All Nations Come to His Light!

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“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
Isaiah 60:3

When I stopped the other night to view our church’s outdoor nativity scene in the snow, I felt a bit sorry for the baby Jesus and His holy family.  In the midst of what should have been a quiet, “silent night, holy night” sort of scene with mother Mary, Joseph, and the child, there intrudes shepherds, sheep, a donkey, a cow, three magi, and two camels!  A quiet stable, my foot!  This looks like a crowded Christmas party!

But then, that is what was prophesied.  “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”  Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection were crowded with many characters, many people eager to come to His light, His salvation.  Shepherds crowded in at His birth, and lepers, blind men, and beggars flocked to Him in His life.  Kings came and worshiped Him as a child, and disciples thronged to Him as a man.  And yes, King Herod and his soldiers searched to murder him in Bethlehem, and the chief priests and soldiers taunted Him at His crucifixion.

But the greatest crowd of all, shall come when the Lord Jesus returns and gathers His people home.  People from every tribe, race, and nation will fall down before Him at His throne and the very angels will fill the skies yet once again to proclaim His salvation, power, and grace.

Perhaps it was not such a “silent night” at the manger or such a sleeping town of Bethlehem.  For there is joy in this world, for the Lord has come.  And every voice and every tongue will proclaim the celebration of the Lord’s birth, the King’s coming, the Savior’s return.

“He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love!”

May the glory of the newborn Christ draw you home to Him!

Photo and text copyright Steve Nickodemus