WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.519 Now, for a few minutes, I want us to think about a theme that keeps recurring in so many 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:20.000 of our carols, so many of the Christmas readings that we hear in churches, and it's the themes 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.059 of light and life. 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:29.000 As people, instinctively, I think, we love the light. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:37.439 I was picturing the advertising mix-up, you know, come to Edinburgh's Festival of Darkness. 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:45.200 Probably wouldn't be such a big, maybe it wouldn't, or welcome, we're having carols in the dark 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:45.920 this year. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.320 That'd be different, but it probably wouldn't be very attractive. 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:52.320 We love the light. 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:56.100 In fact, more essential than that, we need the light. 00:00:56.100 --> 00:01:02.920 At this time of year, our little rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, we desperately 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:03.899 need the light. 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:05.240 And so we love it, don't we? 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:06.680 You know, we need it to survive. 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:13.180 But at that basic level, as winter comes, as the nights get darker and longer, those lights 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:18.219 that we put up in our houses, that go up in the cafes and the streets and the shops, they 00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:19.640 give us that sense of hope, don't they? 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:22.359 They give us that sense of joy. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:24.260 So we love lights. 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:30.140 I imagine for so many of us, an important marker in the beginning of the season will 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:34.900 be putting up the Christmas tree and stringing up the Christmas lights. 00:01:35.740 --> 00:01:38.240 Boys and girls, we love to do that. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:43.740 And then probably when you go to bed, your parents rearrange it, make it look all nice. 00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:50.280 But it's at that moment, often, we think, ah, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:50.839 now. 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:53.419 And we're drawn to light. 00:01:54.199 --> 00:02:01.919 And it's not just in our part of the world, across cultures, across religions. 00:02:02.899 --> 00:02:05.739 Everybody celebrates festivals involving light. 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:10.199 And so clearly, there is something essential, fundamental. 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:14.199 There's some deep longing that's been spoken to there. 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:15.879 So we love the light. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:19.919 And I guess by contrast, often we find ourselves in different ways hating the dark. 00:02:20.799 --> 00:02:23.780 Because sometimes, the dark can make us scared. 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:28.379 Sometimes, the dark makes us feel sad. 00:02:28.379 --> 00:02:36.240 And isn't it interesting that we use darkness as a way to describe the sorrows and the sadnesses 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:36.719 of life? 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:41.359 We speak about going through dark times and dark seasons. 00:02:42.539 --> 00:02:48.139 Perhaps, at an even deeper level, there is that language of the dark night of the soul. 00:02:49.620 --> 00:02:55.259 When we experience a loss of energy or purpose, where we feel more sadness, more disconnect. 00:02:55.259 --> 00:03:01.000 So when it comes to this season, when it comes to the lights, when it comes to putting up the 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:07.379 Christmas lights, at times, we are going to find, and this season, maybe at times, it 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:11.479 will be adding to your sense of joy and sense of hope and excitement and anticipation. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:19.479 But other times, if we're honest, it can feel like a bit of an act of resistance, an act 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:22.979 of war against the dark, a determination to find hope. 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:30.840 So for a few minutes, I want to ask the question, why is it that the Bethlehem manger and the 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:36.459 first Christmas story becomes so connected to that theme of light and life in contrast 00:03:36.459 --> 00:03:37.299 with darkness? 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.799 Why is it that we associate Christmas with joy and hope? 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:47.839 Why of all the babies that have been born in the history of the world, is it this one, 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:53.700 this Jesus, who is described as and who describes himself as the light of the world? 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:59.719 Why is he the one we sing of as light and life to all he brings? 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:04.980 So to help us, so we listened to a couple of readings from the book of Matthew. 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:10.520 The book of Matthew is going to help us because we're going to think about three scenes in Jesus' 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:10.920 story. 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:15.099 The first that we heard about takes us to Jesus' birth. 