Journey to Bethlehem: An Advent Challenge

Day 18: Read Luke 2:19-21

Shepherds Hear About Jesus

Luke 2:19-21 states that Mary treasured these things (the words of the shepherds) and continued to think about them. After the shepherds told the people what they had heard about the baby, the shepherds returned to their sheep praising God and thanking him for everything they had seen and heard. Everything had been just as the angel had told them. When the baby was eight days old he was circumcised and given the name Jesus. This was the name given by the angel before the baby began to grow inside Mary.

The words of the shepherds were valuable to Mary because their words confirmed what she had already been told by the angel before she became pregnant with Jesus. Her son was really someone special and was indeed the Savior of her people. The words she treasured were God's truths that were being carried out through her son. God wants us to treasure His truth and to continue to think on the truth He has revealed to us that we might not forget. Truth has the potential to set us free, but the problem is that often we forget the truth in the thick of a crisis. Forgetting the truth causes us to become vulnerable and to even fall prey to the schemes of Satan. Take Adam and Eve: they forgot the truth about God and this caused them to believe Satan's lies about God, which had devastating consequences for all human beings. If Adam and Eve had focused on God's truth then we wouldn't have sin and our world would be a very different place. The reality is that there are consequences to our thoughts, or lack thereof, and that God desires us to be like Mary, thinking on the truth of Him. 

This passage also reminds us that praising God shouldn't end after the moment or event that brought us to give praise, but should continue as we continue on with our lives. The shepherds left Jesus, but continued to praise God for allowing them to see and hear everything just as the angel had said. God didn't have to send His angel to tell the shepherds the good news, ultimately inviting them to share in this miraculous moment, but He did and the shepherds seem to have recognized the blessing God has bestowed on them. Their example of continued praise is one that we rightly should follow in our own celebrations of blessings. 

Enclosed in this passage there is also a reminder of the importance of completing our part in fulfilling God's prophecies. The angel told Mary about the prophecy that would be fulfilled in her and told her that her son's name would be Jesus. God would take care of the pregnancy and would fill her with the Holy Spirit allowing her to conceive God's son, but Mary had to also do her part, which was to name the baby Jesus. If Mary had decided to name the baby Joseph or another name common in her family then the prophecy would not have been fulfilled. Granted, God could have established the completion of His prophecy is another way, but He prefers that we are obedient in our part. When God chooses to  complete His will through our lives it is important that we then choose to obediently do our part that it would be completed.

Journey to Bethlehem: An Advent Challenge

Day 17: Read Luke 2:15-18

Shepherds Hear About Jesus

Luke 2:15-18 continues the shepherds' story. After the angels left the shepherds and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened which the Lord told us about." The shepherds went quickly to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph, and the baby (Jesus). Jesus was lying in a feeding box, just as the angels had said. When the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone what the angels had said about the child. The people were amazed at the shepherds' words.

In the scripture angels and prophets are the primary source of God's messages to His people. Yes, He spoke to other people directly, but primarily the messages were delivered in the form of angels or prophets. So when the angels told the shepherds about the birth of Jesus and told them to go find him, this was a direct message from God. God was telling the shepherds, through His angels, to find His son and to worship God because of His son. The shepherds heard the news of the angels and chose to obey God. Their obedience brought them to the birth place of the Savior and they were able to experience a new aspect of God. When the shepherds found the family and when they saw the baby the angels spoke of, they decided to share the good news with the family. The shepherds didn't know that angels had already revealed the truth to Mary and Joseph and they wanted everyone to know the good news of the baby. The sharing of the angels' words invited more people into the good news of the Savior's birth and allowed more people to give glory to God.

From this passage we can learn how to be more like the shepherds. First, the shepherds took the directions they were given by God and obeyed them immediately. The angels appeared to them at night and the shepherds were likely tired, yet they still journeyed further to obey God. The shepherds didn't complain about the directions given to them, but instead excitedly acted upon their instructions. Second, when the shepherds found who they were looking for, thus verifying the words of the angels,  they immediately shared the good news that the angels spoke of to them. Their words could have been ridiculed and they may have even be seen as sleep-deprived, but the shepherds didn't allow the potential reactions of others to deter them from sharing the good news. When God gives us a direction we should obey Him immediately and then share the good news with everyone who will listen. The shepherds' decision to share the good news brought many more people into the truth of the Savior's birth.

Journey to Bethlehem: An Advent Challenge

Day 15: Read Luke 2:8-12

Shepherds Hear About Jesus

Luke 2:8-12 recounts how shepherds were told about the birth of Jesus. The night of Jesus' birth there were shepherds in a nearby field that were watching sheep. An angel of the Lord came to them in the field and stood before them. The glory of the Lord was surrounding them, which made them frightened. The angel told the shepherds not to be frightened because he was bringing them good news, "Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord." The angel told the shepherds that they would know it was Jesus because they would find him wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feed box. 

Jesus' birth could have been announced to kings or priests, yet instead it was announced to shepherds. Announcing His birth to a king may have caused His destruction, as we saw when the wise men told King Herod about the star they were seeking; while telling the priests would have been met with much speculation, as we can see in Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees during His 3 year ministry. Wise men were already seeking a star that they believed would show them the place of the Savior and so did not need an announcement. However, the shepherds or common people were the ones who most needed a Savior. The shepherds were not rich, but their hearts were humble and ready for a Savior. Again, we see that humbleness is rewarded. 

The shepherds are told exactly how they will find the baby in order that they would know it was Him.  This is important because Jesus wouldn't have been the only baby born in Bethlehem and the humbleness of His birth would have led people to conclude He wasn't their Savior. Again, the specific information given is crucial to verifying the authenticity of the news the people are receiving. The shepherds can confirm it was truly good news and this was their Savior based on the accuracy of the angel's description when the shepherds found Jesus. The authenticity of the angel's words are going to produce faith in the shepherds and this faith will restore their relationship with God. The humble beginnings of Jesus' birth and announcement to the shepherds nearby is only an indication of the glory God is going to demonstrate through His life.