A Great Light -- But Who Saw It First?
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Stories
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2)
(Jesus) made his home in Capernaum…so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “…the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:13-14, 16)
The discovery of the planet Neptune is a story of the triumph of pure science. During the nineteenth century, the planet Uranus displayed enough oddities in its orbit that it became clear that there was some large body further out in the solar system that was dragging it away from its carefully predicted path around the sun.
So in 1845 the French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier sat down and did the math and figured out where the missing planet had to be. On the might of the 23rd and 24th of September, 1846, Johann Gottfried pointed the telescope of the Berlin Observatory at the appropriate place in the sky and discovered it exactly where it was predicted it had to be!
Only afterwards the British Astronomer Royal George Airy announced that the British mathematician John Couch Adams had also made the same calculations and he too had predicted the spot where Neptune had to be. A good deal of national partisanship ensued about who exactly made that first observation and discovered it. Eventually both were credited with the discovery, although there is still controversy about the matter.
Oddly enough, we know exactly who first saw Neptune. That person just didn’t know what they were looking at.
In modern times, some scientists have looked back at the observations of early astronomers who first looked at the sky through telescopes and it’s clear some of them saw and charted Neptune, thinking it was a star.
But no one could have seen Neptune before Galileo, because it is impossible to see it with the naked eye even under the best of circumstances without a telescope. And Galileo was the first was the first person to take the new invention of the telescope and point it at the sky.
Once he did he was astounded. He was the first to see that Venus had phases like the moon, and therefore that all the planets, including the earth, revolved around the sun and therefore that our own world was not the center of the universe. He pointed his telescope at the moon and saw it had real mountains. He looked at Jupiter and discovered it was not just a bright light in the sky but a planet with its own system of worlds orbiting around it.
And it was while observing Jupiter, as he tracked the position of those four moons that revolved around it, that he first saw the planet Neptune. He diligently charted it, but he didn’t recognize it for what it was. He assumed it was a star that, like all the other stars, did not move against the background of the heavens.
Indeed, at the time of Galileo’s sighting, Neptune was moving slowly, even seeming to stand still, so he can’t be blamed. Besides, he was too busy looking at the worlds he knew — Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, to even think that there might be more. So no one tries to credit Galileo with the discovery of Neptune. One must not only see a great light — but identify it for what it is!
In today’s passage from Isaiah, quoted in the gospels, the people who have walked in darkness see a new light — the light of a child. When the prophet confronted King Ahaz about his proposed — and disastrous — alliance with Assyria, Isaiah predicted the people who walked in darkness would see a great light — a child king who would replace Ahaz. Those looking at the light, weighed down with the day’s political and religious crises, can be forgiven for not realizing they were also looking directly at a prediction of the king of Kings, the lord of Lords, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, none other than Jesus himself!
We can only discover Jesus in this season if we not only see the lights of the season — but also identify the light as Jesus as well!
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 22, 2023 issue.
Copyright 2023 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
(Jesus) made his home in Capernaum…so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “…the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:13-14, 16)
The discovery of the planet Neptune is a story of the triumph of pure science. During the nineteenth century, the planet Uranus displayed enough oddities in its orbit that it became clear that there was some large body further out in the solar system that was dragging it away from its carefully predicted path around the sun.
So in 1845 the French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier sat down and did the math and figured out where the missing planet had to be. On the might of the 23rd and 24th of September, 1846, Johann Gottfried pointed the telescope of the Berlin Observatory at the appropriate place in the sky and discovered it exactly where it was predicted it had to be!
Only afterwards the British Astronomer Royal George Airy announced that the British mathematician John Couch Adams had also made the same calculations and he too had predicted the spot where Neptune had to be. A good deal of national partisanship ensued about who exactly made that first observation and discovered it. Eventually both were credited with the discovery, although there is still controversy about the matter.
Oddly enough, we know exactly who first saw Neptune. That person just didn’t know what they were looking at.
In modern times, some scientists have looked back at the observations of early astronomers who first looked at the sky through telescopes and it’s clear some of them saw and charted Neptune, thinking it was a star.
But no one could have seen Neptune before Galileo, because it is impossible to see it with the naked eye even under the best of circumstances without a telescope. And Galileo was the first was the first person to take the new invention of the telescope and point it at the sky.
Once he did he was astounded. He was the first to see that Venus had phases like the moon, and therefore that all the planets, including the earth, revolved around the sun and therefore that our own world was not the center of the universe. He pointed his telescope at the moon and saw it had real mountains. He looked at Jupiter and discovered it was not just a bright light in the sky but a planet with its own system of worlds orbiting around it.
And it was while observing Jupiter, as he tracked the position of those four moons that revolved around it, that he first saw the planet Neptune. He diligently charted it, but he didn’t recognize it for what it was. He assumed it was a star that, like all the other stars, did not move against the background of the heavens.
Indeed, at the time of Galileo’s sighting, Neptune was moving slowly, even seeming to stand still, so he can’t be blamed. Besides, he was too busy looking at the worlds he knew — Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, to even think that there might be more. So no one tries to credit Galileo with the discovery of Neptune. One must not only see a great light — but identify it for what it is!
In today’s passage from Isaiah, quoted in the gospels, the people who have walked in darkness see a new light — the light of a child. When the prophet confronted King Ahaz about his proposed — and disastrous — alliance with Assyria, Isaiah predicted the people who walked in darkness would see a great light — a child king who would replace Ahaz. Those looking at the light, weighed down with the day’s political and religious crises, can be forgiven for not realizing they were also looking directly at a prediction of the king of Kings, the lord of Lords, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace, none other than Jesus himself!
We can only discover Jesus in this season if we not only see the lights of the season — but also identify the light as Jesus as well!
*****************************************
StoryShare, January 22, 2023 issue.
Copyright 2023 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
