BS1M - GOD'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF JESUS
Every proud father is bursting with excitement to tell the good news of his newborn child and God was no different – except for whom He chose to tell it.
Luke 2:8
Shepherds stayed with their flocks by night to keep them from straying and being attacked by predators. Perhaps these humble men were the only ones up and attentive to tell. Or, perhaps they were men that God especially wanted to bless.
How did God decide to declare His Son’s arrival to these shepherds? There were 2 ways that occurred simultaneously.
Luke 2:9
The word “glory” is often the same as light and “the glory of the Lord” speaks of light in great intensity. So, they suddenly had an angel standing in their midst, along with a huge light show in the sky. They were getting a real show and it was so overwhelming that they were afraid!
What did the angel say to them?
Luke 2:10-11
There are two “Cities of Davids” spoken of in scripture. There is Bethlehem where David was born, and Zion (Jerusalem) where David ruled. We know from Luke 2:8 that the shepherds were in the region of Bethlehem and so the child to be born “in the City of David” would have meant Bethlehem nearby.
The angel tells them that this child would be “Christ the Lord”. These Jewish shepherds may have been unlearned men but they would have understood that the birth of the Messiah – the one they had been waiting for --- had just been announced!
Then, instead of giving the shepherds a specific address to go to, the angel gives them “a sign”.
Luke 2:12
Although God, speaking through the angel, narrows it down for the shepherds – look in stables and not the inns ---why doesn’t He just give them the exact location?
Throughout scripture God never gives us truth just so that we can have more knowledge. He imparts truth so that we’ll rise up and seek for Him as a person. God wants our hearts, and He promises to be found by us if we seek Him with a certain attitude. What is that attitude?
Deuteronomy 4:29
The Prophet Isaiah’s exhortation was now very applicable to these shepherds.
Isaiah 55:6
By now the light show in the sky had intensified and a concert was going on with it! What were the angels of God singing?
Luke 2:13-14
The words that might have made the shepherds pause in the angel’s song were “on earth peace among men”. The Jewish society was full of divisions, not to mention the world at large. Could this child bring unity among men? Hadn’t Isaiah referred to the Messiah as “the Prince of Peace”?
When the light show and the concert were finished, the angels went away – back to Heaven – and left the shepherds to themselves. They now had the same decision any of us have when we have seen something we KNOW was a word from God. They could either get back to focusing on their sheep, or they could seek the Lord. What did they decide?
Luke 2:15-16
Notice Luke writes that “they went with haste”. How that must have pleased God! He could see that these men believed Him, and so God was true to his word in letting the shepherds find His Son Jesus.
What did they tell Mary and Joseph, as well as everyone standing within ear shot?
Luke 2:17
These humble shepherds where the first to preach “the gospel” which means to tell the good news that the Messiah had come. They told everyone about God speaking through the angel, the clue they were given to find Jesus, the light show, and then the final concert! And what was the reaction?
Luke 2:18-19
Mary especially was keeping a “book of remembrance” in her head. No doubt she was going over what the Angel Gabriel said to her, and then what happened to Elizabeth and Zachariah, and now to these shepherds. She was treasuring it all, weighing each circumstance as to what it would mean, and seeking especially to know what it would mean in regards to Jesus.
It might have seemed anti-climatic for the shepherds to go back to the mundane life with their sheep, but they did so with a new “pep in their step”. They had been the first to know about and visit with the newborn Messiah and now they would “return to earth” but with a new attitude.
Luke 2:20
Luke in telling us about:
-the miracle birth of Christ’s forerunner (called John the Baptist) ,
-the miraculous way that Mary (a virgin) became pregnant,
-the miraculous way that God fulfilled Micah’s prophesy (that the child would be born in Bethlehem)
-the amazing announcement that the Messiah was born by an angel to the shepherds complete with light show and concert,
-the sign the shepherds were given to find the Messiah (a babe laying in a manger)
-and the shepherds bold announcement to Mary and Joseph (along with bystanders) about what the angel had told them…….. was a clear testimony that this child was the “One” that they had been waiting for.
Now Luke, the master historian and storyteller gives us another miraculous event to consider.
Next Study: BS1N- Jesus Gets Presented at the Temple