Did you drive around town admiring the Christmas lights this season? Why is it we are captivated by sparkling icicles hanging from the roof tops and mesmerized by flashing, dazzling colors that do a sequential dance accompanied by Christmas songs?
I would say it brings enchantment and joy, and puts a smile on our faces and a temporary sparkle to our eyes. As fascinating as this is, these lights will be taken down as we return to winter darkness.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth and there was nothingness, darkness everywhere. “Outer darkness” is a metaphor Jesus used as a place of extreme spiritual desolation and separation from God’s presence of joy and light (Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30). Often God links darkness to trial and judgment (Isaiah 45:7).
God spoke light into existence, saw that light was good and separated light from darkness (Genesis 1:1-5). Proverbs contrasts light as wisdom and righteousness with darkness to evil, ignorance and spiritual blindness (Proverbs 4:19, 20:20). Things that happen in the dark can be fearful to us. The dark path talked about in Proverbs 2:13 is a gradual descent into sin (Proverbs 7:9). Light is better than darkness (Ecclesiastes 2:13). It helps us to see what you cannot see in darkness. It opens our eyes to truth. To stay in the light is to follow God’s ways.
Hanukkah celebrates the victory of light over darkness, goodness over evil and knowledge over ignorance. It represents spiritual renewal, hope and divine presence. Although this “festival of lights” is not mentioned in the tanakh, Hebrew Bible; it is detailed in the book of the Maccabees, which some Christian traditions include as deuterocanonical scripture, but it is excluded from Protestant Bibles.
The Jewish community celebrates the “Feast of Dedication” (John 10:22-23) as Hanukkah, recalling the events of the Maccabean Revolt and the miracle of the menorah oil lasting eight days.
The only light that is ALWAYS there is God. In Him, there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Even when you are surrounded by gloominess and dimness, God’s presence of light is with you. John 8:12 famously declares, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.
The apostle Paul tells believers in Ephesians 5:8 that once in darkness, believers now are light in the Lord and to live as children in light. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, we are to reflect God’s light in a darkened world. Those that walk with Christ are a reflection of the True Light.
A core teaching from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount instructs disciples to be visible examples of godliness, shining brightly for all to see, to glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). Going forward, my mission is to shine His light to others.
Praying love, joy and blessings for you in 2026 and that you will come to know Jesus, The light of the world. Please email me…fr*********@***il.com
I close, in the fruit of the spirit given to all believers: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Susan Mister, a longtime Gilroy resident and community volunteer, has been sharing her faith through this column since February 2021.
