The Longest Night (part 2)

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; 
        those who lived in a land of deep darkness – 

        on them light has shined." 

(Isaiah 9:2)

 

Can you spot the conjunction?

I want to pick up where I left off yesterday. Darkness is real, and we would do well to acknowledge the heavy toll that darkness takes on the human soul.

 

But darkness, real and agonizing though it is, is not the reality that defines us. Darkness is not God’s ultimate intent for us. You don’t have to go any farther than the third verse in the Bible to know that darkness is not what God intends for us, for the very first words God speaks in all creation is “Let there be light.” So while we acknowledge the darkness that is common to all human experience, we also affirm that God breaks the darkness with the light of his glory and love.

 

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2) The words of the prophet Isaiah are affirmed and underscored by the apostle John when he speaks of Jesus in this way: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5) The Good News that we proclaim in the darkest season of the year – and in every season, for that matter – is that in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God answers the darkness with light. 

 

Light, which dispels the darkness. 

Light, which guides us through the darkness. 

 

And darkness did not, has not, cannot, nor ever will conquer the light. Not ever.

Yesterday was the winter solstice, the longest night. Last night was also the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the convergence of Saturn and Jupiter. So, of course I had to go and take pictures. As the sun set, the two planets began to appear side by side on the southwest horizon. And as the night became darker, the two planets appeared even brighter.

 

In the darkness, light was shining.

 

An interesting tidbit that I learned from this weather guy I follow on Facebook: Jupiter is 550 MILLION miles from earth, and Saturn is one BILLION miles from earth. Think about that for a second. The light we see from Jupiter and Saturn travels through hundreds of millions of miles of darkness to get to us.

 

The light shines, and the darkness did not, has not, cannot, nor ever will conquer the light. Not ever.

 

Light is the answer to darkness. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world – and the Light of the world – is God’s answer to our sorrow, our suffering, our broken hearts, our misery, our pain.

 

Not even the longest night can keep the light from coming to us.

It never has, and it never will.