A Light Has Dawned

Matthew 4:16-17

“. . . the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is arriving.”

A. Orendorff

Darkness. A dawning light. The command to “repent.” And the proclamation of a kingdom. Immediately on the heels of his baptism and wilderness temptations, Jesus heads north the region known pejoratively as “Galilee of the nations.” He does so, Matthew tells us, so that the words of Isaiah 9 might be fulfilled:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined (Is. 9:2).

That same prophecy goes on in the very next verses to speak of Israel’s redemption from the hands of Babylon, the end of her impending exile and with it the ultimate cessation of enmity and war:

You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire (9:3-5).

The reason, Isaiah says, lies in the birth of a child:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this (9:6-7).

Jesus’ announcement that the “kingdom of heaven is arriving,” means the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy for it is through Jesus’ own arrival and kingdom-bringing work that, as John says, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). “I am the light of the world,” Jesus declared, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

While Matthew surely had something along these lines in mind, perhaps more to the point are the words of Jesus just one chapter later in Matthew 5: “You [this time speaking to his disciples] are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14).

Much can and is said about the growing darkness of our world, yet for all our cultural lamenting what must remain central is that we, Jesus’ followers, are to be the light the breaks in upon those “dwelling in darkness.” We, as the church, Jesus' kingdom-bringing bearers, are to dawn upon the parts of our world covered in the “shadow of death.”

The darkness of the world is due not to the presence of night but to an absence of the sun. “You are the light of the world.”