the longing in her soul. Then my husband began working with this young lady. Later, she told us that when my husband came into the room, it was as if she was under a pile of garbage and suddenly there was a bright light. And if she saw my husband and me together, the light became very bright. We knew nothing about this, but we kept praying and that was it. But the night this girl accepted Jesus, she prayed, “whatever Bob and Jean have, I want it!” When we saw our friend two years later, a holy joy radiated from her.
I am not telling this to boast. We were completely unaware of our friend’s observations. But God shone a light; we were just in the general vicinity when God decided to work. The world is full of darkness, but if we share whatever light and joy we have, who knows what God might do?
PRAYER: Father God, today we long for light and joy. Help us to share what we can, trusting that you will multiply our efforts to reach and encourage many others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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