3rd Sunday After Epiphany, Year A. Series

Isaiah 9:1-4, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 27:4-9, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, Matthew 4:12-23.

A). THE DAWNING OF THE LIGHT.

Isaiah 9:1-4.

The prospect at the end of Isaiah 8 was one of ‘trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish’ (cf. Isaiah 8:22). But now there is a “Nevertheless” (Isaiah 9:1). The darkest night is followed by the dawn. The dimness is vanquished, and affliction replaced by glory.

One of the motifs of the incarnation is of light breaking into the darkness (Isaiah 9:2). There is still much darkness in the world, but when the true light comes the darkness cannot extinguish the light (cf. John 1:5). Even the shadow of death flees at His presence (cf. Psalm 23:4).

Jesus is the true light (cf. John 1:9) - as opposed to the false light of paganism, or the relative light of the types and shadows of the Old Covenant. His is original light as opposed to reflected light: the light of the sun as opposed to the light of the moon. His light is full, as opposed to partial.

There is an outbreak of joy on account of His nativity - like the joy of harvest, or the joy of a day of victory in war (Isaiah 9:3). It is like deliverance after captivity, and the breaking of the yoke of the oppressor (Isaiah 9:4).

When Jesus returned from the temptation in the wilderness, He heard that John had been put into prison. This heralded the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry, not in Judea, but in the region of “Galilee of the nations” (Isaiah 9:1). The true light had arisen in the midst of great darkness (cf. Matthew 4:12-16).

B). JESUS, OUR CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD.

Psalm 27:1, Psalm 27:4-9.

1. We look first at the ground of David's confidence in this Psalm: “the LORD.”

When the moniker “the LORD” is used in English translations of the Old Testament, it is a device that stands for the unspoken name of the true and living God. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is; the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Holy One who saved Israel from captivity in Egypt; and the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In New Testament times we might also recognise in this symbol Jesus Himself, who is our light, whose name means salvation, and who is the strength and confidence of the people whom the LORD God His Father has given Him. David was fully aware of the plurality of the Godhead when he said in Psalm 110:1, “The LORD said to my Lord...” - a verse quoted by Jesus Himself (Luke 20:42), and by Peter (Acts 2:34).

David had also called the LORD “my shepherd” in Psalm 23:1, yet Jesus had no hesitation in declaring Himself the Good Shepherd under the Godly moniker “I am” which corresponds to “the LORD” (John 10:11). In another “I am” saying, Jesus declares: “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). In fact, Jesus never shrank from nor denied the accusations that He was making Himself equal with God.

After all, there is but one God, yet there are three Persons in the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal. It is this God in whom we must place our trust. This is the beginning of our faith.

2. Secondly, we may consider the particular attributes of the LORD which give rise to David's assurance: light, salvation, and strength.

“The light” of which David speaks is not created light, the light of the cosmos or the sun, moon and stars. It is uncreated, original light, found in God Himself. This is the foundational light of which the Apostle John speaks: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

John elsewhere refers to Jesus as the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world (John 1:9). Again we have evidence of the plurality, and the oneness of the Godhead.

There is also such a thing as created light, which God brought into existence on the first day (Genesis 1:3-5). This was ahead of the sun, moon and stars - which only put in their appearance on day four (Genesis 1:14-19). God Himself is the source of all light.

In another of His “I am” sayings, Jesus claims to be “the Light of the world” (John 8:12). To substantiate this, He healed a man born blind whose testimony is echoed by all who have been saved from the blindness of ignorance and ungodliness: “One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

The salvation which David celebrated involved the same LORD who had delivered Israel out of captivity in Egypt, and brought them into the holy land under Joshua, whose name means “the LORD saves.”