A Light Has Dawned

And here we see the Messiah as one upon whom the Spirit has rested, as whom the Lord has anointed—Messiah means “anointed one.” Christ means “anointed one.”

The Light is the promised Messiah.

Isaiah’s prophecy for the coming Messiah was for a ruler who would be more than human. We can see this in verse 6: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us.” This speaks of the fulfillment of what Isaiah 7: 14 says: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman [virgin] is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel [which means “God is with us]” (cf. Matthew 1: 22, 23, where this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus).

We also see this in verse 6 because of all the titles given to this child. As one scholar says, “The titles underscore the ultimate deity of this child-deliverer.” This is especially true of the titles Everlasting Father and Mighty God.

The Light is a Messiah who has both divine and human characteristics.

Many of these passages in Isaiah are used in the gospels to describe the coming of Jesus—Isaiah is pointing toward Jesus.

We also know this because his kingdom shall not end according to verse 7—“there shall be endless peace . . . from this time onward and forevermore.” This is not only a king, but the final king, the king.

We know this, too, because Matthew 4: 12 – 17, the passage we began our service with, interprets Isaiah’s prophecy in our passage about the great light in reference to Jesus—Jesus “left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled.” Here it is in Jesus that “light has dawned.”

Of course, Jesus refers to himself as “the light of the world” in John 8: 12. And in 1 John 1: 5 it says “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.”

The Light is Jesus, who is the fulfilled of all the promises of God for a Messiah, and Jesus is also “God with us,” God in the flesh.

What does the Light accomplish?

The Assyrians bragged about the yoke they put on their slaves. They bragged about how burdensome they were. In verse 4 Isaiah tells of a time when this yoke will be broken and shattered. The Assyrian invasion will not last forever.

Isaiah’s prophecy did not come to complete fulfillment until the coming of Jesus—but what yoke did he break? What yoke did he shatter? I want to suggest that he broke the yoke of sin and darkness and oppression. By walking in the light we no longer have to be subject to sin any more. It no longer has to be our master—Jesus frees us from sin, and not only from its eternal consequences but its present power over us. He shatters the yoke.

And Jesus doesn’t just break the yoke of sin and oppression; he gives us a new yoke. In Matthew 11: 28 – 30 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

In place of the burdensome, heavy yoke of sin and oppression, Jesus gives us his yoke, which is easy and light. This is the yoke of discipleship. Jesus is telling us here that he know we cannot with our