We take for granted that we have five senses, until we lose one. A few years ago, I went to a preaching conference in Dallas, TX. I developed a sinus infection somewhere along the way and I was, miserable. The flight back was the height of misery because the change in altitude blew up my ears and I could not hear a thing. I was for all practical purposes, deaf. Tommy Picou was supposed to pick me up at the airport on my return. I waited and waited and could not find him. Finally I found a bench that covered all the directions that he might come from. I decided that it was better for me to stay put and watch for him, especially since I was feeling lousy. He finally found me. He said something and I could not hear him. He said that he had been looking all over the place for me, nearly got a ticket for parking too long and he had me paged. When I did not show up, he said to himself, what is wrong with that preacher, has he gone deaf! And in fact I had!

If I had to lose a sense, I think I would rather lose anything rather than my eyesight. I have such bad eyes that has become my fear. On our last study trip, I found out that a pastor with whom I had gone to seminary, has Retinitis Pigmentosa. He is the pastor of a large church and does a considerable amount of writing– and he is going blind.

I realize that the blind can get around in the world. But, there is so much of our lives that is based on vision, there is so much missed in blindness. The blind are very limited in their mobility. Without special orientation, they cannot find their way or even know where they are. When talking to a person, they cannot see their face and know what emotion is being expressed. The blind cannot see the colors and the textures of life. I am afraid that if I were blind, I would feel hopeless. Who can give back sight?

Blindness is a used as a symbol of spiritual darkness in both the Old and the New Testament. Several times we find the blind coming to Jesus and begging him to restore their sight. They had no hope outside of divine intervention. But, almost always, there is a deeper blindness going on, in either the blind people themselves or those who are watching. They are spiritually blind. And as bad as physical blindness is, spiritual blindness is far worse. The fact is, we are all plagued by spiritual blindness.

Spiritual blindness is a basic human problem. And the thing about spiritual darkness is that often we don’t want to be delivered from it. It is a kind of pride that says I don’t need God, I will solve my problems, I will find my way, I don’t need Him. But like Israel, we can never find our way in this spiritual darkness, we need the light of God.

Israel’s darkness was deep and monstrous and they were about to be invaded by Assyria. Assyria was ruthless. They would soon invade Judah, kill their men, starve them in their cities. Then having breached the walls, they would carry most of them off to exile into a foreign land. The things that they were about to see were almost beyond imagination. We cannot imagine the darkness they experienced. From captivity, all they could do was wait for God’s promised deliverance to come.

For us, Israel’s experience is a symbol for all of life’s darkness. We are blind and need light and vision. We stand in need of a deliverer. Advent reminds us that we wait for God’s long promised salvation– for only he can deliver us.

God’s promise did come! However, God has not chosen to overcome power with power, might with might, army with army, strength with strength, even though He is the Almighty God. Notice what Isaiah said, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. Thou shalt multiply the nation, Thou shalt increase their gladness; They will be glad in Thy presence as with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil." You could not have a more different situation than that found in chapter 8. There the people were plunged into darkness because they refused to repent and follow God. Now it is a time of great joy and celebration. It was all because a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us.

God has chosen to join us in our darkness in the weakest form possible, as a child. God who made all and is all powerful decided to become like us, to live like us and to suffer like us so that he might over come our darkness in a way that we can comprehend and appreciate. The coming king would not deliver us from life, but transform life and He would overcome the darkness.

This child, this tiny, fragile child on which our hope is built, will be called many names so said the prophet. He is Wonderful Counselor. The idea of "wondrous" is associated with the idea of awesomeness. It is a cosmic wonder. This child does not just offer wisdom that is better than ours, His wisdom is divine wisdom, it is the very mind of God.

He will be called Mighty God. If you had been a Hebrew hearing Isaiah’s prophecy, this would have caught your attention. You know that there is but one God. But, Isaiah says that this child will be Almighty God! How can this be? I would call it a proto doctrine of the Trinity. There is no mistaking this child with anyone else. He is not a special messenger, he is not a mighty man, he is God in the flesh. No explanation is ever given about the mysterious ways of God and certainly one is not given here. But this child is Almighty God!

He will be called Eternal Father. He will give the kind of fatherly care that can bring about eternal joy in an administration that never ends. Whatever lonesome darkness the people found themselves in, this child will love them like a divine Father who knows their every thought and cares for their every need.

He will be called the prince of peace. It is God's peace. It is not just the absence of turmoil and troubles. Shalom, peace means a totality or completeness, fulfillment, and well being. Shalom is that state of existence that man knew before the fall and it is the ideal all of humanity seeks to discover and accomplish in their lives. In the midst of their confusion and suffering and sorrow, at a time when their world was destroyed, this promised child comes and says, My peace be with you. The coming One is the Prince of that peace, the only source for Shalom.

Of course that coming child was born to Mary. We call him Christ and Lord. It is because of Him that our darkness can be overcome by His great light. Only He is able to transform our darkness and our hurt and our pain into light and over coming power. Why? Because He is our deliverer, our redeemer, and our hope. We know that he will deliver us. We know that what we experience in this life is not all there is, we have hope everlasting.

We live in a world much like Israel. We suffer from a famine of the hearing of Word of God. Our world is noisy and dark. It is impossible for us to find our way. In such a world we live as hopeless and lonely individuals. But, God has promised that those in darkness will see a great light. Into our darkness a Child is born. He is like no other child. He is our God become flesh and has come to deliver us from our darkness.

Later, Isaiah would write "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you ‘For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.’" There is hope for the spiritually blind. God shines on us and restores our sight.

Have you waited and longed for the day when God’s light would shine on you? Today God’s light has come and shines on us. Our wait is over. Is his light shining on you today? His light calls for a response of faith, will you respond?