The Advent of Jesus into a Wicked World

By Michael C. Mack  

Each Christmas I faithfully sing the hymn . . . though I question the historical accuracy of the words.  

Silent night, holy night! 
All is calm, all is bright. . . . 

As I read the biblical accounts, I imagine the atmosphere surrounding Jesus’ birth as something other than silent, calm, and bright. More like clamorous and chaotic.  

The streets of Bethlehem are bustling as people from across the region arrive in their ancestral hometown to register for Caesar Augustus’s census. Joseph and Mary walk wide-eyed through throngs of fellow Jews from King David’s line hectically looking for a place to spend the night. Distant family members they’ve never met press in all around them. The couple inhales a brew of body odor, donkey dung, fermenting grapes, and baking bread. Tempers flare for irritable travelers. Their angry outcries mix with a cacophony of other sounds. Donkeys bray. Chickens cluck. People grumble. Zealots vociferously resist the census. Mary,  who is nine-month’s pregnant, and Joseph—both weary from their 70-mile trip—wander through all this, a bit bewildered but with an inexplicable tranquility.  

Jesus was born into a world of turmoil and disorder. Heavenly peace? Hardly. The city sounded more like all hell had broken loose. People were tired, stressed, and frenzied. (Sounds like the Christmas season today, doesn’t it?) 

Jesus came into a lost, sin-darkened world that had been that way for a very long time. The Old Testament reveals the repeating pattern of human wickedness followed by God’s punishment, which led to the people’s repentance and then God’s restorative grace. God’s people had, time after time, gone astray, each turning to their own way (Isaiah 53:6). And although the line of Old Testament history experienced ups and downs like today’s stock market, the overall trajectory of human evil was rising precipitously. People in general, and even God’s people, had become increasingly proud, selfish, greedy, murderous, deceitful, blasphemous, disobedient, rebellious, perverse, and hard-hearted, just to name a few of their unholy attributes. Something had to be done.  

Jeremiah, among other ancient prophets, had predicted it. He had said that the Holy City of Jerusalem had become so wicked that God would give the city into the hands of the Babylonians (Jeremiah 32:3ff.). The Lord later told Jeremiah, “I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness” (33:5). It had become that bad.  

ALL IS NOT CALM . . .  

As I read the Old Testament, I see periodic seasons of calm. Often, in fact, the writers called attention to these times of rest or peace from Israel’s enemies as if this was something unusual. Because it was. More frequently, it seems, nations were in conflict and at war. Or God’s people lived in captivity to a stronger nation. They lived in constant fear, frustration, anguish, and anxiety.  

The people were waiting for God’s Messiah to fix all that. They looked forward to the one who would come as a mighty warrior king to break them free from their pagan occupation, someone who would bring political peace and cultural calmness.  

Today, we still live in a world where peace seems scarce. Cities, neighborhoods, and Twitter have become war zones. Discord exists in many marriages, families, and churches. We need real, lasting peace. Where can it be found? 

. . . BUT GOD PROVIDES CALMNESS 

Enter Jesus.  

Advent means that the thing people have awaited is finally here. When Jesus came, the wait was over for the Jewish people. He did not come as a warrior king, but as the Prince of Peace. His peace did not match most people’s expectations, however. He made disconcerting statements such as, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division” (Luke 12:51).  

An all-in disciple of Jesus knows this is true. Following him often brings division in our relationships rather than peace. And yet, we have his soul-satisfying peace regardless of our circumstances. The peace Jesus gives is far different than the kind of peace the world gives (John 14:27). It’s deeper and more substantial than the peace that’s discussed on talk shows or many podcasts. His is the kind of peace that surpasses all worldly concerns. 

Jesus brings peace not from our world, our circumstances, or even our enemies; he brings his peace in the middle of our difficulties, a peace that transcends all human understanding amid everything the world throws at us. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace,” Jesus said. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  

One day after a teaching session on a lake, Jesus and his disciples set out on a boat to the other side. As they traveled across the lake, what Mark described as a “furious squall” came up and water swamped the boat. Jesus was sleeping in the stern, and his disciples, who were anything but calm or at peace in the situation, woke him. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” they asked (Mark 4:38). Jesus calmed the storm.  

