Alba 12-18-2022
THE TESTIMONY OF THE SHEPHERDS
Luke 2:8-20
Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents' house the week before Christmas. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers. The younger one began praying at the top of his lungs:
"I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE..."
"I PRAY FOR A NEW NINTENDO..."
His older brother leaned over, nudged him and said, "Why are you shouting? God isn't deaf." To which the little brother replied, "No, but Grandma is!"
Sometimes a message is too important to be quiet about. That is what we learn today from our text in Luke 2:8-20. In this section of scripture there is the wonderful news the angels bring about a Savior born in Bethlehem. And there is also the testimony of the shepherds after seeing with their own eyes that the angels' message is true.
Turn with me to Luke chapter two. I will begin reading at verse eight.
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
A few miles outside of Bethlehem some shepherds had gathered their sheep together for the night. Luke tells us that just when everyone was settling down and getting warm around their fires the skies suddenly opened up. Suddenly, it was no longer a silent night.
Perhaps, at first they thought a storm was brewing but they quickly realized that this was no storm. It wasn't thunder they heard or lightning they saw, but it was God's Holy Angel who began to speak to them.
What happened to these Shepherds was no campfire yarn. We are told “and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” (KJV)
These events read a lot like a modern day “close encounter of the third kind”. The Shepherds respond in a very normal way, “they were greatly afraid.” Luke 2:9
Can you imagine what that was like? Can you imagine after a full day of watching sheep, getting together with some of your friends to get some needed sleep, when all of a sudden the sky is filled with one angel, and then a host of angels?
But the shepherds are quickly told there was no need to be afraid. So why should the shepherds not be afraid? It is because the message from the angel was “tidings of GREAT joy”. Good news from God!! Immeasurable joy.
And it was “to ALL people”. Universal in scope! No is one left out. “Born to YOU”. A personal in application. A gift! And finally, “A SAVIOR”. One who meets our need.
The angel wanted to share the good news! It was news for all people that a Savior was born that day. All of Israel in that day wanted a savior, one who would deliver them from the domination of Rome.
But this Savior had a different and better task, to save us from the punishment we deserve because of the wrong and sinful things we all have done. He would do that by taking that punishment on Himself on that cross so that God's justice could be met. But also so God's mercy could be given.
The shepherds were told that there would be a sign for them to know where this event happened. The baby would be found lying in a manger. A feeding trough, if you will. By the way, they didn't ask for a sign, God gave it when it was needed.
A manger would be an unclean place, but wherever our Lord is becomes the Holy of Holies. Does He dwell here? All of us are in an unclean place until we allow the Lord to dwell within us.
The shepherds' response to this news was immediate. They wanted to go quickly and check out this amazing message they were given. Verse sixteen says that, “they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.”
Now they weren't all lying in a manger. It only sounds like that if you read it too quickly. That is the problem. Many times people misjudge what the Bible says. Sometimes it is to find fault. And other times it is to justify what they are doing.
It seems that it didn't take the shepherds very long to find the little Lord Jesus. They just had to look where people kept their animals. Their search took them to the very place the angel had said.
So how do people today find the Lord? By following the directions given to us in the Bible, God's Word. Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
The shepherds searched and found. And once they saw with their own eyes what had been revealed to them, they started to let everyone around hear about it.
The scripture says they made it “widely known”. Other versions say, “They spread the word”, “Made known abroad”, “They told everyone they met”.
Because they had listened and obeyed the LORD, it was revealed to them that lying right there before them was the Savior, who is Christ the LORD. They saw exactly what the angels had told them.
They saw the one whom the host of heaven had praised as the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. They saw the Incarnate Son of the Living God. They saw Jesus, the promised Messiah and LORD.
Not only did they see Jesus they went all around telling everyone their story. They had good news and couldn't keep it to themselves. People who heard what they had to say “marveled” at the message of the shepherds. Indeed, it was a marvelous thing that had happened.
