December 27, 2012
Luke 2:8-20
And there were shepherds living out in the
fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel
of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and
they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring
you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today
in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the
Lord. 12
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth
peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the
baby, who was lying in the manger. 17
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been
told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But
Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The
shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen which were just as they had been told.
It amazes me that on December 26th it appears
that Christmas is over. The tree is
taken down. Gifts are put away. Christmas songs stop playing. But, what was the day after Jesus’ birth
like? I think there was more excitement
and celebration going on than the day before.
Of course, the angels appearing to the shepherds and announcing the
birth was pretty spectacular, but only a few shepherds were privileged to be
first to know of the birth and invited to witness the event.
I think we need to look at the shepherds a little more and
reconsider our concept of Christmas and Jesus’ birth.
An angel appeared to the shepherds. I’m thinking it was
probably Gabriel since he told Zacharias, Mary & Joseph about John to
prepare the way for Jesus, and Jesus.
Then they were given a once in a lifetime special performance of The
Heavenly Choir – multitudes of angels filling the sky and singing. Evidently only the shepherds could hear. Isn’t that fabulous? Just stop and imagine it!
If that wasn’t enough to keep them talking for the rest of
their lives; they had been invited to go and see The Messiah that had been born
in Bethlehem. Scripture says they
hurried. I wonder who tended the sheep. I also wonder how they knew which stable.
After they saw…just as the angel said…they began joyously
spreading the word everywhere; and then they returned to their sheep on the
countryside, glorifying and praising God as they went. I’m sure they never stopped telling the
story. The interesting thing is that
those who heard were amazed and wondered about this news. I’m thinking they didn’t believe, because
Scripture doesn’t tell us that any others came to see.
Two thoughts:
(1) The shepherds
knew this was The Messiah who was to become their king, but what do you suppose
they thought happened to him? He wasn’t
found in Bethlehem any more. Joseph was
told to take him and Mary to Egypt when Herod was killing the babies. We’re not sure how long they stayed there,
but they went to Nazareth to live after Herod died. (Maybe Jesus’ references to shepherds and to
Himself as The Good Shepherd may have been to honor them.)
(2)
Maybe we don’t continue celebrating and telling the
story of the birth of Jesus like the shepherds did because we haven’t come to
see…and believe that He is the Savior of the world! Those living in sin are condemned to an
eternal death. They don’t know that
their penalty has been paid with the blood of Jesus and they are free. They must believe it to be freed and receive
eternal life.
(“For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.”
John 3:16-17)
We celebrate the birth of Jesus on
Christmas failing to remember that he was born to be The Savior of the world in
sin. May those of us who have
seen…believed…and been freed from the prison of sin, like the shepherds tell
the good news… and keep telling the story.
(“The shepherds returned to their fields, glorifying and
praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as
they had been told.)
