The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
Sin has come; suffering as well.
But the Savior has also come. His entire life was filled with suffering — suffering which He bore for us, suffering which made Him one of us, suffering He endured so our punishment might be removed.
In the early part of the 1900s, outside a brick tenement in New York City, a boy dressed in ragged clothes was seen with a small piece of broken mirror in his hand.
Holding that mirror high above his head, the boy moved it slowly back and forth so it reflected on the building above.
A policeman slowly approached, watched for a while and finally said, “Lad, what are you doing with that mirror?”
A bystander suggested, “Like most boys in this neighborhood, he’s probably up to no good.”
The boy gave a dirty glance to the man who made the uncalled-for comment, and then he answered the officer: “Do ya see that window up there? Well, I have a liddle brudder whose in that room on that floor. He’s a crippled and can’t move aroun’. The only sunlight he ever sees is what I shines up ta him with this mirrer.”
That, my friends, is what Jesus has done to us in our suffering.
Our divine Brother came into this world to live for us, to die for us, to rise for us.
Now, He who is light, shines that light into our lives. He brings light to us who are crippled by sin and suffering.
Why has a specific suffering come to you? I cannot say. I do know this, that Jesus Christ, the Light of the world will help you carry it, conquer it, cast it aside, or endure it. That may not be the answer you want, but it is God’s answer, and it is an answer birthed in love and proven on the cross and at the open and empty tomb.
Jesus, the Light of the world comes to you, this day.
I encourage you; place your cares upon Him. Be confident that no pain or problem, no sadness or sorrow is so big He cannot heft it and help you. I can make this promise because Scripture has assured me of its truth: the darkness of sin, devil and death cannot conquer the light which Jesus has brought.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, all around me I see anger, hate, prejudice, discrimination, selfishness and a host of other sins. May I look to Jesus, my Savior. He brings the light; He is the Light who transforms transgression’s darkness to lightness and hope. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries http://www.lhm.org/ all rights reserved; not to be duplicated without permission.