Summary
The Darkness We Know
Night has always been the cover for things that cannot bear daylight. Judas went out to betray his Master at night. The Sanhedrin convened in the dark, in violation of their own law, because what they were doing could not stand in the light. And the shepherds in Luke 2:8 kept watch over their flocks by night for good reason: in the darkness lurk the predators and the thieves.
Scripture takes this nightly reality and makes it a picture of sin itself. Ephesians 5:11 calls them "the unfruitful works of darkness." Romans 1:21 says the senseless minds of those who refuse God are darkened. 1 John 2:11 warns that hatred is a walking-in-darkness so thorough that one no longer even knows the way. The deeper trouble is not that we fear the dark but that we get used to it. Our eyes adjust. We grow comfortable with our sin. What startles us is not the darkness—it is when the light comes on.
Why the Shepherds Were Terrified
"An angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear" Luke 2:9. Throughout Scripture, the glory of God appears as light: a devouring fire on Sinai Exodus 24:17, the earth shining at His coming Ezekiel 43:2, the dazzling white of the transfigured Christ Luke 9:29.
And the consistent human response to that light is fear. Isaiah, caught up into the throne room, cries, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips" Isaiah 6:5. Peter, witnessing Christ's miracle, falls at His knees: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" Luke 5:8. The reason is the same in every case: in the presence of God's light, there is no hiding our darkness. The Word exposes what we wished to conceal—our sin known and unknown, things done and left undone. On a deeper level than any childhood fear of the dark, what sinners should truly fear is the light.
"Fear Not"
Yet the angel's first word to those terrified shepherds was, "Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" Luke 2:10-11. The light that exposed their darkness now announced the One who would carry it away. Jesus Christ took our darkness upon Himself at the cross. The wrath of God for our sin fell not on us but on the Savior. He was raised from the tomb, and reconciliation with God is now an accomplished fact. This is why the light of Christmas is no longer terrifying—it is the light of a Savior.
Christmas Trees and the Light of the World
There is a small piece of Lutheran history that captures this beautifully. In 1851, Pastor Heinrich Christian Schwan of Cleveland, Ohio, brought an evergreen into his sanctuary, decorated it with his wife Emma, and topped it with a silver star from his German boyhood. His largely German congregation was delighted. The local newspaper, however, was scandalized—mocking those Lutherans for "worshiping a tree and bowing to a shrub." Stung, Schwan threw the tree out, declaring there would never be Christmas trees in churches. His wife replied simply, "Nonsense." The next year a tree was back in the sanctuary, and within five years the custom had spread across America.
The tree, the candles in worship, the lights, the gifts—all of them point to the same confession: Jesus Christ is the light of the world. We give gifts because the greatest Gift has been given. We light candles because the Light has come.
Bright Today and Bright Tomorrow
Christians do not gather in fear but in joy. We are washed in the promises of Christ in the waters of Baptism, where God has made His claim upon us and declared He will never let us go. And there is more light still to come. Revelation 21:22-25 describes the city to come: no temple, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple; no sun or moon, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb; the gates never shut, and night will be no more.
No night. Bright todays and bright tomorrows. The Light of the world has come, and that light shines on you—and there is no longer any reason to fear it, because it is Jesus.
Video citations
- "Bright" 12-24-22 — Do you open your Bibles please with me this evening to Luke the second chapter. If you're using a Pue edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 50 in the New Testament. Luke the…