Galilee had come under Roman rule. 600 years earlier, the prophet had written: "in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;"
We who were born into a world into which the light has already come, cannot imagine what it was like to live in pagan darkness. That is not to say that they had no light at all. Some of their best poets had written stories of incarnate gods. But these beings, though stronger than mortals, were changeful, and immoral, and their plans often went wrong. The pagan philosophers too, groping blindly for the truth, had puzzled out that there must be something transcendent that holds the parts of the changing world in their form.
And then, there is a man. Not an epic poem, or a fleeting apparition, or a philosophical speculation, but a flesh and blood man who lived and breathed and ate and drank like any other man. What no one had ever guessed, is that that power which conceives and sustains the form and being of everything that exists, would become human flesh. That great darkness in which only pinpricks of light flickered, was swallowed up in the blazing dawn of the Christ.
There have been two great enlightnements. Before the world began, God spoke into the darkness and commanded that light should be. By this primal command the word of God brought forth both the light by which we see with our eyes, and also the illumination by which our minds are enlightened. Wisdom herself says, in proverbs, "Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth."
But what good is the light if people are blind? The second and greater enlightenment was when the word again went forth from God for the light to shine, but this time it was as a man. As a man, the light restored the sight of the blind. As a man, the light illuminated the minds of humanity as he revealed truth to them.
Even if he had told us nothing more, his mere presence was a revelation of God to mankind. Just because he came, we know that, rather than counting celestial glory in the form of God something to be clung to, he took the form of a humble man. Knowing this, we know that our God loves us. If the majestic God who made all things did this for us, what sort of people ought we to be?
And this is why we celebrate Christmas. Picture Jesus as he slept in the manger. All that the philosophers puzzled out, all that the poet's intuition dreamed, all the meaning of the universe out there, all that I am or experience in the vast interior of my soul - whatever exists, is from him and through him and for him.
There was a woman. Now I don’t know whether she was married or not. Maybe she was married and cheated on her husband or maybe she was single and sleeping with a married man, but one way or another, she was caught committing adultery.
What does this have to do with Christmas? Everything.
But I want you to think about yourselves for a minute. Think about your sin, about how it would be if your worst sins were found out. I want you to put yourself in this woman’s shoes.
You’re caught and ashamed and forced along by men who want to kill you to prove a point. They bring you to another man. They state the charges against you and everyone awaits his judgment.
He seems to be distracted. He’s looking at the ground, writing in the dirt with his finger. You’re distracted for a second and a memory flickers in your mind - a story you heard as a child about the law being written on tablets of stone by the finger of God. But it passes quickly and once again you’re aware of the horrible situation you’re in. Finally the man speaks. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” You’re looking around waiting for the first man to pick up a stone, but instead, one by one, they walk away. It’s just you and him. He stands up and looks at you for the first time. You don’t know what’s happening. He asks you where your accusers are. You look around again and confirm that, yes, they’re all gone. Then he says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
You turn to go and you hear him talking to some of the teachers who are standing there. He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Another memory from the scriptures flashes through your mind, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” And you realize all of a sudden that the prophecy is about you. You are the one who walked in the darkness of sin saw in the face of this man the light of the world - the glory of the gentleness and mercy and power of God.
Christmas is about the light of the world descending to earth to save mankind.
But there was something that the woman didn't understand yet. The law that demanded death for the adulteress, having been given by God, was unalterable. For Jesus to keep his promise to her, that she would not be condemned, a few years later, he let himself be caught and ashamed and forced along by men who wanted to kill him, and they succeeded. But only for three days.
Death could not hold the one from whom all life comes. On the third day, he walked out of the tomb alive. The demands of the law are satisfied not only for the woman, but for the sin of the whole world.
This is what Christmas celebrates. This is what the angel told Joseph before Jesus was born , “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
You who still live in the darkness of sin, listen. The light of the world has come. You still stand under the curse of the law that demands eternal death for your sin. Come to the light! He will tell you what he told this woman: neither do I condemn you, now go and sin no more.