SILENT NIGHT
I admit it. I have always loved nighttime better than daytime. Night makes me think of cool temperatures, stillness, quietness, creativity, imagination, and peacefulness. Day makes me think of heat, ordinariness, dullness, monotony, drudgery, and harshness. I generally feel full of hope and energy at night, whereas I usually feel beat up and run down during the day. “Night owl” is a term that describes me perfectly (except for the eyes...I don’t have big, round eyes...oh, and I don’t hunt at night or eat small rodents, either).
Being much more fond of night than day has caused me no small amount of distress as a believer since the Bible declares over and over that the LORD is associated with light and not darkness. Jesus said that working is for the day and that men stumble at night (John 9:4; John 11:10). We are called children of light, not darkness, and we are exhorted to cast off works of darkness (Romans 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 7; Ephesians 5:8, 11).
And yet, the Bible also associates the LORD with darkness. When the LORD made His covenant with Abram, He came in darkness (Genesis 15:12, 17). Moses went up Mt. Sinai to meet with the LORD and the mountain was covered with a thick darkness of clouds (Exodus 20:21 or Exodus 20:18, JPS; Deuteronomy 4:11; Deuteronomy 5:19-20; Hebrews 12:18-21). David sang of the LORD making darkness His cover and tent (2 Samuel 22:22:12; Psalm 18:11 or Psalm 18:12, JPS). It appears that this idea was passed down from father to son because when Solomon, David’s son, dedicated the Temple, he declared that the LORD chose to abide in thick darkness (1 Kings 8:12 and 2 Chronicles 6:1).
A further examination of the Bible and a look at science yields some interesting things about light and darkness. Genesis 1:2-5 states that God created darkness first, then separated light from darkness, calling light, “Day” and darkness, “Night.” These verses are so familiar to me that I never really paid much attention to the details until I started studying to write this book. As I’ve said before, though, sometimes the details can reveal startling truths about the LORD. The first two verses of Genesis 1 state that God created what we would today call the universe, including darkness. In verse 3, we are told that He said, “Let there be light,” and it was so. Nothing too earth-shattering, right? Take a look at Isaiah 45:7. The words chosen in that verse are very deliberate, and I think they reveal something fascinating. “To form, to fashion,” as a potter fashions clay is the word used for light, and the familiar word, “create,” is the word used for darkness. God FORMED the Light, but He CREATED the Darkness. That statement means a whole lot more when you consider two things: 1) 1 John 1:5 states that God is light; 2) science states that light is energy called electromagnetic radiation, and energy cannot be created nor can it be destroyed—IT HAS ALWAYS EXISTED. The LORD did not create light because He IS Light, and while I’m sure many scientists wouldn’t agree with my conclusion, by their own statements about light and energy, He has always existed. When He said, “Let there be light,” He was fashioning Light to His own purposes. On the other hand, He created darkness. He had to create it because there is no darkness in Him (an extremely popular notion that seems to be what so many see as truth is that light and darkness are simply co-equals and that one cannot exist without the other; such thinking often leads to the erroneous and unbiblical idea that the satan is God’s counterpart, equal in strength and power which is NOT TRUE; as we saw in the last chapter, the satan used to be a cherub, therefore it is very much a created being, unlike the LORD who has no beginning and no end).
Although the LORD did not specifically declare Darkness to be good, as He did Light (Genesis 1:4), when He finished creating, He saw all that He had made and found it to be very good (Genesis 1:31) – and that includes Darkness. So initially, even the Darkness and Night were very good (perhaps there is something to my affinity for night after all!).
All that leads me to a very interesting observation. In the Bible, a pattern emerges between Darkness and Light once God had created the universe. Darkness always comes first, then Light. God created Darkness first, then He formed Light. When the LORD appeared to Abram, the first thing Abram experienced was terror and darkness, then the smoking oven and burning flame. The second to last plague before the dawn of the Exodus was three days of darkness (Exodus 10:21-22). Three hours of darkness preceded the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44), then the bright morning light of His resurrection (Matthew 28:1-4; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1-3). Darkness first, then Light.
What could be the purpose of Darkness? And how could something that is quite obviously associated with evil in the Bible also be associated with the LORD? I think part of the answer to those questions lies in three verses – Deuteronomy 29:29; Proverbs 25:2; Isaiah 45:15. One of the dictionary definitions of darkness is concealment. Metaphorically speaking, we sometimes say we’re “in the dark” on certain matters. In His dealing with Israel, the LORD concealed Himself and concealed certain things about Israel’s future. In that sense, He did, indeed, dwell in darkness from Israel’s point of view. Peter and Paul both refer to the fact that the mystery of concealed things was made known to the prophets but revealed to those who are in Messiah (1 Peter 1:10-12; Colossians 1:26-27). That which was concealed was the very glory of the LORD, and that glory was seen in the person of Jesus (John 1:14; Colossians 1;15, 19; Hebrews 1:3).
