The Messiah - Part 20

Galilee Sees a Great Light

• Isaiah 8:22 - 9:1,2 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
• Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
• 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.

Fulfillment

• Matthew 21:11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

Those that questioned that any prophet coming from Galilee most probably were not deep into scripture but heard bits and pieces like some of us do today.

• Matthew 4:12-17 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
• And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
• That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
• The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
• The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
• From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus Christ the Messiah is truly the light of the world. Except for a short space of time for a few evil nations, most nations that have not many believers in Jesus Christ, are poverty stricken, suffer slavery, hardship, cruelty etc.

We can credit Jesus Christ and true believing Christians with the improvement in prisons, building of many hospitals, the stopping of torture such as they had in the middle ages, aid to victims of tragedies, humane treatment of human beings, fair trials for criminals, prosperous economy, good sanitary conditions and many other things that we take for granted. A lot of the laws given to Israel that we see recorded in the Old Testament attributed to their health and well being.

Jesus Christ stirs up compassion within us. Instead of apathy towards the suffering, we desire to do something about it.

Jesus is actually kind toward women and shows them respect and love just as much as men. Not all religions do that. Women are actually held in a higher level of respect. I credit Jesus Christ even with women being allowed to vote. Indirectly a Christian nation tends toward giving, compassion and respect toward women.

Still the message of Jesus is the same, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Repent, change, turn around, follow Christ and receive the gospel or good news. True repentance brings immediate change although some changes are progressive as one grows in Christ. If one immediately goes back into the sin he or she was forgiven of, usually it means that they did not genuinely repent.

• Matthew 4:23-25 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
• And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
• And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Oh how I would have loved to have heard Jesus Himself teaching in the synagogue. I would have loved to see Him heal the sick but more than that, I would have loved to hear what He had to say. We can find out most of what He said by reading the New Testament in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Also we can read of His actual words in the first three chapters in the book of Revelation.

• Mark 1:39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

Since the light of the world entered over 2000 years ago much improvement has come to civilized nations. Even though we constantly dwell along side of evil, nations are still influenced by the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. I believe Democracy is a product of Christian influence. Sometimes though Democracy can allow the freedom to do evil as well as good if people of any  nation stops following the teachings of God. If that continues, they start to forbid it then there is no freedom.

Darkness represents:
Evil, cruelty, oppression, slavery, hate, prejudice, slander, bitterness, jealousy, unforgiveness, sin, lust, sexual immorality, filthiness, murder, rape and selfishness.

Light represents:
Love, joy, peace, kindness, freedom, charity, giving, friendliness, sincerity, truth, fairness, judgment, law and order, mercy and a love for the word.

As long as there are true people who let the Light of the world, Jesus our Christ, shine into their lives and flow out to others, there will be good in the world. When people grow cold and away from God and His word, evil will prevail.

Jesus cast out devils because He saw the victims of demons living in darkness and without hope. He delivered them that they might live and be free from sin and darkness. We can carry on the work of Jesus by allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us and use us to do the will of God. Jesus' Galilean ministry can continue in us today and we can take the gospel much further than Galilee. DC

Messiah Index

Messiah part 21