A Great Light

What a lot of words to introduce Jesus’ ministry. Couldn’t Matthew just have just said, “Jesus started preaching, and then got on with it?” The biblical writers didn’t just say things to fill the pages, they didn’t have a word count to meet, they said things with intention. We have to stop and ponder: why did Mathew say these words, and what was his intention?

The imagery here is wild. Matthew is painting this picture of Jesus bringing the kingdom of Heaven to fruition by His mere presence. It’s an image of dark places being interrupted and illuminated by Light. All of these places the original readers of Matthew would have seen as a dark place, the gentiles beyond the Jordan river, and the pagans on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. These people and places were blessed with a great light, a new dawn for creation. 

Have you ever seen the darkness before sun’s first light? Have you ever felt the hope of a dawn after a long dark night? The Hebrew people had been living that way, metaphorically at least. They were on the look-out for a great light, their Messiah. Matthew paints this picture of a wildly bright and powerful sunrise screaming across the land, bringing in the new kingdom.

But this light came from places the original readers would have considered a dark place, a place that perhaps didn’t deserve God’s light: the gentiles, the others, the uncleans ones. This light came to everyone, both to fulfill the prophecies of the Hebrew Messiah and to light the darkness for those of us who live in the “land of the shadow of death.”

Jesus is more than just a rabbi and great teacher, He is more than a prophet, more than a healer. He is the Light that brings in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of heaven ruled by love, life, and light. As we think about who Jesus is, we can imagine, as Matthew does, the dawn breaking forth to bring light to a dark world.