The Light

by J.L. Ferguson, Barrhead, U.K. | Category: The Star, The Lamp And The Light | Oct 1983

Not till the lamp went out by Jordan did the "great light" begin to shine in Galilee. Not till Jesus heard that John was delivered up did He begin "to teach and to say, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The whole setting is choicely laid out in Matt. 4:12-17.

First, He left Nazareth in the heart of Galilee's south country, and made for the sea. There were fishermen there, and from them He would call, discipline, train a few. And Isaiah's vision would begin to find fulfilment, "My disciples... Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given Me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion" (Is. 8:16-18).

So He came and dwelt in Capernaum, in the borders of Zebulun (Heb. zabal, he dwelt) and Naphtali (Heb. niphtal, he wrestled). The words in brackets are in the R.V. margin of Gen. 30:8,20. Messiah the Prince was among His people, dwelling, preaching, healing. He was also among His people, wrestling, day after day striving against sin, not His own. But He was striving against Satan His adversary, whose works He had come to destroy. Whittier has well described what may have been the feelings of the people in those fragrant days:

The healing of his seamless dress

Is by our beds of pain;

We touch Him in life's throng and press,

And we are whole again.

While we for our part may enjoy another verse from the same poem,

But warm, sweet, tender, even yet

A present help is He;

And faith has still its Olivet,

And love its Galilee.

There, in Galilee of the nations, the Galilee despised by Jerusalem, "the people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up." The true Light was now shining in the darkness of Israel. Nor could that darkness, nor all the power of its prince, overcome or extinguish it. Even in the darkness of Calvary the true Light put off from Himself the attacking principalities and powers of the rulers of the entire world's darkness. And that "great light" from Galilee, now the Light of the world, has shone ever since from the firmament of grace, and will continue to shine, more and more, till the "perfect day."

And He is still looking for lamps, burning and shining lamps, lamps which are prepared either to burn on and out for Him, or go on shining till He returns. "Seeing it is God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). He has shone in, to give light. Not to us, but to others. He has shone in our hearts so that light may now stream out from whence there was once darkness only - torches in broken pitchers (Judges 7:20), if you like; or light reflectors as in the church in Philippi (Phil. 2:15): lamps, burning with a strong warmth of affection to those who sit in darkness; shining with a clear illumination of the great truths for which we stand in the defence of the whole counsel of God. Again, another poet put it searchingly:

His lamps are we

To shine where He shall say;

And lamps are not for sunny rooms

Nor for the light of day

But for dark places of the earth

Where shame and wrong and crime have birth;

Or for the murky twilight grey

Where wandering sheep have gone astray;

Or where the lamp of faith burns dim

And souls are groping after Him.

J.L. Ferguson, Barrhead, U.K. | Oct 1983
The Star, The Lamp And The Light