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13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased. 15And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this child. 18And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. 19But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them (Luke 2.13-20, ASV).[1] Memory Verse – But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. – Luke 2.19 The angel declared these good tidings to the shepherds; the Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in Bethlehem and they would find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger (vs. 12). After the angel had told them this, a great host of angels appeared to him and sang praises to the glory of God. At this moment the shepherds had a couple of choices; first they could have said, “that was awesome, but you know we have settled in for the night, why not wait till the morning and then we can go and check this out. “ Second, they could have said, “That was nice, but we do not really care, and even if we see this child what will it matter, who would believe us?” With this kind of attitude, they would decide to just stay where they were and do nothing. Third, they could decide only some of them should go. Those shepherds of importance, the ones in charge and leave the others to continue to watch over the flocks in the fields. Surely someone must remain with the sheep, they are helpless and could easily wander off and get lost. So, only some of them will go. However, this is not what we find at all, we find all the shepherds went. “The shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2.15, CSB).[2] They all decided to go, and not wait, not stay till morning, or any other kind of delay, they went ‘straight to Bethlehem’ or ‘made hast.’ In either case they got up and went to see this wonderful news the Lord had proclaimed to them through the angel. The shepherds making haste came into town to see this amazing thing which had been told to them, to see the Savior, Christ the Lord. They did not waste any time coming to Bethlehem, if they had, Mary and Joseph might have found a better place to stay, or they decided to move on. If they did not go right away, they would miss this amazing sight which the angel had declared unto them. When God speaks to us, we have the same basic three choices as the shepherds (those listed above). We can decide to go, not to go at all, or send only the important people. But when God calls us, He wants US, not later, not when we get around to it and definitely not someone else. We must get up and get going, we cannot just sit around and wait. We cannot just see if something different will come along, because what God has told us to do just might have an expiration date on it. We might miss out on the blessing. So, we need to rise up like the shepherds and make haste; go now and see the amazing thing God has in store for us. But it is not just getting up and going which makes the shepherds amazing, it is what they did after they saw the young child. Luke declares, “And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child” (Luke 2.17, KJV).[3] “Having seen the child themselves, they had now evidence that would satisfy others; and accordingly, they became the first preachers of the gospel, and went and proclaimed to others that the Messiah had come.”[4] They became missionaries to the whole region, the first missionaries of the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ the Lord. We know of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin Elisabeth’s son (Luke 1.57-66), who prepared the way for Jesus declaring, “Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1.29). But these lowly shepherds were proclaiming the birth of the Savior, Christ the Lord, just as the angel had told them, and God had showed to them, and declaring all the things told to them from Mary and Joseph of how God had set this all in motion. Again, looking at the prophet Isaiah and Micah we find our Savior’s birth declared and His great names given for us to take great hope and comfort in. For a Child hath been born to us, A Son hath been given to us, And the princely power is on his shoulder, And He doth call his name Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9.6, YLT).[5] “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity” (Micah 5.2, NASB95).[6] God has called all of us to be missionaries just like the shepherds, declaring all we have seen and heard. Some will listen and some will not, but that is not for us to worry about, it is our job to share the amazing news, the gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior to a lost and dying world without fear or shame. Always remember Paul’s words, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1.16, ESV).[7] So, go be a missionary just like the shepherds. Application
Prayer Lord my God, what an amazing thing it is to read about such lowly shepherds and see how You chose them to be the first to know about the birth of Your Son. How they were excited to go, and see, and then share their story, Your story, the gospel, with everyone they saw, the entire region. Many did not understand or even believe them but they did it anyway. Lord give me this boldness, this willingness to share all I have seen and heard about You with everyone. Help me to never be afraid of Your gospel and always be ready to give an answer of the Truth which lives within me, this Living Hope granted by Your Son, Jesus Christ, because of His sacrifice on the cross all made possible because of His birth in Bethlehem. Thank You for this wonderful message, help me to share it today and every day until Christ returns. I pray all this in Jesus Christ’s Name, Amen. [1] American Standard Version. (1995). (Lk 2:13–20). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 2:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. [3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Lk 2:17). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [4] Barnes, A. (1884–1885). Notes on the New Testament: Luke & John. (R. Frew, Ed.) (p. 20). London: Blackie & Son. [5] Young, R. (1997). Young’s Literal Translation (Is 9:6). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. [6] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Mic 5:2). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 1:16). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. You Can Download This Blog Here - December 12 - Luke 2.13-20
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