“On those who dwelt in the shadows of death, a light has dawned” – Isaiah 9:2b
One of the best well known songs that we’ll hear over this Christmas season is “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” The song was written for the Andy Williams Show and first debuted on the Andy Williams Show Christmas Special in 1963. Reading the lyrics of the first two stanzas seem to take you to another place far from reality:
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you, “Be of good cheer!”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
For many, Christmas is not the hap-happiest time of the year. It’s the worst time of the year. For instance, even though suicide rates don’t increast during the holiday season, they certainly don’t decrease even with “everyone telling you, ‘Be of good cheer!” If only it was that easy. Telling someone to have good cheer when it seems so far out of reach just increases the darkness they feel…unless there is a reason for good cheer to be had…
Our “thin blue line” sees very little of the most wonderful time of the year. They see how dark and broken our society is to the extent many of us will never know. In fact, if we knew even half the size of the tsunami of darkness they are doing their best to hold back we would live very anxious lives. But, these men and women in blue see and deal with those who dwelt in the dark shadows of death. But not all of them without hope. One such officer in our church was reflecting on the Christmas story while he was on duty on Christmas Day last year. Someone once said, “Good news is only good news in dark places.” Give it a read and be reminded of the light that Christmas brings us all. Be reminded that “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…”
Reflections on the Christmas Story
The world was shrouded in darkness, and fallen humanity dwelt in the shadow of death. Enslaved by sin, mankind stood as a fractured remnant of what God had created to be perfect. What once gleamed as a golden city, radiant with divine purpose, had been shattered into splintered rubble by the great rebellion. Across the earth, an evil and forlorn empire spread its desolation. Yet the Maker of that city had not forgotten His masterpiece. A whisper of hope endured, a tiny ember glowing faintly in the gloom, passed carefully from hand to hand, generation to generation. Not even a true hope, perhaps—merely the rumor of a hope yet to come.
This fragile rumor belonged to one tiny nation—a people decimated, enslaved, and brought time and again to the brink of extinction. Yet, like the ember they guarded, they persisted. Through the long eons of despair, their faith endured.
And then, at last, in the humblest obscurity, the ember began to glow. In a stable on the outskirts of a small village, amidst the filth and stench of animals, that ember sparked into flame. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who dwelt in the shadow of death, a light has dawned. A revolution against the empire of evil had begun. A door was opened in the unyielding walls of the world, and the King of Glory stepped quietly through.
Few noticed the moment. The nearby shepherds would have missed it, had the angels not proclaimed it to them. A handful of foreign kings discerned it and journeyed far to witness it. But for those few who recognized what had happened, their lives were transformed. Hope was no longer a distant dream but a tangible reality. Face to face with the Savior, even as an infant, they knew Him for what He was. Behold your King. Fall on your knees. O hear the angel voices. O night divine—O night when Christ was born.
With their proclamation, the promises of old surged back into remembrance. A King had been born—one who would bring hope to all nations. The prophecy declared that humanity, enslaved to darkness, would one day bask in His glorious light: For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, and garments rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for the fire. For unto us, a Child is born; unto us, a Son is given. And the government will be upon His shoulders. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from this time forth and forevermore.
But the cross comes before the crown, and the war had only just begun. This is why Christmas holds such profound meaning for me. It is the literal birth of hope—a promise embodied more than fulfilled. The angelic proclamation, “Peace on earth, goodwill to mankind,” does not deny the strife of the world, then or now. The peace and goodwill spoken of are not between men, but from God to humanity. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.And now, because Christ—the very embodiment of God’s peace and goodwill—has come, we have hope. Hope that, though for a time brother may fight against brother, it will not always be so.
The prophecies assure us that one day, our battle-worn garments soaked in blood will be cast into the fires of a celebration we cannot yet imagine. In the meantime, the fight continues—not in despair, but with the flame of divine hope burning within us. No longer do we battle alone in the dark. And though I must still strive against and even kill my fellow man to protect another, I do so in the knowledge that I have peace and goodwill with God. And someday, though centuries fade into millennia, that glorious city will rise again. And in its streets, there will be everlasting peace and goodwill—not only between God and man but among all men. The light shined in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.