00:04:16.379 --> 00:04:20.939 So if you were listening in, you would have heard and seen the light in the sense of that 00:04:20.939 --> 00:04:26.740 unique star in the sky pointing the way to the reality of a unique child. 00:04:28.159 --> 00:04:34.719 This star signaling God's promised eternal king is now lying in a bed of straw. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:39.160 The child in the manger is the light of the world. 00:04:40.080 --> 00:04:45.980 But also within our reading, and I'm sure you picked up on it, there is a sense of darkness. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:57.280 There are those in the royal palace, the religious leaders, who have their own agendas, and they 00:04:57.280 --> 00:04:59.160 choose to ignore Jesus. 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:01.660 They want to hold on to power. 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:07.400 They want to stick with their plan for their life, and so they are not going to bow to God's 00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:07.540 king. 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:08.760 There's light, there's darkness. 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:13.860 And then as those magi have arrived at the palace and then go on their way, we see the 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:14.540 light again. 00:05:15.940 --> 00:05:21.340 That light that leads the wise men to the child. 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:27.680 And when they come to find Jesus, they worship with joy. 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:30.300 It's an amazing thing. 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:34.699 Here's a group of people, they don't have a Bible for themselves, they don't have a long 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:39.699 history with God's promises, but they see this star, they recognize it, announces that 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:46.519 God is doing something, giving someone special, and they act, and they believe, and they worship. 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:52.980 They understand God's king is here, and that means joy, and that means life. 00:05:53.699 --> 00:05:56.420 And here is somebody who's worth sacrificing for. 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:58.000 See the treasures that they gave. 00:05:59.520 --> 00:06:05.340 And so we find these wealthy men bowing before the little Lord Jesus. 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:08.620 But there's also more darkness. 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:15.980 We don't often read to the end of chapter 2 in our Christmas events. 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:21.060 But when we continue reading, we discover more of this wicked king. 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:28.060 This wicked king who is opposed to God, and who is opposed to God's Son coming. 00:06:28.500 --> 00:06:33.280 We get that sense that within the world there is this battle between dark and light. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:41.199 And so we have this tragic reality around that first Christmas season of innocent children 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:47.619 being killed by an evil king who wants to extinguish God's light. 00:06:47.719 --> 00:06:51.359 There is light, and there is darkness at Jesus' birth. 00:06:52.859 --> 00:06:59.000 But we're next going to fast forward about 30 years or so to when Jesus' public ministry begins. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:06:59.959 It's really interesting. 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:05.500 When you read any of the accounts of Jesus' life, we learn a little bit about his birth, 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:10.259 and we get one or two stories about his early years, but really not much about his education 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:14.379 or about his work, his time as a carpenter. 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:20.060 But we do get a lot of attention to when he's around 30 and he's about to begin his public ministry. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:26.439 So here is Jesus, recognized as the Son of God, declared to be the promised king, 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:29.939 and now he's about to start speaking and start acting. 00:07:30.100 --> 00:07:34.100 And how does Matthew explain it? 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:42.939 Well, for Matthew, he turns to the Old Testament, and he turns to this passage in Isaiah chapter 9. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:48.100 In Matthew's gospel, it's in Matthew chapter 4, verse 16 and 17, in which he says, 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:52.079 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.060 On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:02.519 And so Matthew, one of Jesus' followers, is looking and listening, reflecting on Jesus, 00:08:02.659 --> 00:08:06.579 and he's the only way that I can describe this man is he is that promised great light. 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:11.560 The light that shines God's glory in his life, his teaching, his miracles, his claims. 00:08:12.419 --> 00:08:17.599 The guiding light that can bring people who are far away from God back home to God. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:25.040 The light that shines declaring the good news of God's rescue, good news of God's salvation to the world. 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:27.860 He looks at Jesus and he says, 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:33.399 This man, this man is the answer for those who feel that they're living in the darkness. 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.300 Living with the reality under the shadow of death. 00:08:39.060 --> 00:08:43.379 A people who are lost and confused and who are hurting, who don't know God. 00:08:44.060 --> 00:08:44.980 Who don't know hope. 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:47.560 Who've lost their joy. 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.580 Those who have a sense of utter despair and hopelessness. 00:08:52.680 --> 00:08:53.360 Matthew says, 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:58.220 For such people Jesus has come as light and as life. 