The arrival of Jesus 2,000 years ago was a new day breaking on a dark and weary world. But I have been wondering if those of us who have only known a world where the light has already come can fully comprehend this. Can we truly feel the thrill of hope that his arrival brought? Living in the aftermath of the cross has led to a world vastly different from the one into which Christ was born. We live in a society, albeit a secular one, that bases its ideas of morality on the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of love. Many well-known atheistic thinkers acknowledge this fact, just read Jürgen Habermas or Tom Holland. 

But I am speaking as someone from a Western and historically Christian nation and there are, of course, places today where the imprint of Christianity and its positive impacts are not as evident. But even in these places, the light has shone and nothing is now as it would have been without Christ’s coming. In countries where regimes actively try to repress the gospel, it still grows. In nations where basic needs of survival are not regularly met, you will find people and organizations being the hands and feet of God in practical and life-saving ways. Even here in Scotland, we see families who are isolated and alone, needing someone to come alongside them. The local church and organizations, like Safe Families, seek to create relationships and connections with those very people. So you see, when God came and dwelt among us, it changed everything. Our world understands this as the focal point of history regardless of whether they believe in it. His coming split history in two, before and after Christ. 

So my question is this, since you and I live in a world where the light has come, do we allow ourselves to experience the thrill of hope of Jesus stepping into the darkness? It would be easy to think that since we live in the “after” we aren’t living in darkness at all. But just like those before Christ, we continue to be a people who choose to live with our sins unchecked and we see the effect of that unfolding in so many ways. So yes, there is still darkness, but it is different. 

Adam and Eve lived in perfect relationship with each other, the world, and their creator, but sin destroyed it all. It’s as if it caused an earthquake that ripped the very ground beneath them open, swallowing them into a dark yawning cave with no light at all to see their way out to safety. But even there, God promised to come to the rescue. The Old Testament saints had the promise of His presence and the assurance that he would not leave them in this darkness. But they continually tried to live life by their own rules, or you could say they tried to find their own way out of the cave. We read story after story of how His people ignored the covenant and kept trying to rescue themselves in whatever way they saw fit. The prophets denounced Israel’s waywardness and reminded them of God’s promises. At Christmas time in particular we remember the message of the prophet Isaiah. He foretold the coming of Emanuel, the prince of peace who was also the everlasting father and mighty God, the one who would lead them out of darkness forever. And then…nothing. 400 years of silence ensued, as chaos reigned and kingdoms rose and fell, and God’s people were still trapped in the darkness. But during the oppression of the Roman Empire, in Bethlehem the city of David, in the most unexpected of ways, the light dawned. A people trapped in darkness, for the first time, saw light. Can you imagine the thrill of hope? This hope is still on offer today for those who will receive it, for those who choose to follow his light out of the cave.