The Christmas season is the most joyous time of the year that everyone looks forward to. Besides getting into the celebration mood in this last week of the year, we must ponder. That is what Mary Our Mother did. She was the first to celebrate Christmas. It was a time to be joyful, to see so many visitors coming, to receive gifts, and to do so many other things. But in all this, there were those moments of pondering. Mary continued to treasure all these things in her heart and to ponder them. (Luke 2:19). The fact that we are at the end of this year makes it even more important that we think deeply about all that has unfolded in our lives in the year that has gone by. It is not by chance that the birth of Our Lord Jesus is commemorated at the time of transition from one year to another.
Now, we find in the Bible that the birth of Jesus is linked to another important transition – a transition from darkness to light. 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah foretold of this transition… The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them. (Isaiah 9:2). Therefore, as this year comes to an end, it is important to ponder and find out for ourselves how much of this light is shining upon us. Are we moving towards His light? Or are we moving into the darkness?
Now because of man’s fallen nature, the natural tendency is to go away from the light and hide in the darkness. Isn’t that what Adam and Eve did soon after they sinned? They went away from God who is the light; and they hid in the darkness of the trees. (Genesis 3:8). In the Book of Sirach, the author describes the thoughts of a man who is living in sin… “No one will ever know. It's dark in here, and no one sees me.” (Sirach 23: 18a-b). This line applies to many Christians, including those in the renewal today. They take the name of the Most High on their lips, they pray, they do a lot of devotions, etc. but in their private lives, they are caught up in some sin and are taking cover of the darkness. That is what happened in the case of Judas. His greed for money led him to take out money from the money bag in secret. He thought no one was seeing him.
Next, the more a person chooses to live in darkness, the more he loses the sense of sin. His conscience does not trouble him anymore. He develops the thinking of the man in Sirach 23:18c, “I have nothing to worry about.” The same thing happened in Judas’ case. Every time he did it, he became bolder. It became a habit. He carried the money bag and would help himself from it. (John 12:6). The darkness that he had got into made him lose all sense of sin. Isn’t that what is happening in the world today. Homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender, live-in relationships, adultery, etc. are accepted as normal in today’s world. More and more countries are accepting such deeds of darkness. Whatever the sin may be, once we lose sense of it and we don’t feel the need to confess it, it only means we are walking away from the light and deeper into the darkness. Pope Benedict XVI once said, "The greatest sin today is that men have lost the sense of sin".
Darkness is such that it ultimately separates you from God. You don’t care about Him. He becomes non-existent to you. “As for the Most High, He won't even notice.”(Sirach 23:18d). Judas felt the same. As long as he could get the money, he didn’t care. Jesus became non-existent to him. But he did not know that Jesus was noticing everything that he was doing in the dark. The author of Sirach goes on to say, “This man is only afraid of other people. He doesn't realize that the eyes of the Lord are 10,000 times brighter than the sun, that he sees everything we do, even when we try to hide it. (Sirach 23: 19).
Jesus on the other hand would keep appealing to him through the teachings He gave. (Luke 12:15). That is the mercy of Our God. Every time we walk away from Him, He comes to remind us, “You are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into His own marvellous light. (1 Peter 2:9). When Adam and Eve sinned and chose to hide in the darkness of the trees, they thought God had not noticed their sin. God did notice it but then He didn’t want them to remain in the darkness. He called out to Adam… "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). In a way, God was asking Adam, “Are you walking towards the light or towards the darkness? Are you living in the light or in the darkness?”
"Where are you?" This is nothing but the Word of God that Adam had heard. Note his reply… “I heard you.” (Genesis 3:10). The words “Where are you” also mean that God was saying to Adam, “Come into the light.” This is exactly what the Word of God does to us when we hear it. It shows us that we are heading into the darkness; it calls us out of the darkness. The apostle John wrote… The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people. (John 1:4). Jesus Himself said, “I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. (John 12:46).
Till today, the Word of Christ is echoing throughout the world calling out to man to come back into the light. But are we going to heed that call and turn towards the light or are we going to go deeper into the darkness? Jesus would appeal to Judas time and again and He even gave him His body and blood at the Last Supper. But in John 13:30, we are told… Judas accepted the bread and went out at once. It was night. This is so symbolic. He walked into the darkness never to return back. So many good Christians who at one time lived in fellowship with Jesus have walked away like Judas into the deepest darkness of sin never to return back. Therefore, the celebration of the birth of Christ at the end of this year is at time to ponder in the light of God’s Word and know where we are. It is a time to choose to walk towards the light and to remain in the light.