May 20, 2017

Good Morning,

Luke 2:8-9 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

From the manger Luke moved to the fields nearby, outside the village. It was night. Shepherds were there keeping watch over their flocks.

Among professions shepherding had a lowly place. They were outcasts, not welcome in the city and not trusted by the general public; often they were thieves. They were a despised class. It was difficult for them, because of the nature of their job, to observe the regulations of the Mosaic Law and especially all the man-made rules superimposed upon the law! For these reasons they were looked down upon and were excluded from giving testimony in the courts.

Luke tells this story about the shepherds for a reason. Jesus came not to the proud and powerful, but to the outcasts, the humble, those considered “last” on the social lists. To these men God brought the first news of His Son’s arrival.

During His public ministry Jesus quoted the following words from Isa. 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.”

These words are in harmony with proclamation of the fact the Messiah had who been born was given first to poor and frightened shepherds.

Luke’s narrative makes clear these shepherds were different. They were devout men, probably acquainted with Messianic prophecy and, like Simeon, “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (2:25).

What is the most unique birth announcement you’ve ever seen? I

f you had been with the shepherds on the night Christ was born, what would you have done after the angels left?