Luke 2:15-20
The announcement of the Angels about the birth of Jesus to
the shepherds set into motion a series of events that contributed to
establishing the true identity of Messiah.
One thing that we notice is that the shepherd’s new found knowledge
cased them to spring into action. There
was no way that they could pretend that nothing had happened. This is always the proper response to any
encounter with God or understanding that comes from God’s Word. Knowledge of the truth is a great blessing
that must change the direction of our lives and motivate us to pass it on to
others. We don’t control how others will
respond to what we say; that is not our responsibility. We are, however, responsible to repeat the
truths that God teaches us. We can see
that this is exactly the reaction that the Shepherds had.
RESOLVE TO FIND THE TRUTH: The immediate response of the
shepherds was to go confirm the message that they had been given. They had just been informed that Messiah was
born and they wanted to go and find Him.
They had likely been praying for Messiah to come but never in their
wildest dreams would they have been able to guess that the announcement of His
arrival would be given to them. I am
sure that they were also taken aback by the content of the message that they
had received. Messiah would be wrapped in cloth lying in a manger! This would have certainly been an unexpected
presentation of Messiah. They were
expecting a powerful political figure to throw off Roman oppression. Instead Messiah came as a humble baby that
was born in obscurity apart from the fact that they had just witnessed an
angelic choir singing about His glory.
They had to go and see this miraculous baby for themselves. There was no priority higher than going to
see the baby that the angels described.
Excuses about being busy with the sheep were not even considered. God continues to reveal His truth to us
today. Singing angels are rare
occurrences but He constantly instructs us through His Word and convicts us by
His Spirit. When God’s truth is revealed
to us we must not make excuses or delay our response.
REVELATION OF THE TRUTH: When we have great news it is
almost impossible to contain it. Once
they found Jesus just as the angels had promised they would; they could not
stop talking about what they had seen and heard. By the time the shepherds arrived it is very
likely that there were other family members present besides Mary and
Joseph. Perhaps some neighbors had been
informed of the birth that was most likely expected by those in the neighborhood. The text says that “all who heard it” were
amazed; so it seems that there were more people there than just Mary, Joseph
and Jesus. The point is that they simply
had to spread the good news that they had been told. This would serve as further confirmation to
Mary and Joseph as well as provide a testimony for those first witnesses
concerning the true identity of this baby.
They knew who Messiah was and there were not about to keep that news to
themselves. We know who Messiah is and
we must never keep that knowledge to ourselves.
Our priority in life is to proclaim to others that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah and that He has died and risen again in order to forgive and free us
from sin. We don’t know much about the
identity of these men or what they went on to do after these things. We do know that they told all that they met
about their testimony and about the birth of Messiah. This is an example that all of us must
follow.
RESPONSES TO THE TRUTH: There are three groups of people
mentioned in the text and we are told of their individual or collective
responses. The first group is all the
people who heard the shepherd’s testimony. Their response was to wonder at the
things that they heard. In don’t think
that this means they were scratching their heads trying to decide whether or
not to believe it. I think this means
that their moths were handing open in amazement at what they were told and
witnessed. They were simply astounded by
the fact that they were in the presence of Messiah and that they knew about His
arrival at the earliest possible moment.
I think they were simply so thankful to see what they saw and be where
they were at that moment in time. The
second response is that of Mary; who treasured these things in her heart. She knew the truth before the shepherds did,
but it had to have been a blessing for her to have others confirming the
miraculous baby to whom she had given birth.
I imagine that she had gotten into the habit of pinching herself just to
make sure that she wasn’t dreaming during those months leading up to this
night. She was grateful to play the role
she did and blessed by the excitement, company and confirmation of the
shepherds. Finally, we have the response
of the Shepherds themselves who, probably reluctantly, realized that they did
need to leave the new family with some privacy so they could rest. They went on their way full of rejoicing and
glorifying God. All had happened
according to the word of the angels and they were thrilled that they had just
been in the presence of Messiah. God had
kept His promise and had included them in the process. Their response was to worship God. Wonder, a sense of well-being and worship are
the proper responses to being instructed and used by God.
APPLICATION: When God reveals His will to us we are expected
to take immediate action. Doubt and
delay are dangerous tactics that come from a sinful heart. We must proclaim the Good News of the Gospel
of Jesus to Christ to all who are around us.
We know the truth and must not keep it to ourselves. It is an honor to
know and proclaim the truth it should constantly amaze us that we are given
that honor.
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