The birth of the Messiah should be the greatest Holy Day in Jewish history. The prophet Isaiah told us that the people of Israel would see a great light.
Isaiah 9:1
The people who walked in darkness saw a great light and those who dwell in the land of the death-shadow, a light will shine upon them.
This is speaking of spiritual light and spiritual darkness. Darkness is anything that leads to death; light is anything that leads to life. Where does the light come from? How is it revealed to the human race? – Through a child.
Isaiah 9:5
For a child will be born to us; a son given to us.
The light is in that child. The child will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1); not in New York, Morocco or Ukraine (places where some Jews believe their “Messiah” to have been born!). The child will come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and be destined to sit on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6). He will be born of a betrothed virgin and be called “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:27, Deuteronomy 22:23, 25, 27).
The true light that gives life is proven by the power to resurrect from the dead. The light will be revealed through the Messiah as his body is raised from the dead.
Isaiah 26:19
Your dead will live, with my dead body, they will arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for your dew is the dew of lights.
Here the dew and the light are a symbol of resurrection. The promise of that light of resurrection comes to all the rest of the dead together with the resurrection of the “dead body” of the Messiah. That light and hope of resurrection life must be shared with all the Gentile nations as well.
Isaiah 49:6
It is too easy for you to be for me a servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the seed of Israel; I will give you as well to be a light of the Gentiles, for my salvation to be to the end of the earth (42:6).
In traditional Jewish thinking, the fact that so many Gentiles have believed in Yeshua proves that He is not the real, Jewish Messiah. But according to Isaiah, the opposite is true: no other Rabbi or Messianic figure can say he fulfills this prophecy of Isaiah, that He will be a great light to the gentiles (nations)!
For those of us who believe in this Messiah-Child-King, the spiritual light of God will shine out of us, no matter how dark the world around us may become.
Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Behold the darkness will cover the earth, and a dense fog the nations.
When Yeshua was born, over 2,000 years ago, those who saw the child understood that the prophecies of Isaiah had begun to be fulfilled in this baby, who was destined to be the light of the world (Luke 2:32, John 8:12) and to sit on David’s throne (Luke 1:32, John 18:37).
In this world of corruption and violence, let’s let the light of Yeshua shine through us. He is God’s answer to the darkness around us. His light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5).
Asher serves as president of Tikkun Global family of ministries and congregations, dedicated to the dual restoration of Israel and the Church. He is founder of the Revive Israel five-fold ministry team, and oversees both Ahavat Yeshua and Tiferet Yeshua congregations in Israel.
He and his wife Betty share a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew, and unity of the Body of believers worldwide.
Asher was raised in a conservative Jewish home and holds degrees from Harvard University, Baltimore Hebrew College and Messiah Biblical Institute. He has authored numerous books, tracts and articles.