Dec. 24, 2018            Light in the Darkness                                          

Sunday evening, after I got home from visiting, I watched one of my favorite religious movies, “King of Kings”. Now it has been a while since I last saw it, so I was interested in what new things I would find in it that I hadn’t noticed before, and I wasn’t disappointed.

This time, I noticed all of the different agenda’s of the characters. The agenda of the Romans to enforce their rule at the point of a sword. The agenda of Herod to live in luxury and pleasure. The agenda of the chief priests to maintain their religious monopoly. The agenda of the zealots to violently overthrow the romans. And through it all, we have Jesus, calling disciples, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, forgiving sinners, and proclaiming the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom unlike any other kingdom upon the earth, one in which there is peace, justice, mercy, faith, and love.

Of course, the romans only care if Jesus disturbs the peace, Herod only cares if Jesus will entertain him, the priests only care if Jesus threatens their monopoly, and the Zealots only care if Jesus will turn his followers over to their cause. Each of them look at Jesus through the lens of how he can help or hurt or be used by them, and so, their eyes are dark, they are blind to what he is doing, and they cannot see the light that is within him.

So what is Jesus doing? He is offering all of humanity an alternative to the ways of sin and death that make up the world. He is telling us that peace does not have to come at the end of a sword or spear. He is telling us that life isn’t solely about wealth and pleasure. He is telling us that we do not have to pay a price for forgiveness in order to turn from sin. He is telling us that those who take up the sword, shall perish by it. And finally, He is telling us that the power of God’s love in human life, can create an entirely new life, and a new world in which to live. A life of peace, safety, and security, a world where no one needs to be afraid, a world without hunger, injustice, and violence.

Now the Romans, the Herods, the Priests, and the Zealots, all think that the message of Jesus is a lot of talk, a lot of Words, he doesn’t have their power to make any of his kingdom to become true. Ah, but he does…, Jesus has the power of the Word, to enlighten the eyes of those living in darkness, to give understanding to those who are confused, to give hope to those who are hopeless, to bring peace to the lives of those who are afraid, to change the lives of those who have gone astray.

Jesus has the power of the Word to help people imagine a better life and a better world in which to live. The power of that Word draws people to him, creates disciples, followers, and draws the masses. The power of that Word in which people live as if the kingdom of God was present among them, despite the powers of the world around them. And so when that cross is raised on Calvary, all who heard that Word recognized it’s truth, that if we live according to the ways of the World, then we condemn ourselves to an endless cycle of sin, suffering, and death. But if we turn from our worldly ways, then indeed Christ will rise and be present with us, and the kingdom of God shall come into being among us.

Skip forward two thousand years, and we find ourselves with all the same familiar worldly characters, all pushing their agenda’s, and all inviting us to join them in their causes. And when we give into them, when we choose to make our lives all about power, pleasure, control, and violence, we may tell ourselves that’s the way the world works, but our sins multiply, our sufferings grow, and the fear of death hangs constantly over us. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Skip back two thousand years, and we find that Word of God was born among us. That the Word of God came and enlightened our eyes. That the Word of God brought a new way of life into being. And despite the powers of the world, the world could not overcome the Word. And despite the darkness of the world, that darkness could not overcome the light - that was born in Jesus Christ.