December 14 advent

Today we are going to take a look at the encounter that the Shepherds had with God’s glory. 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Luke 2:8-9)

I don't know a whole lot about Shepherds of the time period other than that it was a fairly lowly profession, and we know it was something King David did when he was the runt of the litter of his siblings. We also know that some of the other patriarch’s, and Job had hired hands to care for sheep...So we can safely assume that it wasn’t necessarily a job that the sheep’s owners did.  In fact, it could have been the work of “slaves” or hired people of other nationalities (given that Rome was much like Canada is today in terms of a mesh of many cultures). The truth is, there is nothing in the bible confirming that these men were devout Jews. They may have been Jewish, but they may have been Greek, or African, or Asian, or descendants of Esau (middle-eastern). The truth is we do not know. We don't even really know if the sheep belonged to someone Jewish really! Maybe they were Caesar’s sheep! But we do know that no matter what the shepherds’ lineage or lowly position, that God chose them to witness His son.

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

What is interesting about the Angel’s message here is the words “for all the people”. The angel doesn’t say “For God’s chosen people” or “for Israel” he says “for ALL the people”. We can assume by the next few lines that the shepherds would have had some knowledge of Jewish faith, given the Angel’s choice in language... City of David, Messiah, Savior... So whether or not these men were Jewish, we do not know. But they were living in Jewish territory, so they clearly had some knowledge of the Messianic prophecy. I wonder if the prophecies of a savior were somewhat better known at that time period due to the rebuilding of the temple by Caesar. After all, that was an integral part of the prophecy. Maybe it was pretty common knowledge that the Jewish people were expecting a savior! Or maybe the men were in fact Jewish.

³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ 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 2:13-15)

But before the lowly shepherds could even decide what to do, or whether to take the angel credibly, they are blown away by a huge heavenly host.  Notice it doesn’t say “angel choir”, but “heavenly host”  and it specifies that the host appeared with the angel, differentiating between the two...hmmm... I bet you never saw that before!! I checked (NIV, KJV, ASV, Amplified, complete Jewish bible, NASB etc... none talk about a host of angels...) Maybe it was patriarchs, or Noah, or prophets, or some other glorious form of creation that God had made, but nowhere does it say that it was a host of angels! (things to ponder)

The other point I noticed in the host’s song, is that they don't wish “peace to all men”, they wish “peace to those on whom his favor rests”.  This may be why my speculation about the ethnic background of the shepherds is so significant. This was a time period where God’s will was very obvious by whom he allowed to be in power, and to dwell in peace. Just read the book of Judges where we see his people victorious, then captives the next minute...God made his favor well known to people... Could it be that even at the time of Christ’s birth, before he had done anything to save his people, God was using his son to open up the way for more people to know him other than just the Jewish people? Potentially...Like I said, we cannot know any of this for sure. But in my opinion, it is one viable opinion that does not get enough thought.

Regardless of the intimate meanings behind my questions in this passage, we DO know that Christ came to set all people free to be with God, and that Christ made a way for us non-jewish people to have a relationship with his father. That is something worth praising God for! Perhaps this beautiful mission started way back with an angel’s message to some shepheards... After all, I doubt that the three Maji from the east were Jewish, so clearly God didn’t just want his nation of Israelites to be the only ones celebrating... and if this is true, then did God even notify ANY Jewish people about the birth of Christ?? Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe he notified Gentiles of high position (Maji) and Jews of low position (shepherds). Whatever the case, God was making a statement about the least of these, being the first, in his kingdom. Right from the birth of Christ, God was setting in motion, a completely upside down idea of salvation from what the Israelites thought it was. This is something we ought to praise God for.

Take some time today to really thank God that he sees you, and called you out to be his child. Take some time to realize how huge it is that God made a way for us gentiles to be an intimate part of his immediate family through adoption. This is what Christmas is about. It is about Christ making a way for us to be with God. God’s choice of whom to invite to his son’s first birthday celebration, really exemplifies this truth.

Dear God, thank you so much for sending your son Jesus...Thank you for seeing the small people, the rejected ones, and the ones on the outside looking in... Thank you for choosing us despite our flaws and filthy sin. Thank you for forgiving us and bringing us into your family as children forever! Lord, we owe you more than our whole lives, so we ask that you prepare our hearts for surrender to you this Christmas, as this is the only gift we can give you,  unworthy as it is. Thank you for your un-ending love and grace.
In Jesus name,
Amen.