Please open your Bibles to Luke 2. And I would also encourage you to find Ezekiel 34, and put a bookmark there, because we are going to be opening that up a little later.
Every Christmas, there is an “it” toy. The most popular toy that everyone wants, and no one can find. These days, it is usually something that plugs in or has a screen. But I found a site this week that lists the most popular toy from every year since 1963.
• I was born in 1966: The most popular toy that year? Twister
• In 1975, it was a Pet Rock. Believe it or not, over a million and a half people paid $4.00 each for this. It was a box, with air holes, lined with straw, containing… a rock. Good news—you didn’t have to flush it down the toilet when it died.
• 1977: Star Wars. Here’s a fun fact: The demand for Star Wars action figures was incredibly high around the holidays in 1977, so Kenner created an "early bird" package, which means kids could send away for the first four action figures and receive them in early 1978. You would think they would have learned their lesson by now, and anticipated the demand. But has anyone looked for a baby yoda this year?
• 1995: Beanie Babies. At the height of the Beanie Baby craze, they made up 10% of all traffic on Ebay.
Now here’s the question: how many of you have gotten obsessed with finding the “it” toy in a particular year, but a year later, or six months later, or even a week later, your kid had no interest in it whatsoever? (Exhibit A: Zhu Zhu Pets, 2009)
This is because there is a difference between gifts that bring happiness, and gifts that bring joy. Every year, we spend billions of dollars trying to fill the happiness vacuum. But when the angels appeared to the shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem, their message wasn’t, “For unto you is available this day in the Prattville Wal-Mart, the last Tickle Me Elmo (1996) in the Southeast. Let’s look at what the message was: Let’s look at Luke 2, beginning in verse 8. If you are physically able, please stand to honor the reading of God’s Word.
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,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”[a]
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.
Pray…
One of the first questions we ask when we start studying this well known passage is, “why shepherds?” if you had “good news of great joy” which would be infinitely, eternally better than the release of the Rubik’s Cube (1980), wouldn’t you want an awesome marketing campaign? Wouldn’t you want a famous spokesperson? Wouldn’t you want to launch with a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad, directed by Michael Bay? Why Shepherds?
Because Shepherds know how to find a lamb
Shepherds in general were not greatly respected during the time of Jesus. They were often regarded as dishonest and prone to violating Jewish law. Shepherds couldn’t testify in a court of law. It was forbidden to buy wool, milk, or a kid from a shepherd because it was assumed to be stolen property.
And keep in mind that these shepherds in particular were “keeping watch over the flock by night.” What does it take to pull the third shift as a shepherd? My guess is that they were probably younger. They lacked seniority. “Third shift” shepherds: not high up in the pecking order.
However, its important to point out that while these were still ordinary, everyday, blue collar workers, these were not ordinary, everyday sheep. Since Bethlehem is so close (only about six miles) from Jerusalem, most scholars believe these were Levitical shepherds, caring for the sheep that were to be used in Temple sacrifices. These shepherds were trained to look for unblemished, spotless lambs, because only a perfect lamb could be used as a Passover sacrifice.
The historian Eusebius, who was a Palestinian Christian in the 4th century, wrote that there was a tower about a mile outside Bethlehem called Migdal Eder, which is Hebrew for “Tower of the Flock.” This tower would allow the shepherds who were “keeping watch over their flock by night” a vantage point from which to see any approaching enemy that would threaten the flock.
On the ground floor of the tower of the flock, there were birthing stalls that were kept ritually clean. During lambing season, shepherds would bring their pregnant ewes to the tower of the flock. And when the lambs were born, they would be wrapped tightly in swaddling clothes to protect them from injuring themselves before they could be inspected. Because remember, only an unblemished lamb could be offered for sacrifice.
So when the angel said to these shepherds, “This will be a sign to you—you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,” these trained, priestly shepherds would have known that this was no ordinary baby. (As if getting visited by an angel didn’t tip them off!)
By the way, we’ve been talking all the way through this series about what an amazing planner God is. How he announced through the prophets hundreds of years in advance the coming of the Messiah. Last week we talked about how the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the timeline of Jesus’ coming, and how it was fulfilled to the exact year. And many of us are familier with the prophecy from Micah 5:2, which pinpoints the city in which Jesus would be born:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
But now, knowing what you know about Migdal Eder, this “Tower of the Flock” which stood about a mile outside Bethlehem, take a minute to marvel at the precision of God’s Word. Look at Micah 4:8, just one chapter earlier:
And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
See, God not only revealed the place of Jesus birth, but he also pinpointed THE EXACT BUILDING WHERE THE NEWS WOULD BE DELIVERED!! There are even some scholars who theorize that Jesus was actually born in this watchtower, which would have been considered part of the “City of David.” That would explain why the shepherds didn’t need any more clarification as to where this manger was. It would also explain why Joseph and Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes—because those strips of linen would have been there already, to bind the passover lambs. But whther you go all the way with this theory of the place of Jesus birth or not, clearly God first revealed his plan to ordinary shepherds who also knew the significance of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. They knew that this would be a lamb chosen for sacrifice.
I think there is a second reason God chose shepherds. Not only would shepherds know how to find a lamb, but, #2,
God is a Shepherd who cares for the sheep.
