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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Luke 2:8-15
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever thought about what it would have been like to be alive during biblical times and actually present when some of the events we read about happened?
I know I do and in this next to the last message in this series on joy, the main theme of the third week of Advent, we come to one of those places. Look again at our verses for today from the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:8-15
Can you imagine being one of these shepherds “living out in the fields nearby” the little town of Bethlehem, where unbeknownst to them, the long awaited Messiah, the Savior Jesus Christ, was being born in a lowly stable?
On the surface, it appeared to be like any other night as you were “keeping watch” over your flocks. It was your way of life and you did so, not because you were admired and respected by people because you weren’t, but because you simply loved the sheep that were under your care. That was the sole reason you did what you did and it provided a meager but stable income.
But then, something happened, something so unbelievably astounding that it would change your life forever. For suddenly “an angel of the Lord appeared” with “the glory of the Lord” shining all around. The incredible appearance left you terrified which was sensed by the angel who offered you comfort and assurance with these words, fully explaining what was happening:
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The news was amazing. You had heard about the Messiah over and over again as predicted by the prophets and now He had come, “born in the town of David”. This birth was “good news” that would “cause great joy for all the people” and you knew this to be certain because it was exactly what you were feeling at this moment.
Now this would have been enough in its own right but then “a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel” and they were “praising God” while proclaiming:
“Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
And with that, they disappeared and the dark, night sky returned just as it was before. But you, you were far from the same as you processed everything that had just happened.
You had just received good news that brought the greatest joy into your heart, just as the angel and the heavenly host had declared. This wasn’t just happening within your heart and soul because in speaking with your fellow shepherds, you discovered they were all feeling the same thing. It was so extraordinarily powerful that you all agreed to “go to Bethlehem” so to “see this thing” that had happened, the thing “the Lord” had told you about.
Friends, it’s now six days and a wake up until Christmas Day, the day when we celebrate the good news of Jesus’ birth, the good news that brings a believer the greatest joy. Like the shepherds more than 2,000 years ago, let us excitedly go to the manger, rejoice in our Savior’s birth, and then go tell everyone about it (Luke 2:16-20).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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