Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death… The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. The glory which God revealed then through the prophet was but a prelude to that greater glory which the Incarnation made manifest. So much so that these words are used in Matthew 4:16, and relate to Jesus leaving Nazareth and coming to Capernaum, upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, that so the prophecy might be fulfilled. I. THE GREAT DARKNESS. History attests that of which prophecy foretells. There was moral darkness. Look at Corinth - so much so that to Corinthianize was to play the wanton. Look at Ephesus. Look at Rome, with its lust and license; its terrible realism in the cruel sports of the amphitheatre, stained with the massacre of beasts and with the gladiators' blood. Think of the intellectual darkness, when even the city of philosophy, proud Athens, erected an altar - which was a monument of its failure in the search after wisdom - "to the unknown God." II. THE SOMBRE SHADOW. "The land of the shadow of death." This language does not apply alone to the article of death itself. Every hopeless sorrow is a shadow of the grave. Death reigned supreme over human thought. There was no "looking forward" which could comfort the weary heart of man in its bereavements and griefs. Over city and throne, over the groves of philosophy and the gardens of pleasure, the same shadow brooded. So that the gloom came not alone when life drew near to its close, but the long dark shadow fell over all the pursuits and hopes of human life. As we think of all this we shall understand what the prophet means by a "great" light. For the wondrous glory of the Savior's revelation of "life and immortality" none of us can overestimate. It changed the face of society, and turned the weeping eyes of a weary world to glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. III. THE WELCOME LIGHT. Light makes all things beautiful. And light from "above" transfigures the lot of man. It turns his afflictions into momentary tribulations, and makes him to look, not on' the things which are seen and temporal, but on those which are unseen and eternal. It is related, therefore, to human life as well as spiritual life. Heaven is not only "the rest that remaineth;" its spirit pervades the entire sphere of our earthly history. Everywhere that blessed light shines; and whilst it makes us patient and hopeful in adversity, it gives cheerfulness to our pursuits and sacredness to our friendships - inasmuch as we are his disciples who said, "Let not your heart be troubled... I go to prepare a place for you." - W.M.S. Parallel Verses KJV: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. |
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