"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 of great joy that will be for
all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He
is Christ 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, and on earth peace to men 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.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who
was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these
things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as
they had been told." (Luke 2:8-20)
Have you ever wondered when Jesus was born? No one knows for sure. I can
assure you that He WASN’T born on December 25th. We’re quite sure He couldn’t
have been born in the middle of winter because the shepherds would not have
been out at night with their sheep.
The date is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter. If it mattered, God would have
put the date in the Bible. The important thing is that He was born.
Most of the time, we get a little misty and love to see a little baby come
into the world. Sometimes your heart goes out to him or her, especially when
they arrive with some condition that makes them very special. That is the way
God entered the world. He came into this world born to die - not at the end
of the proverbial three score and ten (seventy years), but at a young age.
He could have entered - as He will when He comes to earth the second time -
in power and great glory. Instead, He showed up as a baby - perhaps the
weakest creature on the face of the earth.
He did not give up being God; He just laid aside His glory. Ideally, there
should have been more than just a few shepherds and angels to welcome Him -
all of creation should have been there.
Instead of scheming about how to collect more taxes, Caesar should have been
in Bethlehem to worship Him. Jesus Christ could have forced him to do that
very thing, but He did not. He laid aside, not His deity, but His
prerogatives of deity. He came as a little baby.
Dr. Luke emphasizes His humanity. He came into this world as a human being.
That’s how He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. God knows about
mankind, personally. He knows you; He knows me. The reason He really
understands us is because He came into this world as a human being. This also
means that we can know something about God, because He took upon Himself our
humanity.
In my opinion, we’re never going to have genuine, world-wide peace in this
world. The peace the angels talk about is peace to folks upon whom God’s
favor rests. The angels did not promise peace to everybody. In fact, "‘There
is no peace,’ says the LORD, ‘for the wicked.’" (Is 48:22) We live in a
wicked world. We live in a Satan-dominated world, and therefore there is no
peace.
There is, however, peace for the people of God. If you are one of those who
has come to Christ and taken him as Saviour, you can know this peace of God.
Romans 5:1 states, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
When Christ came the first time, this is the kind of peace He brought. At
His second coming He will come as the Prince of Peace; at that time He will
put down unrighteousness and rebellion in the world. He will establish peace
on the earth.
The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem. There they found Mary, Joseph, and the
baby Jesus. They were probably the first to visit the Babe since Matthew
tells us that the wise men did not arrive until much later. In fact, when the
wise men finally found the Lord Jesus, He was living in a house and many
months had elapsed. He would have been considered a young child, not an
infant.
The announcement of Christ’s birth could have been made to the religious and
political bigwigs of the first century. He could have been born in the finest
facility available. Instead, Jesus was born in the humblest of places,
probably a cave in the side of a hill where animals were housed. His birth
wasn’t announced to royalty and politicians - the rich, the famous, the
powerful. It was announced to lowly shepherds - the blue collar workers of
New Testament times. No wonder the "common people heard Him gladly!"