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:01.759 A beacon of hope in the darkness. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:07.659 And if you want to know more about Jesus as he's described in the Gospels, 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:11.840 when it's time for refreshments, I've put some Gospels up there. 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:14.440 You're very welcome to take them and read them. 00:09:15.280 --> 00:09:18.380 But the third scene, as we think about light and darkness in Jesus' life, 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:20.940 takes us towards the end of his life. 00:09:21.040 --> 00:09:23.900 Indeed, it takes us to Jesus' death. 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:27.960 Because there's something that's really important for us to understand. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.720 At Christmas time, of course, we think a lot about the child in the manger. 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:32.960 We think about his birth. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:38.200 But to make sense of that event, we need to understand his mission. 00:09:38.300 --> 00:09:39.960 We need to understand why he came. 00:09:40.860 --> 00:09:45.160 To appreciate this claim that Jesus is the light that is able to drive out darkness, 00:09:45.660 --> 00:09:48.600 we actually need to move ourselves out from the stable 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.639 and go all the way to the cross and then to the empty tomb. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:58.740 Because, obviously, the contrast between light and darkness is great. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:04.199 And the Bible, we use this image of darkness to explain something of the human condition. 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:09.580 And one thing that you'll find in the Bible is it will never offer sort of pithy, 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:15.259 simple, self-help, superficial answers to our deep questions and fears and longings. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:17.220 And there's something wonderful about that. 00:10:17.280 --> 00:10:20.420 When we go with our deep needs and our deep questions and deep fears, 00:10:20.800 --> 00:10:22.440 there is an answer in God's Word. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:30.600 So, the Bible goes really deep in terms of explaining what darkness is at its most fundamental level 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:31.960 in the human experience. 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:35.840 So, we go through all kinds of things we describe as dark times, 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:42.340 but ultimately, at its bottom, at its core, it brings us to consider death, 00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:45.320 both physical and spiritual. 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:48.440 Separation from God. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.740 Being far from his light and from his life. 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:55.500 Where we discover that because of our turning our back on God, 00:10:55.560 --> 00:10:57.740 everything begins to fall apart. 00:10:59.180 --> 00:11:00.500 Have you ever had that question? 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:04.140 Why is life never as it should be, never how we want it to be? 00:11:04.760 --> 00:11:08.540 Why is it all too often our hopes and dreams seem to fade to darkness? 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:14.620 The Bible's answer is because we are separated from the true light source. 00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:17.540 If we are missing life with God. 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:23.719 And so, God knows that and God has responded to that by sending Jesus, the light of the world. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:30.639 And so, we have the amazing fact that the child in the manger is the creator God, 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:33.059 who has entered into the world that he has made. 00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:36.360 He has humbled himself by becoming fully human. 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:40.340 The child in the manger born to be the savior of the world. 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:44.879 In Jesus, we have a light that shines from outside of us. 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:46.700 The light of God's glory. 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:53.440 We have in Jesus this one who came on a mission to defeat death, to defeat the darkness, 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.879 in order to restore us to light and life with God. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.700 And the question is, how does he do it? 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:01.139 How will he do it? 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:05.799 And again, the Bible doesn't offer a simple, pithy explanation. 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:08.740 It offers us the cross. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:11.939 It offers us the death of Jesus. 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:14.519 Two verses to read. 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:17.799 Matthew 27, right towards the end of Matthew's gospel. 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:24.199 From noon until three in the afternoon, when the sun should be blazing at its hottest and highest, 00:12:24.699 --> 00:12:27.740 darkness came over all the land. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.719 About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 00:12:32.719 --> 00:12:37.659 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:44.519 What's happening here is that the light of the world has entered into darkness. 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:48.819 The darkness of God's judgment at the cross. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.000 That the eternal Son of God.