day 24: Christ, the Bright Morning Star
/Readings: 2 Peter 1:16-19, Revelation 21, Revelation 22:16-21
It's Christmas Eve.
Anticipation is at its height and we think of the dark night in Bethlehem, silent and chilled - until new life cries out and the horizon turns pink and the sun prepares to drench the world in warmth and light and hope.
But first - in the interim - a glimpse of the morning star, which is in ancient tradition the title of the planet Venus, reflecting the light of the soon-coming sun: a guarantee of the rapid approach of day.
We usually think of Christ as the Light source, not a mere reflection of it. And He was - while He walked on earth, He was the Light of the world. But like sleepy Bethlehem on that silent night, we are waiting expectantly in the interim. We can see the Morning Star - for the Christ has come and done the work of salvation - but we await still the arrival of the Day, when He returns to be the Light of the New Earth.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Revelation 21:22-23
The Christ is our Morning Star. He shines brilliantly over the brightening horizon while we patiently wait, the promise of our eternal hope.
And the Sunrise is coming soon.