The Old Testament quite often refers to the LORD as being the Light of Israel (or individuals in Israel, such as David), especially in the Psalms and Isaiah (Psalm 18:28; Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 60:1, 19-20). A very special association between the LORD and Light is the use of the phrase, “shine Your Face.” The phrase first appears in what is known as the Aaronic Benediction found in Numbers 6:22-26. Various Bibles translate it differently, but the Hebrew in verse 25 is most literally rendered, “The LORD shine His Face upon you and be gracious to you.” All throughout the Psalms, this phrase is used to ask the LORD for His favor (Psalm 4:6; Psalm 31:16; Psalm 44:3; Psalm 67:1; Psalm 80:3, 7, 19; Psalm 119:135). Israel saw the LORD shining His Face upon them as equal to Him showing them favor and blessing them as a result of the covenant being kept.
As you know, Israel was not faithful to keep the covenant between them and the LORD, and the result was that the LORD withdrew His glory. He withdrew His shining Face from them in a very real sense. They went into exile, and the constant longing of those who remained faithful was that the LORD would once more dwell among them and shine His Face upon them, as Daniel prayed (Daniel 9:17). And all during their long exile, Israel dwelled in darkness, awaiting the LORD’s promise of return to be fulfilled. Darkness first, then Light.
When the time was right, the LORD did return to His people as He promised. John 1:4-5 tells us that the Light of the human race came into the world through Jesus. Along with John 1:14, this is John’s version of the birth narrative which is expanded upon in Matthew and Luke. Matthew’s narrative includes the bright star, which was a sign from God leading the Magi, and Luke tells of Simeon proclaiming that Jesus will be a light to the nations (or Gentiles). All three Gospel writers declare, in one way or another, that Jesus is to be associated with the Light of the LORD.
The Gospel of Luke is usually the basis for most Christmas pageants, plays, musicals, and nativity scenes, but sadly, the traditions most closely associated with such Christmas staples are not to be found in the Gospel. One of the best movies on the birth of Jesus that I’ve seen in decades is, “The Nativity Story,” which came out in 2006. It gets so many things right...and then it lets me down right at the very end. They follow the centuries-old line that Joseph and Mary entered Bethlehem, the birth was imminent, no one could house them, and they ended up in a smelly stable which was located separately from where humans lived. While that certainly makes for some major drama, it simply isn’t what we find in the Gospel of Luke, and this is one of the main reasons why I have such a problem with artists who take great license with the Bible in order to beef up the pathos and emotionalism. The idea that Mary was heavily pregnant with Jesus and the young couples’ frantic search could only provide them shelter in an animal stable came from an anonymous 2nd century work of fiction called The Protoevangelium of James. It’s possible that some author figured he (or she, as the case may be) would make the story of Jesus’ birth more exciting, and scripture was distorted and actually made less impactful, in my opinion. To be fair, the individual may have had good intentions, but I think that anytime you start taking artistic license with the Bible, you’re headed down a slippery slope.
I believe that what the Gospel really tells us is far, far, far more full of meaning and hope than the invented story. Some of you may have heard this, because more and more teachers are discovering the truth of what Luke was communicating in telling his narrative the way he did, and for this I’m very thankful. Most people in Jesus’ day lived in simple houses consisting of one or two rooms for the family and a guest room which was often located above the main living quarters. Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem because of the census, and Luke 2:6 states that “while they were there,” Mary gave birth to Jesus. No sense of urgency, no frantic search for somewhere to have the baby. They traveled to Bethlehem, and at some point after their arrival, Jesus was born. The verse that causes all the problems in terms of whether or not Jesus was born in a house or a smelly stable is Luke 2:7. A further understanding of first-century houses in Israel and the proper translation of one little word will help clear things up. Very few people were wealthy enough to provide separate shelter for the few animals they owned, so houses were often constructed with a lowered space just inside the door. Animals would be brought in for the evening so they would be protected from weather and theft. Troughs were usually cut into the walls so that the animals could feed through the night without the family having to get up and give them food. It was into one of these feeding troughs that Jesus was laid because there was no room for Mary to lay Him in the common living area. This was most likely due to the fact that whatever home they were in was full to capacity as a result of the overflow of people coming to Bethlehem for the census, which leads us to one small word which has led to much confusion. The word is normally translated “inn,” but it is the same word used in Luke 22:11 which is usually translated “guest room.” Luke was not intending to say that Joseph and Mary could find no room at a hotel. He meant that the guest room and even the common living area were full to capacity.
Why is all that more meaningful than finding Jesus in a stable separate from a house? Jesus was the Light to all human beings. He wasn’t sent to animals, He was sent to people. Rather than being born completely apart from people, whether in a stable or even in a guest room, He was born in a home and laid to rest in full view of all those who were living there. God did not light a lamp and put it under a bowl (Matthew 5:15-16). Jesus was a light that was fully displayed for all to see, even at the time of His birth.
