A Golden Lampstand

And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
Zechariah 4:1–7
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A Golden Lampstand
Not by might do we conquer. According to the world, to look upon the cross of Jesus is to look upon the weakness. He looks like he has been utterly defeated and yet it is there that he has won every victory and conquered in every fight. What looks like a snuffed-out candle, is the Light of the world that has come to you and me. A light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Oh, the darkness thinks that it is very powerful, and it has scared one too many children or even one too many adults, but it is no match for the light. It always runs away, cowering, with just the slightest spark, just the smallest beam of light. The cross of Jesus is a lampstand for your dark world. The cross sends all your enemies cowering in the opposite direction. Jesus gives comfort and life in his suffering and death. He gives you what has been his all along. He makes you children of God with eternal life—free and forgiven. So it is that the Spirit of God brings Jesus to you. That which was won on a mountain called Golgotha is given to you in the Word preached and the Sacraments given. Thanks be to God for that Light that shines on us.