Shepherds: Good News for All
The Characters of Christmas - Advent 2019 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:27
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Simeon and the Prophets
Joseph as he dealt with disappointment
Mary as she responded to God’s call
Today, we’re going to consider one more group of people who were involved in the birth of Jesus - the shepherds.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
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.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
For most of us, this is a very familiar passage - in fact it’s one that is often read on Christmas Eve and makes for great acting as a narrator might lead people through a pageant.
So, Mary and Joseph make it to Bethlehem - they find a “stable” environment for Jesus to be born into. What a joyous occasion!
Now if you were going to have a child who would you tell first? I know for us, it was family and church friends who came to the hospital to see our kids. I know some people put up balloons so that the neighborhood knows. Shortly after the birth of our kids, there was the fancy mailing that went out to a lot of family and friends. Now a days - it’s almost immediate that Facebook and Instagram get their pics and comments.
And yet here at Jesus’ birth - it seems that not even his family was there beyond Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:16).
But what about someone with Jesus’ pedigree? He has royal blood - surely the elites would be the first to know! Nope! Afterall, when a royal in England gets married - immediately the media goes on pregnancy watch. And then the child is an immediate target for papparazi once he or she is born. For Jesus, there was no announcement or regal proclamation to Jerusalem’s political giants. Rande wasn’t there to put pictures in the Monocle.
The angel told Mary and Joseph that Jesus would be a Savior - even the Messiah. That means he has religious credentials. Certainly the religious leaders would be on hand to verify that the birth happened in the proper way and could document the birth of the Messiah so that historical and biblical records could be updated. Nope! There was nothing said to the religious leaders beyond what was foretold in the prophecies.
Instead - God sent out His own birth announcement, His own special e-vite - or “a-vite” (angel invitation). Instead of reaching out to family, political and religious leaders, God reached out to a group of near-by shepherds to who were taking turns watching the sheep. He reached out to some men who’s hair was likely wind-swept and dirty, who’s hands were likely covered in dust - with fingernails that haven’t been touched for a few days - caked with the grime that gets on them from being outdoors for hours or even days on end.
These were nearly the lowest of society. These are the first ones God chose to announce the birth of his Son.
As I think through this, the Angel’s announcement to the shepherds reveals some things about God. First of all...
God has a shepherd’s heart
God has a shepherd’s heart
Being out here, surrounded by the ag. reserve, we may have a sense of what shepherding might entail, but I think for many of us the life of first century middle eastern shepherds might elude us.
But let’s take a step back.
Many of the patriarchs were shepherds (Abraham, Jacob, Moses, etc.)
It was common to the people of Israel - shepherding and caring for animals was likely one of the primary occupations of the early Israelites.
Sheep were necessary for food and for worship as sheep were common sacrifices
Often a dirty job that caused people to wander and to provide for their sheep at night
Not only did God seem to relate to Shepherds, but the David even reflected on the fact that God was like a shepherd to him.
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
God demonstrates His shepherding heart as He...
Leads - guides his people - we saw this in the Exodus as God guided his people through the Red Sea and into the Sinai desert. We saw this as God led his people through the wilderness with a pillar of fire by day and a cloud by night. We saw this as God gave insight to the Joshua as the Israelites entered into the land. God led the kings of Judah and Israel - until their rebellion finally resulting in God leading them into the exile. When we pick up our series on God’s story in Scripture, we’ll see how God led through the prophets, through dreams, directing the people of Israel to return to Him and to return to the land. Throughout history, God has led people through his Word, through his still small voice, through dreams, and so much more. God, as our shepherd continues to lead us today - both individually and corporately. Not only does God demonstrate a shepherding heart through leading his people, but as He...
Provides - Just as a shepherd would lead sheep to food sources - in the wilderness and in the paddock, God did that for the people of Israel. He provided manna and quail in the wilderness. He provided spiritual and political leaders as the nation was established. In Jesus, God provided a means for us to have salvation. In the Apostles, God provided the leaders to establish the early church. In the New Testament, God provided the instruction that we need to understand Him and how we should do live.
God’s shepherding heart leads his people and provides for His people.
Finally, God’s shepherding heart...
Protects - in John 10:11, Jesus refers to himself as a good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Shepherds would often lay in the gateway of the pen in which the sheep were held - so that any invaders would have to go through the shepherd to get to the sheep. In the Old Testament, we saw how God protected his people by miraculously fighting on their behalf. He also provided leaders who would help Israel defend itself against attackers. God protected his people from blatant sin by instituting a sacrificial system designed to help the Israelites live in holiness, defending them against besetting sin. In Jesus, God protects from the eternal consequence of our sin - separation from Him in Hell - by placing the punishment of our sin on Jesus - who then accepted it and then conquered that ultimate punishment through his resurrection from the grave - so that we might have life with him.
