The description of Jesus Christ as “Day-Spring” in this third verse is taken from the prophetic word given by God to Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel (Luke1:78,79). The verses before give some context:
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people,
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace”.
A few weeks ago we joined our son and daughter in law at the Eastbourne Miniature Steam Railway to celebrate our youngest grandson’s second Birthday. He loves trains! And railway tunnels – at least in theory if not in practice! The miniature railway took our grandson and his parents on a lovely route through the Sussex countryside and then into a tunnel. Quite a long tunnel, long enough to be completely black behind and in front. When the train arrived back in the station and the little man was safely back on the platform, he confided, “In the tunnel I a bit scared!”
Darkness can be scary for grown ups too – physical darkness, emotional darkness, even spiritual darkness. But Jesus Christ came as the day-spring, a new dawn, “to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Jesus brings light to a fallen world where people wander in spiritual darkness, sin, and despair. That is why the Bible calls Him the “light of the world” in John 8:12. As we put our trust in Him we discover, and can walk in, a new life of lightness where we find forgiveness and an eternal hope in Him as our Saviour and Lord.
All references are from the NKJV unless specified otherwise.
Jill Partis
bearing-kingdom-fruit.com
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