Isn’t it exciting to learn of good news of something out of the ordinary? Don’t you just want to be the first to share this with everyone? There is great joy in having news to share. This type of experience almost makes us feel like children again, nervously racing around, trying to tell everyone we know before someone beats us to it.
Luke tells us that the angels went to the shepherds first. Thus, we are put into the shoes of the one receiving good news rather than the messenger of good news. However, have you ever stopped to think about God’s excitement in sharing the news about the birth of His Son, Jesus? I really haven’t stopped to think about this before. Who is he going to tell first? We know the answer, of course, it was the shepherds of Israel. There they were, tending sheep in the mundane, very un-glorious and un-lucrative career of shepherding sheep. Now they were, for once, the chosen ones. If it were the political leaders of the day sharing news the shepherds would have been forgotten, not even invited to the party. However, on this night they were the first to hear. All of a sudden, the skies lit up and angels invaded their monotony. For any serious reader of the Bible their response is predictable: fear. They are consoled and assured that good news is the cause of this special occasion.
We typically think about how the recipients feel when news is shared, now we are giving thought to how excited God must have been. Realizing this should help us to realize something about how the shepherds should have felt and how we should feel upon hearing of Christ. We know from Scripture that God is a Rock who is sovereign over all creation. Sometimes it is hard to think of God that is so incredibly stable as someone with any shred of childlikeness, bursting with excitement to share some really great news. Maybe we are missing something of God, however. Jesus does welcome children, after all (Mark 10:13-16) and he does say that we must become like children to inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1-5). Is it too much a stretch that the God who commands childlikeness does so because he sympathizes with them and shares in some of those qualities himself? Just spend some time imagining God brimming with excitement and wondering “who am I going to tell first?” Of course, God is not making decisions like this ad hoc like we would. Yet we shouldn’t miss the point: he was more excited to share the news than we probably are to receive it.
So, speaking of receiving, lets talk about that, shall we? Here are three things we can learn from observing the shepherds respond to the message:
The Shepherds Listened to the Message:
Now, you may not think it is too impressive that the shepherds listened to the angels. Not many of you would expect them to whip out their iphone X’s and start checking scores. That wouldn’t be believable, anyway, since their fields were a dead spot that not even Verizon could reach. So yes, they listened, and gave their full attention to the angels at this moment. It may be more insightful to suggest to you that not only had they listened in that moment but it is clear that they had been listening! In other words, the shepherds had been listening to what God has been saying. When they are told about a baby who is a Savior we should conclude that they had been waiting for a Savior from the line of David (Luke 2:11). They listened, yes, but they had been listening this whole time to God’s plan of redemption. By the way, this should have been the first clue that this Savior from the line of David wasn’t going to be a political force like most had expected, rather, he was going to be a humble shepherd like the very people who were first hearing the news.
The Shepherds Considered the Message:
In verse 15 we learn that the shepherds heard what the angels said and then they had a pow wow (“the shepherds said to one another”). This spells consideration. They heard the message but then they had a brief discussion, a Bible study if you will where they all sipped on $6 coffees and asked, “what does this passage mean to you?” I kid. I kid. More substantially, we can see that consideration always bears the fruit of expectation. When God’s people consider His Word it always produces expectation. Consider Psalm 5:3 “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” The key part there is, you guessed it, and watch. The Psalmist prays, meditates, and watches with expectation for God to act. The one who communes with God over His Word is always on the lookout for when he will fulfill, deliver, provide, complete, renew, restore, and bless. When the shepherds “said to one another” it seemed pregnant with something they had considered their entire lives, so as to say, “really, is this it? Is this the Savior that all of our Bible studies has been leading us to over the years? Is it really happening...now?!”
The Shepherds Responded to the Message
This isn’t anything too profound but the Shepherds actually go to Bethlehem. This is interesting, however. Not that I know much about shepherding. I don’t know if there was a shepherding human resources department that outlined the number of paid vacation, personal and sick days they each got on a given year. My perception is that shepherding sheep is like farming...you don’t take days off because the needs are always there. I do know a thing or two about sheep, enough to know that they couldn’t just say, “be on your best behavior, we’re going to see a baby and we’re not sure when we’ll be back.” Perhaps they left one or two back to hold down the fort, based on the text that would be best case scenario. Even if that were the case, they would have been vulnerable with all or most of their team leaving. I guess the point that might escape us is this: the shepherds took a big risk in their careers to go to Jesus and yet they responded in faith. They didn’t get caught up in all of the practical what if’s. They simply heard a call from God and they went. This is a great picture of what the Gospel requires of us. Follow God and trust him to take care of the rest. This is a simple formula that we typically find thousands of ways obfuscate. Christmas is a reminder to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus, which really means following him by faith and entrusting even our most sacred things into his care.
That you and I will know the freedom of following the King of kings this Christmas.
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