What Jesus Did! 'The Dawning Light' — Matthew 4:14-16

Few, if any, symbols are more widely known than light and darkness. While our modern ability to light up darkness with a flick of a switch has changed the intensity of our existential understanding of darkness, it still persists. Most crimes occur during darkness. Many children intuitively fear the darkness. We are often uneasy walking the streets in darkness. When Jesus came to earth, the world was trapped in spiritual darkness. His people's hopes lay shattered in the darkness of their own failure and inability to throw off the yoke of hundreds of years of dominating nations. Religiously, God's people had sunk into deep darkness. God's people were led by corrupt priests — the Sadducees, who had sold out to the Romans, and strict Pharisees, who were overly demanding, who were often hypocritical, and who had lifestyles out of the reach for most commoners. Vibrant personal faith among many of the common people was a distant memory. No voice of a true prophet could be heard. When John was arrested, Jesus came to a land in darkness to bring light. He went to the most racially diverse area of Israelite influence, Galilee, to sow the seed of a ministry to all nations. More than just the start of Jesus' ministry, we are to hear in these few short words in today's scripture the hope of the prophet Isaiah realized:

To our darkness present so long,
God has sent his glorious dawn.
To our bitter, dreamless night,
Has dawned heaven's most glorious light.
(Isaiah 9:2 paraphrased)