Jesus still brings calm to those he loves. I have gone through many storms and squalls in my life. So have you. And, as his follower, I know he is aware of the difficulties; he is not only “in my boat,” he is on the throne of my life, completely in control of every circumstance I go through. The Lord can either calm the storms for me or bring calm to me amid the storms. He always does one or the other, and sometimes he does both.  

Jesus came into the world as Immanuel, God with us, and he still is with us. He not only brought peace, but, as Paul put it, “He himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14).  

ALL IS NOT BRIGHT . . .  

Jeremiah and other prophets had warned the people of their day about how wicked they had become. By the time of the New Testament, Jesus’ apostle John described the condition of the world with one word: darkness (John 1:5). Darkness in the Bible illustrates evil and resulting judgment.  

The world is still a very dark place. People are still proud, selfish, greedy, murderous, deceitful, blasphemous, disobedient, rebellious, perverse, and hard-hearted. It’s hard to find a place where all is calm and bright. I often feel like Joseph and Mary walking through hordes of lost people living in chaos and confusion. We live day by day in what Paul called this “present darkness” (Ephesians 6:12, English Standard Version). Each day’s news reports confirm that the world is still a very wicked place. It seems not all that different, in some ways, from the world Jesus entered. Something must be done!  

From the beginning, God had a plan for redemption. He would do what needed to be done.  

. . . BUT GOD PROVIDES LIGHT  

Jeremiah wrote,  

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 

“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 

In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. 

This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior” (Jeremiah 33:14-16). 

Jesus our Lord and Savior came, said John, as a Light into a world of darkness. Yet not everyone accepted him. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). This is still true.  

Jesus often used the imagery of darkness and light. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Note the vital means for moving from darkness to the light of life: following Jesus.  

God rescued us, said Paul, “from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). That’s good news! We are no longer in darkness, and we do not belong to the darkness of this world (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).  

While that’s true, the world around us is still very dark. At least part of the reason is that so many of us live like 10-watt blacklight bulbs rather than 90,000-lumen lights that truly make the world a place where all is bright. We live like mood lighting rather than searchlights.  

The Bible gives us a plan for living as stewards of God’s grace and ambassadors in his kingdom. In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul outlined several ways we should respond as his lights in this dark world. Read the whole chapter for yourself, but here are a few of the highlights:  

1. “Walk in the way of love.” It starts with living out the Great Commandment to love God and others “just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (v. 2).  

2. Live a holy life in a wicked world. For Christ followers, “there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place” (vv. 3-4). This is still about how Jesus’ disciples live as lights in a dark world. You and I must set an example with our actions.  

3. Live as the transformed person you are. Paul said, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (v. 8). People around you—in every environment where God puts you—should see a difference in your life. As you receive God’s grace, love, wisdom, strength, and more, it should naturally overflow from your life into the lives of others near you.  

4. Light up the dark places where God puts you. Paul went on to say, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (v. 11). You can expose deeds of darkness by simply being light—that is, through how you live—and you can also expose them, if you’ve gained the regard of those around you, with your words. You do this, said Peter, “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).  

5. Wisely watch for opportunities to be light. Paul said, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). We’ve established that this world is evil. So, you and I should respond with the wisdom and the opportunities God gives to be his lights in this sin-darkened world. And he will provide these for us if we pray each day for them and are watchful for how God is working in us and all around us.  

The night (or day—we don’t really know) of Jesus’ birth may not have been silent, calm, or bright. In fact, I think that’s a point of the biblical narrative. Jesus came into a tumultuous, sinful, dark world and brought his peace, calmness, and light into it.  

Now, as his followers, let’s do the same. 

This is Michael C. Mack’s final article for Christian Standard. He died on Aug. 24, shortly after writing it. Mike served as editor of the magazine from 2017 to 2023.