“And it came to
pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said
one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is
come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-16)
This is, of
course, the story of the shepherds who were fortunate enough to hear the angels
herald the birth of the Holy Babe Jesus.
I’ve always thought it was quite fitting that God would send the angels
to inform shepherds of the birth of Christ.
God had commanded the Israelites to bring an unblemished lamb to the
altars of sacrifice. They were
instructed to sacrifice this lamb so its blood could atone for their sins. These lambs would be born with a shepherd witnessing
their birth.
Jesus was
destined to become the last sacrifice, the great sacrifice that would atone for
the sins of all the people of the earth.
He was to become the Lamb of God.
It seems to me only fitting that shepherds should witness His birth.
Another
interesting fact about this event comes through the words spoken by the angel
to the shepherds. He was in fact only
speaking to these men standing watch over the sheep. But the words this angel spoke apply to
everybody who would ever live in this world.
He told these shepherds not to fear because Christ came into the world.
Had the Savior
never come to the world, all living beings would have reason to fear. There would have been no redemption possible
for the children of God without the sacrifices the Savior would make. We would have come into this world, lived our
lives, and died without any possibility of receiving our bodies again, for
Christ would not have broken the bonds of death. In our weaknesses we all sin. Had Christ not sacrificed Himself for our
sins, we would never have any way of being free of the chains of sin. They would have pulled us down to an
everlasting hell.
So it was that without
the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ all men had no hope. All we could have was fear of death and
hell. But the Savior was born in the
city of Bethlehem. So the angel came to
the shepherds and, through them, announced to the world that fear was concurred. Fear not, for we have hope in the Eternal Son
of God who had finally come into the world.
I’ve always been
impressed with the faith of these shepherds.
These shepherds depended on the herds of sheep for their
livelihood. Because of this, they devoted
their lives to these sheep. These men
spent so much time caring for these sheep that the sheep became intimately
familiar with them. They trusted their
shepherd and would come to him at the sound of his voice.
These men also
came to know the sheep intimately and loved each one of them. They cared for the safety of each and every
one of them. So it was that every night
would find them tending to the flocks, watching over them to ensure no wild
beasts came among them to harm the sheep.
So it was very unusual for anything to convince them to leave the herd
on any evening.
But these
shepherds believed in the Messiah. They
knew how important the Savior was to the world.
When the angel told them the Messiah had come, not even their sheep
could keep them from seeing their Lord and God.
So they left the herds and hastened to see their Lord, their
Shepherd. Do we have the faith these
shepherds had? Would we leave our jobs or
any other means of living to find our Lord God?
Would we leave anything we love to come unto Christ because we value Him
more? Do we hasten to see our God? I hope we can answer yes.
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