And they continued to express their joy as they went back to their flocks that night. Verse 20 says, “the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
The shepherds had a message of peace, and joy and of glory to God. And they couldn't help but proclaim it. We have that same message, and it is as true now as it was then.
In a world that is uncertain then and now, Jesus brought and will always bring peace. In a world that is so depressing, He brought and will always bring great joy. In a world where people seek their own glory, we rightly need to bring glory to God.
Shepherds were considered among the lowest class of society. They didn’t have the best reputation in Jesus’ day! Shepherds weren’t even allowed to act as witnesses in a Court of Law because their word was not considered trustworthy.
They weren’t the sort of people you’d want “proclaiming the birth of God’s one and only Son!”.
Yet it was the shepherds who were given the privilege of being the first to hear about the Savior. And once they experienced the reality of that message, they quickly shared it with others.
What do we learn from this? God chose them, the lowly and often despised, to testify about the Savior. We may think we are just a bunch of “nobodies.” We may even think we are insignificant. But God can use us as His messengers too.
Yet too often people who are called Christians come up with all kinds of reasons why they don't need to witness today. For example, here are some of the reasons people give for not sharing any news about Jesus and for being quiet.
1. I don't know enough about the Bible and God. While that may be a true statement, the question is why? It is probably because there has not been any personal study of God's Word. And as important as it is to gather together for worship, one sermon a week won't cut it.
2. I don't want to be offensive to those who don't believe and start an argument. Well, I Peter 3:15 tells us, “ always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.”
3. Won't I be made fun of, and is that really what Jesus wants? Well the truth is that Jesus understands that some people will not be receptive. But still He told the disciples in Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
Then in verse 22 of that same chapter Jesus says, “you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” That's what Jesus wants.
4. I'm not a good Christian in the first place and don't want to be a hypocrite. Now you have a problem, and you know what it will take to fix it!
Many cannot spread the word and are not filled with joy, peace, worship, and praise because they have allowed things other than God to fill their heart.
But if a person feels unqualified to tell the good news that God so loves us that He gave His only begotten Son, take heart. Even the apostle Paul realized that he had limits, but still did his best to get the message out.
He said that his ability to share the message was by the effective working of God's power in his life.
In Ephesians 3:8-9 Paul says, “8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.”
He acknowledges that he is the least of all the saints but still does what he can to proclaim the news about a Savior so others can see what God has done to provide salvation to us.
The shepherds were not Bible College graduates, but they had a message to tell and they couldn't keep it in. For all intents and purposes we are the modern Shepherds of our time. We bear the glorious news that a Savior has been born.
And yet we have even more of His magnificent life to tell. That Jesus the only begotten Son of God born to a virgin lived a sinless life among us.
And at the time of God’s choosing He began a ministry of reconciliation and truth which was verified by many miraculous signs and wonders.
Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, fed the hungry, made the lame to walk and raised the dead.
This same Jesus took upon Himself our sins. The sins of all who would believe in Him and with His flesh took upon Himself our just punishment and then He carried our cross, bled and died to pay the full penalty.
Three days later He arose from the grave clothed in an everlasting body still bearing the marks our sins inflicted on His flesh.
He showed Himself to His Disciples and to as many as 500 others and after 40 days He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father until He comes again.
This is our Shepherd's message for our world in our time. We don’t need to impress people with who or what we are.
We just need to point them to Jesus. In the midst of times that can be difficult, we can still proclaim, “Christ our Savior is born!”
CLOSE:
Think about this: it could be that this wonderful message was given to shepherds because that night the Lamb of God was come into the world. Jesus as the Lamb is the Bible’s most consistent picture of the Christ.
Who would be a more appropriate audience for the Good News about the birth of the Lamb than an audience of shepherds? But there’s more.
We do good to remember also that this baby whom the angels announced on that Judean hillside outside Bethlehem to this band of lowly shepherds would grow up to call Himself “the Good Shepherd” who would lay down His life for the sheep so that He could lead us to heaven (John 10:11).