God, like a shepherd, leads his people, provides for his people and protects his people.
God has a shepherd’s heart - and really a shepherd’s conduct.
In addition to that, the announcement to the shepherds seems to reveal that...
God has a heart for the marginalized
God has a heart for the marginalized
Even though the Israelites were traditionally shepherds and keepers of livestock, they were not aways fully appreciated as a part of society.
When the Israelites were in Egypt - part of the reason they were given the land of Goshen is that it was both fertile and it was away from the bulk of the Egyptian population because the Egyptians generally looked down on shepherds and keepers of livestock. (Gen. 46:34)
We discussed this a few weeks ago, but people can be marginalized for a variety of reasons - their social status, their occupation, their race, ethnicity, country of origin, and more....
Throughout the OT, we see God instituting laws and provisions for the marginalized, for the foreigner...
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
He then goes on to address another marginalized group, widows
You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry,
By the time in which Jesus was born, shepherds were often set aside in society. While their job was important - people needed food and needed animals for the sacrifice in the Temple - the nature of their work left them as outsiders even among their own people.
You and I are marginalized by our sin - God’s compassion for us led him to send his son, so that we might be fully accepted into his Kingdom.
Ironically, one of the things that we find is that once we’ve become a part of God’s Kingdom, we end up being enemies with the world, marginalized as religious fanatics. God still has a heart for us - leading, providing, protecting us.
While this announcement seems to reveal God’s shepherding heart and his heart for the marginalized, this announcement also clearly reveals that...
God’s good news is for everyone
God’s good news is for everyone
The message of the angels made it clear that this good news was not only for Jews, not only for religious leaders, not only for family members, not only for political elites - this news was for everyone.
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.
If God had announced the birth of Messiah to the Religious leaders - then they may have become gate-keepers of the good news - just like they had with the law. They set up rules in order to keep people from breaking the law and were more concerned with people keeping their rules than they were with loving and serving God.
God bypassed these gate keepers and went right to the masses, right to the lowest of society.
Even today, as believers, we have direct access to God through Jesus.
If God had announced the birth of Messiah to the political elites - their power would have been threatened - as we see in Matthew’s account (Matthew 2)
Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
after the wise men visit Jesus, they get word that they should avoid Herod...
And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Their action infuriated Herod...
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
By sending out His announcement to the shepherds - God was showing that this salvation was not for the powerful, privileged, or pure - it was good news for the lowest and the highest. It was good news for all.
That good news is still for all.
Friend - you are part of that “all” - that good news is for you!
What is the good news?
Here are the announcement of Jesus’ birth, it was the fact that a Savior had been born:
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Angel declares three specific and important titles:
Savior - a savior should save people from something, some problem, some form of bondage.
Christ - this is the Greek word for “Messiah” or anointed one. For the shepherds, hearing “Christ” would likely have brought up all of the things that they may have learned from the time they were young children about the coming Messiah - the liberator, the suffering servant. This may have been exceedingly good news to them.
Lord - just like it implies - this is essentially master or someone with authority.
So here, the Angel’s announcement seems to indicate that the prophesied Messiah had come to save people and has the authority to do so.
Why is this good news?
The prophecies had declared the approximate time when Messiah would have come. There may have been a sort of Messiah mania lingering in Judea. People were looking for a ruler and king, a warrior. There were false messiah’s popping up who would gather a crowd for a while and then fade - they could not save and had no authority.
This Angelic announcement to a group gave multiple witnesses insight into this good news. It was not Mary and Joseph proclaiming anything to make a name for themselves or sharing pictures to get more likes on Instagram. This was a real announcement designed to bring glory to God and good news for you and me.
Friend - you have probably heard the Christmas story time and again. Let me just encourage you to hear this. This good news is for you. All of us are born in bondage to sin. We may not always feel like it. We often want to justify our condition as human nature - but that human nature is destined for an eternity without God.
The good news of the birth of Jesus is good news for all because no matter what our background (high, low, rich, poor, accepted or outcast) we all stand in the same place - guilty with a punishment on us.
Jesus’ entrance into the world - his perfect life and his death, burial and resurrection - are the good news that we all need. He is the anointed one - the only one - who was given authority (Lord) to save you and me from our sins - from the eternal punishment that our sins require.
His is savior - is he yours?
The angel’s announcement is Good News bringing great joy for you and me - I pray that you will trust him and believe.