Luke 2:8-20
INTRODUCTION
A favorite Christmas picture
is the scene of the shepherds sitting among their sheep on the hills at night
and watching in amazement as a choir of angels appears to them in the distance,
lighting up the sky as they sing “Glory to God in the highest” to the amazed
shepherds.
I would like this afternoon
to talk about that scene and to try to make it come off the Christmas card and
into our hearts and lives, so that we can understand why what happened that
night is such an important part of the gospel story.
Luke
2:8-20:
And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch
over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you
good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will
be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying
in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the
highest,
and on earth peace among men
with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to
one another “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has made known to us.”
And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying
in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been
told them concerning this child: and all who heard it wondered at what the
shepherds told them.
But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they
had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
I. It is remarkable that the
people who were privileged to receive this stunning announcement were lowly
shepherds.
A. Shepherds were not highly
regarded in ancient Palestine.
It is true that King David
had been a shepherd, And a favorite psalm said, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” And
Jesus himself called himself “the Good Shepherd.”
But in reality, shepherds
were among the least respected of the people. They had a hard job. They lived
on the fringes of society. Their work kept them away from the temple rituals
that were so important in the worship of the time.
We don’t read of any
shepherds among Jesus’s disciples.
But I think that God chose
these people to receive this glorious announcement exactly because they were
humble people.
B. Let’s imagine the scene.
For some reason, on this
night the sheep were spending the night in the field. They have not been
brought into the sheepfold, as would have been usual.
The shepherds are watching
them—guarding them from wolves and thieves, and watching to make sure none of
them wander away.
Shepherding must have been a
dull job. What would you do all night, except try to keep awake?
But this night was
different; suddenly an angel appeared!
I have never seen an angel—and actually I don’t want to;
every time we read in scripture of an angel appearing to anyone, that person is
filled with fear. Sometimes we read that they fall down like dead men. And the
angel always says, “Fear not.”
In this story the angel
gives the message about the Holy Child, and suddenly the sky is full of angels.
It seems to the shepherds
that the stars all come trooping down as a great army of angels (that is what
an “angelic host” means), and they say:
“Glory to God in the
highest,
and on earth peace among men
with whom he is pleased.”
(I know that isn’t the way
you remember it. You remember the words: “Glory to God in the highest and on
earth, Peace, goodwill to men.” But all the scholars agree that the original
wording was, “Peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased.” The peace that
was brought to earth on that first Christmas day was for God’s people—for those
who responded to God’s love and welcomed the Savior.)
C. As soon as the angels
departed, the excited shepherds headed to Bethlehem to see this thing that had
been made known to them, and they found Mary and Joseph and the baby, and they
told Mary and Joseph what they had been seen and told.
I suppose that Mary and
Joseph were as surprised as could be to hear of what had happened.
Mary and Joseph knew this
baby was special, and the message the shepherds told them from the angel gave
them plenty to think about.
We read at the end of the
story that “Mary kept all these things,
pondering them in her heart.”
II. Now let’s consider what
the story means.
A. After the angel told the
shepherds, “Fear not,” he told them
that his message was “Good news of great
joy, which shall be to all people.”
Of all the good news that
humankind has ever received, the most joyful news that ever came to earth was
the announcement of the birth of the Christ.
I think of the good news
that came to me in a letter from Charlotte agreeing to marry me.
I think of the good news
that came when World War 2 ended.
But no good news was ever so
good—or so joyful—as the good news that the Savior was born into our world.
And this was good news—not
only for a lucky few—but for “all people.”
B. “For to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is
Christ, the Lord.”
This baby was announced to
be a “Savior.”
The chapter began with these
words: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be enrolled.”
Did you know that the
emperor, Caesar Augustus, was known throughout the empire as “Savior” and “Son of God”?
So there are two “saviors” in this story—one who was
famous and powerful, and one who nobody had heard of yet.
One point of the story is to
show us that a confrontation was about to take place between the one the world
called “savior” and “lord” (that is, Caesar Augustus) and the true “Savior” and
“Lord” (who was Jesus).
“Savior” to the Jews was a
word full of meaning.
A “savior” was one who saved
people from the dangers of life—he was a preserver and protector.
A savior could be a heroic
man. But more often in the Bible the savior was God himself.
But here the angel applies
that title to Jesus.
“Savior” tells us that Jesus is the one who heals our souls from the
sickness of sin.
“Savior” tells us that Jesus is the one who redeems us from the
guilt and punishment of sin.
“Savior” tells us that Jesus is the one who frees us from the power
of sin and evil in our lives.
“Savior” tells us that Jesus is the one who will bring us through
all our troubles and trials of this life and welcome us to our home in glory.
The angel said, “…a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”
The name “Christ” means that Jesus was the
promised Messiah—the long awaited King.
“Lord” tells us that Jesus is the
Almighty God of the Universe—the God of history, and the God
who deserves our obedience and trust.
C. And then the angel gave
the shepherds a sign by which they could identify the child who was Savior and
Lord.
The angel said, “And this
will be a sign for you: you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and
lying in a manger.”
When they got to Bethlehem
they would look around and finally find a child that fit that description.
There would have been only
one child in Bethlehem who was lying in a feeding trough for animals, and that
would be Jesus.
D. The shepherds made the
announcement throughout the neighborhood of the announcement of the angels and
returned glorifying and praising God.
And that’s all we know of
the shepherds. We don’t know whether any of them met Jesus again 30 years later
when he began his ministry. We never read in the gospels that Jesus made any
visits to his birthplace of Bethlehem, although I don’t see why he wouldn’t
have.
If we take all we know of
those three years of Jesus’s ministry, we really know only what happened on a
few of the days of his public life.
CONCLUSION:
It is remarkable that when
God sent his Son into the world, he chose for his parents insignificant people.
Jesus was born “on the
road”—to homeless parents—not even in a proper house.
Only a few people in the
world would have noticed.
God sent the big
announcement to humble, lowly shepherds and let them get the word out.
Probably the first time
anyone important heard about Jesus was when the wise men came to Jerusalem and
told about the star.
And that was later—maybe as
much as two years later—because we know that they arrived two years after they
had seen the star, and by that time the holy family was living in a house.
And that event seems to have
been quickly forgotten. We read no more about Bethlehem or the wise men in the
gospels or in histories that were written of that time.
So what is God telling us?
He is telling us, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the
Kingdom of God.” (Those are the words of Jesus in Luke 6:20.)
He is telling us that God
humbled himself to come to the lowliest of the low, and that tells us that
Jesus is the Savior of everyone—not just the rich or powerful or privileged.
As we celebrate Christmas
this year, let us put everything else in the background and think about the
Christ who came into the world to be our Savior and Lord.
Let us remember that the
baby is just the beginning. The important part comes at the end when our Savior
ascends to the Cross and gives his life for the sins of the world.
And when he is laid in the
tomb…and when he is raised from the grave…and is taken into heaven.
This is the great God whom
we worship.
There is so much to distract
us at Christmastime.
The world has made a
spectacle of it.
The merchants have made it a
thing to make money off of.
Sometimes amidst the family
celebrations, Jesus is crowded out.
But Jesus belongs in the
center of the celebration.
Let us bow down before our
Great Savior and Lord and give him our life and our all.
Let us learn to trust him and
to obey him and to follow him to the end.
