“A Light for the Nations”
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are not primarily celebrating a baby boy being born. We are celebrating our Savior, our Redeemer being born. But even more than that, we are celebrating the birth of the one true Anointed King, the one who will bring righteousness and justice into the brokenness of the world. This is the good news.
Psalm 2 speaks to the fact that this good news is not good news to everyone. Many in darkness resist Jesus, the “light for the nations”, out of pride. The kings of the earth, out of the darkness in their hearts, appear to rebel against the Anointed King and cling to their sense of power. And what is God’s response to such arrogance and rebellion? He laughs. The reality of the matter is that King Jesus rules over all! We can choose whether we receive His love, His salvation, and His justice as the light in our darkness, but it does not change His authority.
There is still much that is wrong with the world: grave injustice, crippling fear, horrific violence, corruption, darkness and death. Celebrating Jesus does not mean we turn a blind eye to that brokenness. In actuality, we can see it with eyes wide open, but with the hope that Jesus is King and that He will make everything right. We anticipate that day by worshipping Him and submitting to Him. We trust Him and obey Him, and in some small way, we become vessels of His kingdom, slowly but surely shining His light into the darkness of this world.
Scriptures
The Servant of the Lord
49 Listen to me, O coastlands,
and give attention, you peoples from afar.
The Lord called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he named my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
in his quiver he hid me away.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
and my recompense with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
The Reign of the Lord‘s Anointed
2 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.