Turn now to that bookmark I told you to put in Ezekiel 34. This is really a fascinating chapter, because it starts off with God just tearing into shepherds:
34 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
Now, understand that God isn’t talking to literal shepherds here. He’s talking to the leaders of the day—in this context the political leaders, but we can also see this as a judgment against religious leaders. God saw his people struggling under the weight of sin and the law, while the leaders were getting fat off the flock. At the time Ezekiel was writing, the people were in exile. They had been taken from the promised land because their kings had failed to lead them with righteousness and justice.
God’s heart broke for his people. He looks at the leaders and says,
4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
Three times in verses 5-6 he says, “My sheep were scattered.” They had been betrayed by their kings. They had been broken under the law. Kings couldn’t save them. The law couldn’t save them. We lit the candle of desperation this morning to remind us that God’s people were in a desperate situation.
So desperate times call for desperate measures. And in verse 11 of Ezekiel 34, God begins to spell out exactly what he will do. As you listen for this, listen for what God says He will do because he cares for the sheep:
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.
(pause for a minute, and just consider how that must have sounded to people who had been in exile away from their homeland for seventy years!) But here’s where you begin to realize this isn’t just a promise that the exile is going to come to an end. This is a prophecy about the coming Messiah. When God’s word says that God will bring his sheep “out from the nations,” he’s not just talking about the Jewish people. He’s talking about us.
“I bring you good news of great joy,” said the angels to the shepherds—WHICH WILL BE FOR ALL PEOPLE. The soccer mom in the suv who cut you off in traffic. The kid in the drive thru who can’t quite get the hang of the phrase no pickles. Democrats and Republicans. Auburn fans.
Alabama fans. The protester in the Pride Parade with the purple hair. THOSE people in THAT church who worship like THAT. And you (pointing)… And you (pointing) And... Me too. “I will gather them from among the nations.”
14 I will tend them in a good pasture, [that means He is going to pay attention to the physical needs of the sheep]
and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak,
Now, it’s not all good news. There is going to be judgment for the proud sheep. Verse 16 says,
but the sleek and the strong I will destroy.
A good shepherd knows that there are some sheep that have to be put down. They will not follow the Shepherd. They cause stress to the rest of the flock. They may carry a diseases or parasites that will cause the rest of the flock to get sick. In many ways this describes the spiritual condition of the Israelites at the time Ezekiel was writing these words. The pride and the arrogance of their kings had led the people into sin and rebellion against God. And so God gave them over to their enemies. He allowed Jerusalem, his beloved city, to be overrun by the Babylonians, and for his people to be carried off into exile. 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 describes their rebellion:
15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
But now look at the last “I will” statement from Ezekiel 34:
I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Its this last promise that brings us to a problem. For God to shepherd with justice, that means the penalty for sin has to be paid. So how can God fulfill his promise to shepherd the flock with justice when his flock is suffering the just punishment for rebelling against their shepherd?
The answer: by being the Shepherd and the Sacrifice.
Friends, this is the Christmas story. This brings together why the first ones to hear the good news of the birth of Jesus were Levitical shepherds who tended the Passover lambs.
It helps us understand why Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes, just as the newborn passover lambs would be.
It explains how God could at the same time search for the lost sheep, punish the proud sheep, and shepherd the flock with justice:
Because Jesus isn’t just the Shepherd. He himself is the Passover lamb.
John the Baptist knew it: We talked two weeks ago about John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. When Jesus made his first public appearance, John saw him coming, and he cried out,
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29). Now you might look at this and not make the connection between a lamb and a sacrifice. But John’s audience sure would have. This is absolutely stunning. In the Old Testament, there are 69 verses that talk about a lamb, And almost every single time (only twice is it not) the lamb is mentioned in the context of a sacrifice for sin. So when John says, “Here is the lamb of God, THERE COULD BE NO DOUBT that John was pointing out the one who would give his life for the sins of the world.
Jesus Himself knew it. In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the Good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” In language that echoes God’s description of Himself as the Shepherd from Ezekiel 34, Jesus says,
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Look at verse 11:
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Jesus knew from the very beginning of his ministry that he would lay down his life for His sheep.
Finally, the angels knew it. Last week we talked about angels, and how there are literally millions of them. I showed you Revelation 5:11, which talks about many angels, numbering “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,” and how “myriad” was a Greek word for a number that was too big to count to. And in John’s vision, they were all gathered around the throne of God, and listen to what they were singing:
12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
These were the same angels that appeared to those shepherds at Migdal Eber, the Tower of the Flock, saying, “Unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior—Christ the Lord. He will be wrapped in swaddling clothes, because that’s what you do with the Passover Lamb. And one day, those angels would sing Worthy. Worthy. Worthy is the lamb that was slain.
One day, there will be a multitude gathered before the throne of the lamb. Revelation 7:10 says that it will be a multitude from every time, tongue, and nation. They will all be crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"”
??
Look at the promises that are made to those that are worshiping in heaven forever, and compare it to the list of things God says He will do for His flock in Ezekiel 34:
“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."”
??Revelation? ?7:16-17? ?ESV??????
Friends, this Christmas season, be like those shepherds. Recognize a Passover lamb when you see one.
AND SEEK HIM OUT. Because when you find him, you will have an eternal joy that will last infinitely longer than whatever is under the tree for you this year. Even longer than a Pet Rock.
Invitation.
