By: Jason Coutts
“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matt 2:2 (ESV)
Men are naturally drawn to the light. It fixes their vision, preserves them from harm, and directs their paths. Light can arise from a variety of places and can elevate the life of us all in different ways and under different circumstances. Some of these come in the form of new insights into the understanding and interpretation of our world. Others might come in the form of a new love or a career advancement that gives new purpose or meaning to our earthly sojourn.
In and of themselves, these might be good and wholesome. Some of these lights offer hope to us as individuals or collectively as nations or groups with the promise of earthly power in the guise of comfort and success. Some lights tempt us to construct reality out of an endless procession of sensual images and advertisements, when we interpret this world with, rather than through, the eye, as William Blake described. And so, we go about busily building up the life of our own creation almost as part of our earthly duty, without any reference to the eternal Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14 (ESV)
The foolishness presents itself in the search for earthly kingdoms, which we seek ourselves in the form of academic or career success or which we perceive to be carried out in larger social and political movements that carry with them the promise of heaven on earth through the reallocation of resources, through equal outcomes between races or sexes, or through unlimited and unhindered pleasure.
Among Christians, we find some who have sought refuge in a favourite interpretation of a Biblical passage, a preferred political view, or a preferred manner of living or behaviour. Now, since humans are likely to be driven by similar motives across time, I have no doubt that the first century was characterized by the same sort of unrest, personal desire, political tension, and threats of violence, which revealed themselves in different ways.
And so, the love of God, in delivering His Son to us, is mingled with the sorrow of human suffering and disappointment. It is delivered to a world that had accepted, like our own, the false promises of earthly kingdoms – those kingdoms that promise peace for a day and afterward set the land in darkness.
And yet, the wise men of the time saw His star when it rose and came to Bethlehem to worship our Lord. They selected the greater Light, whose blaze enlightens the hearts and minds of every person who sees it and whose strength does not subside. Thus, in the midst of internal chaos, His Light brings order. In the midst of fake images, pomp, and power, His Light brings humility and grace. In the midst of relativism and indifference, His Light brings reason and truth. In the midst of solemnity and fear, His Light brings humour and life. And in the midst of horror and division, His Light brings beauty and redemption.
All those who love our Lord have seen and witnessed His light and life, and it is the advent of this Light we observe at Christmas. Let us pray that we would have eyes to see His light and choose, as the wise men, to forsake the promises of this present age. Pray that our hearts would be softened to receive it, intermingled though they be with all the pain and disappointment of this world. And pray for His grace to shine that light of hope to a world that desperately needs to hear it.
