The People Who Sat In Darkness.....

.....Have Seen A Great Light!

Matthew 4: 15-17
"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, 15 By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, 16 And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”

The land of Zebulun and Naphtali make up the region in and around the sea of Galilee where Jesus seemed to spend most of His time.  In fact, He performed 3/4 of His miracles in this region and only very few in Jerusalem and other parts.  Why is that?

You'll notice it was often called "Galilee of the Gentiles." Gentiles are not, in fact never were, under law in any way.  For this reason, they were not "law-conscious."  It was precisely that lack of consciousness which allowed Jesus to perform most of His miracles there.  Amazing!

(Sea of Galilee)

The Jewish people on the other hand, particularly in and around Jerusalem, were very.....no, EXTREMELY.....conscious of the law. They had lived under it for such a long time:  1500 years in fact.  This is THE #1 REASON why Jesus was able to perform only a handful of miracles in and around that general area.

You see, miracles happen by Grace.  Grace is UN-merited favor.  They cannot be earned by somehow being "good enough," praying hard enough or long enough, faithfully attending church or serving faithfully in ministry or in some way trying to show God how much you love Him in order to merit them.

No. GRACE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH "YOU" AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH JESUS:

Jesus IS GRACE!  He is the GREAT LIGHT the Gentiles and sinners saw and to Whom they were attracted in droves.  He is indeed, the Light of the World!
Thank you, Abba, for sending Your Beloved Son, not only to save His People, Israel, but to save us Gentiles, too!

Yes, indeed: The people....US.....who sat in darkness have seen A GREAT LIGHT!!!