As an adult, Jesus would make the beautiful declaration that He was the Light of the world (John 8:12; John 9:5, John 12:46). The great Jewish chag, or feast, of Sukkot had just been celebrated in John 7, and Jesus had stood up on the last day of the Feast and cried out that if anyone was thirsty, they should come to Him and streams of living water would flow out of them. Some of you may remember from a previous study that one of the traditions that Jesus knew during Sukkot was the lighting of 70-foot menorahs in the Court of Women at the Temple. It was said that no home in Jerusalem was not illuminated by their light, and with the memory of these enormous lights still fresh in people’s minds, Jesus declared Himself to be the Light of the world. God used a tradition that He had not commanded to emphatically state certain truths about His Son. Not only was Jesus the Light of the world, He did not come into this world in the usual manner. The menorahs in the Court of Women pointed toward another great truth which Paul stated in Galatians 4:4. Jesus was born of a woman—not a man and a woman, just a woman.
Many churches today have a tradition of their own which includes the lighting of candles (although I don’t know of any church who uses 70-foot tall candlesticks...). These candles are placed in a wreath during the Sundays of Advent. For those of you unfamiliar with the liturgical calendar, Advent is the period of time leading up to Christmas, beginning on the fourth Sunday prior to whenever Christmas Day falls on the calendar. A German Lutheran missionary, Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808-1881), is credited with the invention of the modern Advent wreath. In order to help children who attended his mission school to mark off the days until Christmas, Wichern built a large wooden ring and placed 19 small red candles and 4 larger white candles on it. He would light the small candles on weekdays and the large candles on each Sunday leading up to Christmas Day. The custom spread to North America in the 1930s, and it was eventually adopted by the Roman Catholics, as well as other Protestant denominations.
But whether candles in an Advent wreath or lights on a Christmas tree, light is very much associated with Christmas, and rightly so. Luke has always been my favorite birth narrative for many reasons, not the least of which is how much he speaks of light. After John is born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, Zechariah quite literally bursts forth in praise and prophecy, using the imagery of light shining into darkness (Luke 1:78-79). As we just saw, Jesus was born in a home and laid in a feeding trough in full view of all so He could shine the glory of God even as a newborn baby. An angel visits the shepherds and the glory of God shines around them (Luke 2:9). And when Jesus is presented in the Temple, Simeon delivers those beautiful words about Jesus being a light to the nations (Luke 2:29-32).
I’m still not sure why I have such an affection for nighttime, and I’m still not sure whether or not that’s wrong in some way. What I do know is that Darkness and Night were created by the LORD, and He had a definite purpose in creating them. The pattern of Darkness always coming before the Light tells me as much. I need to add, though, that Revelation 21:25 and Revelation 22:5 tell us that in the new creation, night will no longer exist. Whatever good purpose Darkness and Night might originally have had, that purpose will no longer be necessary in the new creation.
Micah 7:8-9 grant us a captivating look at the resurrection of Jesus. Micah was the same prophet who spoke of where Jesus would be born (Micah 5:1), and it was his words which ultimately led Herod to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah and slaughter the male infants and toddlers of Bethlehem and its surrounding areas (Jeremiah 31). Yet, as horrendous as that act was, it followed the same pattern – Darkness first, then Light. Micah also spoke of that pattern in his prophecy. The One who had fallen would rise again. Though He had to sit in darkness, Jesus fully trusted that the LORD would vindicate Him and lead Him into the Light, just as Micah had prophesied.
God not only created Darkness, He experienced it fully at our level. He endured agony on a scale we will never be asked to face, and I’m not talking about physical torture. The monumental pressure of bearing the consequence of all human rebellion, folly, and arrogance is beyond imagining. I believe He felt not only the excruciating pain of humanity’s sin but also the crushing burden of what that meant to all creation (Romans 8:18-25). The Creator experienced and still experiences the groaning of all that He has created.
The Hebrew word for light has three very special connotations—to brighten one’s eyes as after an illness and enlighten eyes that have been in darkness; to lighten one’s countenance or make one’s face shine; and, to recall to life. I don’t know what traditions you have in your family, but if you light candles or string lights on a tree, remember that the God who created Darkness emptied Himself of His glory which had no beginning and no end and stepped into our Night so that He could bring Life and Light to those whom He would call His family.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
God sends His Son to earth below
Freeing mankind from earthly woe
Jesus, salvation for all
Jesus, salvation for all
Silent night, holy night
Darkness flies, all is light
Glories are streaming from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts say, "Hallelujah!"
Jesus, God's promise for peace
Jesus, God's promise for peace
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, He's love's pure light
Radiant beams from His holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, the Savior is born
Jesus, the Savior is born
Lyrics by Josef Mohr