Read Isaiah 60:1-6.
I used to think that sunrise was brighter than sunset. It’s not really so. Look at these pictures from our recent trip. Sunrise can come as a small ball of light in a moody sky.
It takes time before the light brightens. At sunset, in contrast, the light is already spread wide.
But the small ball of light at sunrise is important! Just a little light gives a lot of hope. We know from our experience of other days that the dawn light will brighten. Isaiah gives the people of Israel this hope. It’s a morning wake-up call: “Arise, shine, for your light has come!” Isaiah knows that things aren’t great right now. He says, “darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples” (Isa 60:2).
Look at the picture. Clouds are certainly there. If it weren’t for the sun, it might look depressing. And isn’t it true – we humans are able to get depressed very easily. Isaiah saw that the earth had “darkness”, but for the peoples it was worse: they had thick darkness” (v2).
We need to look to the light. We need to avoid the darkness of depression. Isaiah sees that the light in the sky is going to do something else, too. It is a leading light. It is going to lead other nations to the place where Israel is. “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (v3).
What does this recall for us, in this week after Christmas? The story of the magi – the “wise men” from the east who followed a light in the sky and found Jesus. The star of Bethlehem appeared in darkness and led them to Jesus, the one who Simeon said would be “a light to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32). Simeon was quoting another part of Isaiah (Isa 42:6)!
Isaiah’s vision included the names of countries and the rise of Zion in status among them (Isa 60:6-9,13). We know that Jesus came with a different take on the status of nations. When Pilate questioned him, Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (Jn 18:36). But we see the prophecy fulfilled all the same. Isaiah mentions that gold and incense will be brought from Sheba (Isa 60:6). And those, indeed, were two of the gifts that the magi brought to Jesus: gold and frankincense.
But in the story from Matthew (Mt 2:1-12), we know there was a third gift that the wise men brought – a darker gift: myrrh. Myrrh was the oil used to embalm people who had died. It can also be a pain-killing medicine. We know that Jesus died for our sins. He suffered as a human being suffers. He understands the darkness of the human soul.
Christ is our light. We can follow him in even the darkest times. As the sun and the stars are above all nations and cultures, Jesus too is above all that. He is the light of the world. He welcomes all.
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