The Night of Nights

“And there were…shepherds…keeping watch over their flock by night.” Luke 2:8

Nighttime came, mercifully for Mary, at the end of a long day. The bony joints of the swaying donkey beneath her had ensured that she, swollen with her soon-to-be-born child, found little comfort. The rude crowds, the gritty dust and the twilight chill added to her restlessness. She was young, but she knew what was happening inside her, and she needed a place to go quickly. Near-panic set in as Joseph slumped back to the caravan with rejection written across his face.

In the end, she didn’t care that it was a stable. Even the strong smell of farm animals and the prickly straw covered with sheets were a welcome sight to her. Few on earth understood what was about to happen in the middle of this blessed night, but the heavens would soon reverberate with joy. The night, with its shadows, its cold, its darkness providing protective cover for hell’s agents met more than its match in a stable birth.

On this night of nights, an angelic choir, bathed in a cloud of glory, borrowed the blackness as a backdrop to announce the incarnation of earth’s savior. The Word became flesh to dwell among us on this night.

On this wintry night, Judean shepherds, drawing their woolen cloaks around them to ward off the cool air, trembled with fear at the figures glistening before them, believing that the worst calamity of their superstitious minds had come to pass. Finally, awestruck at the breathtaking sight, they hurried off to the stables to bow in worship.

On this dark night, the Creator of the universe directed a constellation to converge over the little town of Micah ’s prophecy, Bethlehem . Not even the encroaching darkness had the power to snuff out that brilliant light. There were wise men on their way, kings who were counting on the special star and they must not lose their way in the night.

On this holy night, the prophecies of Israel ’s most renowned patriarchs, poets and prophets found their glorious fulfillment.

• Until Shiloh come, Jacob said.
• I will raise up a Prophet, God said to Moses.
• I will set up thy seed after thee, Nathan said.
• Immanuel, said Isaiah.
• “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
• He later said, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Isaiah 11:1
• The prophet Daniel foresaw the advent of the Messiah. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” Daniel 9:25

So, the Messiah came—-at night. He chose the night, not because he feared the revelations of the day, but to issue a bold proclamation against the night of sin and hopelessness.

Nightfall has a way of changing the complexion of life. The pain we feel during the daylight hours seems to intensify at night. The cold of the night air chills the lonesome traveler to the bone. Night magnifies our fears, deepens our despair and weakens our resolve. As the sun hides its face from the earth, it seems to block out goodness as well. Something about the night emboldens evil-doers and foul spirits. Thieves, murderers, drunkards and prostitutes prowl the streets at night. Night shadows conjure up eerie scenes that play on the imagination.

Job understood the squeamishness of the night. “They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.” Job 24:13-17

David complained against the night. “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.” Psalm 77:1-2

Jesus reviled the darkness. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19.

Darkness and night symbolize all that is evil. Satan himself is known as the Prince of Darkness. The last night of Sodom and Gomorrah mixed mercy with vile sin, both a prelude to pitiless fire and brimstone. Egypt ’s firstborn suffered the death angel’s scourge at night. The night exposed the cowardly nature of Peter warming himself by a strange fire. Nighttime enveloped the marred visage of Christ as he agonized in prayer at Gethsemane . It was under the cover of night that Judas planted his traitorous kiss on Jesus. Paul spent a long night in the cold sea, struggling for his life.

Yet, God chose the night, the very epitome of evil, the shroud of darkness, the absence of light, the celebratory time of hell’s demons to make his glorious entry into the world. He proved that the night becomes subservient to the day, the light will overcome the darkness, and pain and suffering hidden in the night will lose its power at the breaking of the day.

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

We hold night in contempt, not only in the abstract, but with a window on individual nights in scripture. Let us travel first to Jerusalem .

It was a bitter night in the house of a respectable couple in Jerusalem , when the mother gave birth to a long-awaited son. Their anticipated joy plunged into sorrow, however, when they looked into his sightless eyes. Perhaps, at first, they didn’t recognize the symptoms. They inspected his tiny nose, his crumpled ears and smoothed his shock of jet black hair. He seemed normal enough, even more handsome than other would-be messiahs born recently in the neighborhood.

At some point, though, a suspicious mother kept returning her gaze to the infant’s eyes. Something about them looked abnormal. With her thumb and forefinger, she pushed back the puffy eyelids and examined the unresponsive eyes. Afraid to verbalize it, nevertheless, she could not expel the thought from her head.

“Is he…? No, it can’t be. Maybe it’s too early to tell. Maybe he needs to develop a little more. Maybe I’m just worrying too much. But it looks like…”

She stole a glance at her husbands face, and saw a look of concern. He held his finger up before the little red face and moved it back and forth.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t know…it’s just that his eyes don’t look right.”

The sick feeling hit her in the pit of her stomach. She gathered up the baby, held him tightly against her breast and rocked him gently. Looking through the window into the blackness of night, she knew that her newborn son would never see the light of day. He was destined to have a perpetual night shrouding his eyes.

The scene changes to Gadara . It must have been night when the truth came out. His once mild personality had changed, and he started behaving in strange, even shameful ways. She slept little at night, wondering what to do.

