LIGHT TO THE GENTILES

1. Isaiah’s Prophecies  

a) Isaiah declares, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us about his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. The law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). Isaiah looks forward to the gospel. In Isaiah, you will find nine prophecies, quoted in the New Testament, concerning the preaching of the gospel to the whole world, both Jew and Gentile. Some of these prophecies focus on the ministry of Jesus. These prophecies show how the gospel of Jesus would bring understanding to an ignorant world.

2. Light To The Gentiles

Luke 2:32
32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Isaiah 42:6
6 “I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,

Isaiah 49:6
6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

a) When the child Jesus was brought to the temple, Simeon, a righteous and devout man, recognized him as the Lord’s Christ. He took the baby in his arms and uttered that lovely prayer in which he praised God saying, "Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation". In that same prayer he called Jesus "a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel". Simeon recognized Jesus as the light of the world, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, just as Isaiah had written, "a light to the nations".

b) Jesus called himself "the light of the world" (John 8:12) and as his disciples we too are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

c) Some people think that Christ should be proclaimed only in Christian nations, and that each nation should have its own religion. But Christ is the light for all nations and the only way by which any human being can come to God (John 14:6).