In addition to the well-known “Christmas” narratives like those in Matthew and Luke, there are many individual verses scattered throughout the Bible that also speak of the Savior coming into the world. One such verse is Isaiah 9:2:
The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light: they that
dwell in the land of the shadow of
death, upon them hath the light shined.
In Matthew 4, we learn that this verse is about Jesus, the Messiah. It is a prophecy that He would come into the world and live and minister in Galilee, a region of Israel that had been dominated for centuries by spiritual darkness and death. Jesus, of course, fulfilled that prophecy. He was indeed “a great light” that “shined” not only in the region of Galilee but everywhere He went when He was here on earth.
Once we understand this verse is about Jesus coming into the world, we immediately see it has a broader application to all men everywhere, especially to believers. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). As His followers, we recognize that this great verse in Isaiah is not just about the people in Galilee at the time of Christ. It is about us, too! We are the people who were in spiritual darkness. We are the people who dwell in the land of the shadow of death. But we are also the people whose spiritual eyes have been opened to see the Great Light, Jesus Christ, who entered this world to die for our sins on the cross and purchase our salvation. His glorious light has shined in our hearts to dispel the darkness!
In 2 Corinthians 4, we find this tremendous statement about the Light of God’s salvation: If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them . . . For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
There’s an old hymn that many churches sang years ago. The words to that hymn go like this: The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin, The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday, His glory shone in; The Light of the world is Jesus! Refrain: Come to the Light, ’tis shining for thee; Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me; Once I was blind, but now I can see: The Light of the world is Jesus!
This year when you see the Christmas lights, let them remind you that Jesus is the Light of the world. And if you’ve never trusted Him for your salvation, what a wonderful time of the year to come to the Light and be saved!
