Today’s passage is Luke 2:1-20. Because of a census, Joseph goes to Bethlehem with Mary who gives birth to Jesus in a stable there. An angel announces the birth to shepherds nearby. A choir of angels sing God’s praises. The shepherds go to Bethlehem to see Jesus and then spread word of the event, praising God on their way back to the fields.
Why are shepherds the first ones to hear the news?
Why do they hurry to see Jesus?
Because Jesus is our spiritual shepherd, real shepherds hear the news of his birth first.
He’s one of them, at the bottom of the social scale but charged with an important task of looking after valuable animals that are stupid, defenseless, and need constant guidance.
And because they are at the bottom of the social scale, they are not highly regarded or shown much respect or paid attention to.
Yet they are the ones who are visited by an angel, they are the ones who are told that the Savior is born, and they are the ones to witness his birth. In an instant, they go from being no-accounts to the first evangelists of God’s long prophesied arrival.
Although no one showed them any respect before, God pays them the highest compliment by announcing Jesus’ birth in a spectacular way and inspiring them to rush to see Jesus.
God has filled them with good things.
I imagine they danced their way back to their sheep in the hills, singing God’s praises like angels and grabbing everyone they met to tell them the news.
God filled them with good things and sent the rich empty away, just as Mary sang in her song to Elizabeth. No less than Mary, I think the shepherds treasured everything that night in their hearts, a treasure no man could ever take away.
All of this spiritual wealth dropped onto the poorest in society, and what is their initial reaction? Terror.
“They were terrified” (9).
Then they believe the news and go see Jesus.
Then they sing God’s praises just like the angels they’d heard a few hours earlier.
I’d be terrified too if an angel suddenly appeared to me and lit up the sky and gave me detailed news of a great even.
One of the results of fear is that it freezes action.
We can only act when the fear is calmed.
God sent angels to the shepherds because he loved them and wanted to share with someone the greatest birthday in history.
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, Jesus.
Although the presence of the angel terrified the shepherds, I think they were able to accept the message of his love more readily than the rich, the well connected and the well educated. That’s why they went to see Jesus.
I have a hard time accepting compliments and an even harder time accepting love from others.
My wife is the same.
We think one of the reasons God joined us was so we could help each other overcome this.
Our basic problem is that we look at life through our hurt.
We were hurt from lack of appropriate love.
When incidences of appropriate respect and affection are shown to us, we freeze out of fear.
We want them but we’re afraid.
For me, I react negatively after the fear with rejection of some sort#8212;denial, sarcasm, mockery, running away.
My wife’s father has affection for me. So do her sisters.
One of the ways they show it is concern for my health.
They share their concern with my wife over my job, my workaholism, and my diet.
Even though they can’t easily afford it, they send me things like a box of black onion juice to drink each morning. I accept this with bad grace.
Today my wife scolded me and told me I have to accept their love.
I don’t have to dance and sing like the shepherds, but I do need to accept their affection, thank them for their black onion juice and praise God.
Application: to thank my father in law in Korean for the onion juice.
Lord, let me not be frozen in my past hurts but open myself to love.
