Luke 2:8 - 21
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,
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.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Why appear to the shepherds? They have no credibility!
https://www.whychristmas.com/story/shepherds.shtml says:
ReplyDeleteAt that time, sheep farmers were generally seen as having low or little value by other people.
The type of sheep the shepherds would have been raising were 'fat tailed' (or broad tailed) sheep. They often had lambs in the autumn and winter, rather than in the spring which most sheep in western countries these days.
The words of the hosts of angels is very similar to the words sung during a sacrifice service in the temple when there were three blasts of the temple trumpets.
This is only the second time in the whole Bible that a group of angels rather than one angel had appeared to people, so this proved that they had a very important message to give to them.
There's a theory that Jesus might have been born a couple of miles outside of Bethlehem - and was actually born in the company of the shepherds!
A couple of miles outside Bethlehem there was a special watch tower called the Migdal Eder, which means 'The Tower of the Flock'. It's thought that sheep born there were used as sacrifice animals in the Jewish Temple in near-by Jerusalem. So they were very special an the shepherds were thought of more highly than normal shepherds.
I’m not convinced about Jesus actually ‘being born’ at 'Migdal Eder’ but having those shepherds being the first to be told about Jesus makes a lot of sense.
If they were shepherds from Migdal Eder, they could have told the people they saw on the way back to hills, friends and relatives in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the 'middle class' people they sold sheep to and also the people and priests in the Jewish Temple when they took their best sheep and lambs to be sold there for sacrifices.
One ancient prophesy from the Bible also said that the Jewish messiah would come to the 'tower of the flock'.
https://www.seminary.edu/the-first-witnesses-of-the-good-news-luke-28-20/ says:
ReplyDeleteIn or near Bethlehem, God had many options of who to bring, but he sent his angels to summon shepherds. That is surprising.
We romanticize these men who sat through the night on the hills to guard their sheep, but the people of those days had a very different view of shepherds. Shepherds were not trusted. They were considered dishonest and unreliable, and caring for animals made them unclean before the law. So, no-one mixed with them, no-one liked them, no-one respected them. Most people were glad they spent their time out on the hills. One modern writer adds: “Thus the most obvious implication is that the gospel first came to the social outcasts of Jesus’ day.”
Jesus’ ministry was to the people society rejects, to those others look down on, to those with a deep need not met by ordinary religion. That ministry didn’t wait thirty years. It began within hours of his birth when unclean, unwanted shepherds were told the good news and brought to the stable as first witnesses of the birth of the Savior.
Moments later the whole heavenly army was there to add choral singing
God’s son was now in the world, so here come the angels with a fanfare and an announcement. What was happening was so significant, it had to be proclaimed loudly and magnificently.
Summary of questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. Why appear to the shepherds? They have no credibility!
God was and is never about our greatness or credibility. It was perfectly fitting that the angels announced the birth of Christ to the most lowly of people - for that is whom His ministry is to.
It's a good reminder that to see and experience God, we must be aware of our lowly state. When we think of ourselves more highly than we ought, we sink into pride and self-glorification. We can't help ourselves. And when we reach that state, God has nothing to say to us - until He brings His discipline that brings us back to our "lowly" state. At least, here on earth, when we have a more correct view of God, it makes the state we are in more stark, and impresses the need in us to depend on God.
Yes, as I heard R. C. Sproul preach the other day, if God is large to us we will be small,(and visa versa!)
ReplyDelete