A Light Has Dawned
We are convinced that the coming of Jesus was a radical change for the world. With him God’s light began to shine on a world plunged in the dark. Today, is all darkness gone from our world? Even from his Church and the Churches? Is Jesus still our light today? Our lives should reflect God’s light on all people far and near. We acclaim Jesus here among us as the light of our life.
Is 8:23b,9:3
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and clubs and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
1 Cor 1:10-13,17
I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.
I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”
I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?”
God didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.
Mt 4:12-17
When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. This move completed Isaiah’s revelation:
Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
road to the sea, over Jordan,
Galilee, crossroads for the nations.
People sitting out their lives in the dark
saw a huge light;
Sitting in that dark, dark country of death,
they watched the sun come up.
This Isaiah-prophesied revelation came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
Prayer
God our Father,
your Son invites us, gently but insistently,
to follow him as faithful disciples.
Open our minds to his light,
make us respond to his love
and entrust our whole being to him.
May his kingdom grow in each of us
and in the whole world,
that he may lead us in hope
to the joy you have prepared for us in your home.
Reflection:
Isaiah 8:23b–9:3
Light that shines in the darkness!
Except for the first verse, we have already heard this reading at Mass on Christmas Eve. The prophecy is historically set in the second half of the eighth century B.C. It was the era of the Assyrian invasion in the Middle East. Devastation, violence, deportation, the imposition of heavy taxes were the consequences of the invasion of armies from Mesopotamia.
At this time of total destruction, the voice of the prophet announces the dawn of a new day: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. On those who live in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (9:1). In his vision of the future of Israel, Isaiah sees the Assyrian armies, responsible for the national disaster, withdraw and Israel resume its life in joy and peace.
The ‘great light that shines in darkness,’ referred to by the prophet, was undoubtedly a new king, a descendant of David’s family. He was destined to dispel the darkness inflicted by the foreign invaders. Probably the prophet was referring to Hezekiah, the son of King Ahaz in whom he had placed so much hope.
But, nothing much happened in the reign of Hezekiah. The Assyrians continued to occupy the lands of Zebulon and Naphtali for another 100 years. Hezekiah, who tried to escape their yoke, ‘was kept in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage.’ Does it mean that the prophet Isaiah got it wrong and promises were not fulfilled? Certainly not! God fulfils his promises, but in unexpected ways and in God’s due time. God has a plan that does not look for worldly powers. The prophecy was realised according to the logic of God through Jesus, 750 years later.
When Jesus showed up on the shores of the lake, the kingdom of the Assyrians had already collapsed centuries before, but the darkness of the world had not been dissolved. It was the darkness of evil, violence, oppression, corruption, and selfishness. This darkness began to dissipate—as Matthew will say in today’s Gospel—with the beginning of the public life of Jesus, when a light has shone on the mountains of Galilee.