Why Shepherds?
Characters of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Don’t you just love seeing the little ones singing their hearts out?
And to watch them try out their acting skills in front of all of us is just cool! I love it! This is one of my favorite times of year and this service is one that I truly look forward to.
I mean this program had it all! Adam, Eve, Mary, Joseph, the Angels and Shepherds. And weren’t they cute?
I think it is interesting all the different characters that make up the Christmas story.
Over the past several weeks we have been talking about the characters of Christmas. Tim shared with us about Zechariah and I covered Elizabeth and Joseph. Today, in light of this program, I want to talk with you about the Angels and the Shepherds from . Take a look at verse 8...
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
What region? Bethlehem, the City of David!
And the shepherds where out that night like they were every night, keeping a guard over their sheep.
Sheep are a quite needy creature. They can’t really defend themselves from their predators, so the shepherds would take on that role for them. Feeding and caring for them during the day, guarding them by night.
Well, as the story goes, these shepherds were in for quite a surprise. Out of nowhere an Angel appears!
9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
So this one angel was quite impressive. I mean all angels are impressive, but this text tells us that when this angel showed it freaked the shepherds out! They were not just startled, they were “filled with great fear.”
And if we are going to be honest, you and I would have jumped out of our skin as well.
Well, the angel didn’t just appear, he also had some amazing news to share with the Shepherds...
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Luke 2
“Don’t be afraid of me!”
“I get that this is outside of your norm, but set your fear aside for a moment and listen to the amazing news I have for you!”
As good Jewish shepherds, they had heard their whole life about the coming Messiah! And, no doubt they were looking forward to this reality in their own lifetime.
And now they have a supernatural encounter with an Angel, a messenger from God.
That’s one of the roles of an angel, by the way. They are God’s messenger.
They only do it when something is very important. And this message was of the upmost importance. The second person of the Trinity, God the Son had just arrived!
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
And the Angel not only informs them of this amazing event, but he compels them to go and check this out! He tells them exactly what to look for...
12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
And as if this were not enough of a demonstration of the importance of this event in human history, the Angel had some friends show up to clearly make the point that this is actually happening!
The Angels put on a breathtaking concert of praise!
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
luke 2:13
What a beautiful phrase of praise!
“Glory to God in the highest” - May God be high and lifted up! May His fame supersede the fame of anyone or anything even in the highest heaven!
and...
“…on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” - By the way, to whom is God pleased? Those who trust the Christ as their only hope for eternal salvation...
Well, after this spectacular display of praise, the Shepherds made a B-line to the place of the birth of the Messiah!
15 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.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
15
What an amazing experience to not only see and hear Angels of God proclaim the birth of Jesus, but to actually see the long promised Christ / Messiah before their very eyes!
And there was no way they could keep the Angel experience to themselves. They had to tell Joseph and Mary!
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Now, as I thought about this scenario, I was really bothered about why in the world would these holy, godly, sinless, magnificent and wonderful creatures, show up and announce this unparalleled message to a bunch of shepherds? After all, shepherds were not at the top of the financial food chain. In fact, this occupation was very much menial labor. And often times shepherds were not looked upon in a favorable light. It was a dirty, lonely job!
So why would these high and holy beings reach out to the low and lonely shepherds?
Well, first of all this is how God often operates.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God chose not to show up and impress the religious elite, to try and fit into the mold of the establishment, to do what everyone expected.
I mean, think about it! The Creator God made His grand entrance into this world not through a celestial parade of holy, angelic, dignitaries, but through the normal, messy birthing process of a teenage girl! If we were writing this story, Jesus’ entrance would have been grand and glorious, but God wrote this narrative - and it was simply, humble, messy and all too human.
God didn’t come to impress us. He came to save us!
But I believe there is more to this story than God going to the shepherds simply because pursuing the humble things of this world is His pattern.
These were no ordinary shepherds. These shepherds had a very special and distinct role to play.
Alfred Eldersheim - “And yet Jewish tradition may here prove both illustrative and helpful. That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, was a settled conviction. Equally so was the belief, that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, ‘the tower of the flock.’ This Migdal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheepground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah (Shek. 7.4) leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for the Temple-sacrifices, and accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds…Thus, Jewish tradition in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from that Migdal Eder, where shepherds watched the Temple-flocks all the year round. Of the deep symbolic significance of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak.” (Jesus the Messiah, Eldersheim, 131, 32)
Isn’t this amazing! These Sheep were special sheep that were used exclusively for the sacrificial system within the temple. And these shepherds were the special shepherds who cared for these sheep.
And it was God Himself who decided to dispatch His Heavenly Hosts to announce the breathtaking message to the shepherds of the sacrificial sheep that the ultimate sacrifice, the Lamb who would take away the sin of the world, the One who would make sheep sacrifices null and void, was lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths.
God provided THE Lamb - Jesus Christ for the redemption of mankind.
18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
18
Mary and Joseph must have been blown away as they listened to the shepherds describe their experience with the Holy Angels! After all, these Angles came to this earth praising God because of their Son! Their Son! The long awaited Messiah, the true sacrificial lamb who would one day sacrifice His life on the cruel cross to ransom the life of many. The One who was the only one that could make peace with God possible. Can you imagine taking all of this in as a new mother and father?
Mary listened intently - she treasured the words that were spoken about her son, no doubt thinking through the painful reality that one day her son, her sweet little lamb would become the sacrificial lamb of the world.
Born to Die
On the night Christ was born
Just before the break of morn,
Just before the break of morn,
As the stars in the sky were fading,
O’re the place where He lay,
Fell a shadow cold and gray
Of a cross that would humble a King
Chorus
Born to die upon Calv’ry,
Jesus suffered my sin to forgive;
Born to die upon Calv’ry,
He was wounded that I might live.
And just think, these shepherds of sacrificial sheep actually got to see the blessed arrival of the one who would one day make their job obsolete.
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10 4
But Jesus, the true lamb of God can take away your sins!
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Jesus Christ is your only hope to have your sin debt removed from you. You can’t cover your sin, you can’t hide your sin, you can’t ignore your sin. The only thing you can do with your sin is pay for it. And,
“The wages of sin is death.” Eternal death in the prison of eternal hell!
But, Jesus willingly took your punishment for your sin! And the Bible says that His one act is sufficient to pay off the sin debt you owe to God.
This is why we christians get so fired up about Christmas! The Apostle Paul says it so well...
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
The Shepherds got the message from the Angels and went and found the Christ!
20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
The question I leave with you this morning is, do you “get the message?” IF you do, you, like the shepherds will spend your Christmas season “glorifying and praising Christ!
Attention (Why should they listen to you?)
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