First came his guttural voice, his rage, his wild look. Then, his body contorted, he staggered around the room and fell.

“Stop! You’re scaring me.” He stared at her with hate-filled eyes, then screamed and ran into the dusty street. Pieces of his clothing littered the path, torn haphazardly from his body and flung into the wind. On he ran until he collapsed in the tombs, and there he began his dreadful habitation

A legion of demonic spirits invaded his body and brain. He shrieked, laughed and moaned. Authorities bound him with chains, but he broke loose each time with non-human bursts of strength. He was possessed.

Travelers, especially as night fell, could hear the wails of the demoniac of Gadara .

Nazareth portrays another night scene.

During the day, she could force herself to the market. At home, she clung to her cane and managed to fix her meals and keep her house. More than once she woke up on the floor, having passed out from weakness and pain.

But, nighttime was the worst. She lay there in misery on her bed, feeling the hemorrhaging condition draining her body of life. Doctors from Dan to Beersheba took her money, but offered her no cure. Once fiercely independent and able to take care of herself, she saw her modest treasure dwindle to nothing. She knew she was in trouble.

Finally, we go up to Capernaum , on Galilee.

Nighttime descended like an avalanche on the entire family when he broke his silence. “I went to the priest today,” he began.

“Whatever for?” She asked.

He sighed. “You know that spot on my hand that I’ve been wondering about?”

His wife’s hand went to her mouth, stifling a cry of horror. He hung his head and slowly backed away, knowing he could never again tenderly embrace his wife. Cruel leprosy denied fond farewells and long goodbyes. She gathered the children around her skirts, and broke the news to them.

“Your father is a leper.”

The one they loved now became a curse to them. Affection became revulsion. They all knew what leprosy was and what it did. He now had to shout to his own family, “Unclean!” And he disappeared into the night.

Jesus came into a nighttime world.

Satan promised that it would be different. He implied that sin was enlightenment, that disobedience to the will of God would be an entrance into a brighter day than either of them had ever known.

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5

Instead of a creating a brighter day, the sin of Adam and Eve plunged the world into gross darkness. The light that burned in their souls became darkness.

Never let it be said that someone is better off without Christ.
He is the Day Star.
He is the Light of the World.
He is the Consuming Fire.
He is the Sun of Righteousness.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:1-9

Why this night of nights?

Jesus came in the night, with all of its menace and horror, to address the stronghold of Satan. The blackness of sin, the darkness of false doctrine, the desperate grip that Satan had on the world, had to be answered. The victorious savior afforded Satan no safe haven. Evil could not wrap itself in darkness and escape the invasive power of God’s grace. The light, sent from heaven, penetrated the night with the smallest, most vulnerable manifestation God could create—-a baby. Thus, the Prince of Peace served notice on the Prince of Darkness that redemptive power of Christ would go to any length and smash any obstacle in order to proclaim, “Peace on earth, good will to men.”

Bethlehem gave the devil a taste of what was in store for him. Just as Jesus broke through the veil of darkness on that night of nights, he would repeat the performance at the close of his completed mission on earth.

“Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?” Ephesians 4:9

“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Revelation 1:17-18

Jesus came in the night to lead us out of the night. Remember the mother who rocked her sightless infant son that night in Jerusalem ?

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.” John 9:1-7

Jesus came in the night to destroy the works of the devil and break the chains of darkness. Remember that night in Gadara ?

“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.” Mark 5:1-15

Jesus came in the night to heal and restore. Remember that night in Nazareth ?

“And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” Matthew 9:20-22

Jesus came in the night to conquer disease and death. Remember that night in Capernaum ?

“And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” Mark 1:40-42

Because of that night of nights, no night is too black, too fearful, too powerful to prevent the light from breaking through. But those other nights of long ago have their counterparts today.

Divorce court will be held tomorrow. Just days before Christmas, the gavel will descend on someone’s marriage. It will be a dark, bleak night in that household.
People will stumble around in crack houses tonight.
Surgical suites will be busy tonight.
Funeral parlors will get calls tonight.
Tonight, a gambler will lose everything.
Tonight, some criminal will break into a house.
Tonight, cold and pitiless depression will suffocate someone.
Tonight, despair will pull a trigger or open a bottle of sleeping pills.
Tonight, reckless lust will seize a man and a woman, violating their sanctity.
Tonight, a little boy will feel brutal rage of a fist against his face.
Tonight, a selfish mother’s live-in boyfriend will rape a little girl.
Tonight, some naïve teenage girl will lose her virginity.
Tonight, a drunken teenage boy will wrap his car around a tree, and lose his life.

But tonight, because of that holy night of long ago:

Miracles will happen.
Someone will be healed.
Someone will be delivered.
Someone will be spared from death.
Someone will break free from depression.
Someone will stop short of suicide.
Someone’s marriage will be saved.
Some little girl will be safe and secure.
Some little boy will be hugged instead of abused.
Some young girl will receive moral courage.
Some young man will walk away from the drugs and alcohol.

There is coming a day when the victory will be complete, and the very thing God did in the first place will come to fruition. He separated the darkness from the light.

And there will be no more night.

“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5.