Luke 2 verses 8 – 17
Here’s the account of the
shepherds out on the hillside watching over and guarding their sheep. Maybe would sit around and talk about all the
news but were unaware of what was happening in Bethlehem. They did not know about Mary and Joseph coming
down to the stable, that the baby born to them would be the Saviour of the
world. All of a sudden the angels came
down from the sky and began to talk to the shepherds. The shepherds were ignorant of all that was
happening yet this divine messenger came from God. So like each of us even this morning –
ignorant of what God has done for this very point of time. Maybe blinded by God of this world, unaware
of what he has really done for us.
The judgement they make. This
was no different from the night before.
They had done this on many occasions.
This evening would somehow be a different time for these shepherds. Something would change their hearts and minds
for the present and for eternity. Maybe
we have celebrated so many Christmases before.
Maybe this will be different.
Maybe this is the morning God would take away the blindness from your
heart. Jesus Christ came into this world
for a special and specific purpose. He
came by the virgin born in a lowly place into a manger. That was only the start of his ministry. He would take his earthly father’s trade but
when he got to 33 years of age was rejected of all his own people. They turned their backs on him. They could not believe for one moment that
this was the Messiah. Jesus was the one
who came into the world to save us from our sins. Here was this message the angels brought to
them “fear not because I bring you great tidings of great joy for unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.” Is he my Saviour? Only if we allow him to be. If we allow him to come into our lives and
allow him to come into our hearts, open up the door and allow him to come in,
acknowledge our sin and allow him to come in.
The shepherds never heard a message like this before. They had to do something about it. They must come to judgement. As we come around to another Christmas
morning you and I must make a judgement.
Luke 2 verse 1. This was message
from the Lord. “Let us go now even unto
Bethlehem and see this thing which hath come to pass which the Lord hath made
known unto us.” You could have the
greatest preacher preaching to you every day but unless the Lord reveals it to
us then it is in vain. When Paul
preached in Athens talked about the Lord Jesus coming into the world, then when
he came to the resurrection of the Lord some mocked him, some said we will hear
you again. They hadn’t made up their
minds. Maybe they had preconceived ideas
of their Messiah. The philosophers of
Athens called him a babbler, a setter forth of strange things (Acts 17 verse
18). They had preconceived ideas of what
God should be. Today people still think
that, they have preconceived ideas. Look
at what happened when the shepherds came to see the baby in the manger – “Mary
kept all these things in her heart.”
The journey they make. They
believed it was from the Lord.
Everything they heard they believed.
They have to get up and make a journey, to go in the strength of what
they heard to the city where they were told they would find a Saviour. They found it exactly as had been told
them. The Lord wants to take you to
Calvary, to the place where Jesus suffered and bled and died, to show you the
greatest need in your heart. Thank God
he is born for you. They left their
sheep sitting on the mountain to find the Saviour. Maybe there is something you will have to
leave behind to find the Saviour. Maybe
the sins of this old world. Sometimes we
have to leave the thing we are holding onto most to get hold of the Lord. Have you made that journey yet? You have felt him speaking to your heart many
times in the past.
The joy they found. The returned
glorified and praised God for all the things they had seen or heard. Not talking about happiness, a smile on your
face but joy that comes from knowing the Lord.
Philip in Acts went down to Samaria where the people were facing great
persecution, given over to all sorts of false doctrine and teaching. Philip came to them, preached the gospel and
men and women were healed and delivered from evil spirits. “There was great joy in the city.” There is still great joy when we find the
Saviour as Lord. Thank God he came for a
purpose and reason – to save your soul and my soul.
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