A great light has come into the world

Advent is a time of looking forward to the celebration of the birth of Jesus. For us, it usually lasts about a month, which isn’t very long (except maybe for children expecting something special on Christmas morning). However, for those in Israel awaiting the birth of the Messiah who would come and set things right, they had to wait a little longer.

Isaiah 9 looks forward to the coming of the messiah, and declares “there will be no more gloom for those that are in distress” and “The people living in darkness have seen a great light”. However, their time of waiting was a bit longer… it was about 700 years after Isaiah wrote those words that Jesus was born!

For some of us, this year may well have felt like 700 years… but the good news is for those of us in darkness, a great light has come into the world. The hope of the world has come, and because of this hope, we can face anything!