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The Shepherds and the Angels

Luke 2:15-21

Good News Translation (GNT)

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15  When the angels went away from them back
   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."
16  So they hurried off and found Mary and
   Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger.
17  When the shepherds saw him, they told them
   what the angel had said
18  All who heard it were amazed at what the
   shepherds said.
19  Mary remembered all these things and
   thought deeply about them.
20  The shepherds went back, singing praises to
   God for all they had heard and seen; it had
   been just as the angel had told them.

   Jesus Is Named
21  A week later, when the time came for the baby
   to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the
   name which the angel had given him before
   he had been conceived.

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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by
Scripture Union

Bringing good news

God often works in surprising ways and with people who seem unlikely candidates to do his will.

The way shepherds appear in Scripture is usually positive, and their association with these events is more likely to indicate God's involvement, not just with the prominent and great, but with all people.

Luke's account of the arrival of Israel's promised one continues outside the town, on the hills where shepherds worked the nightshift as they would on any other summer's night.

(The fact they were watching the sheep by night indicates that this was a warmer season.)

They journey hotfoot to the inn to find out if the news they have heard is true.

It must have been a great relief to Mary to get further confirmation that the baby truly would bring 'great joy. for all the people'.

Their prominent place in the birth narrative of the Messiah would have been both baffling and offensive to those who heard it.

Once again, God's ways subvert and confound the ways of the world.

The praise from the armies of heaven reflects the wonder of who he is - not merely one teacher or leader among many, but the Saviour who is Christ the Lord, one who is now seated at the right hand of God, praying for us.

No wonder Mary kept these things in her heart, treasuring them and thinking about them often.

Emperor vs incarnated God
Pagan sensibilities are also brutally trampled throughout this story, a fact that Luke's contemporaries would not have missed.

Part of the cult of the Emperor was to celebrate his birthday with great fanfare, declaring him 'Saviour' and 'Lord' - terms the angel applies to a baby lying in a dirty animal shed (v 11).

Human choirs would have sung the emperor's praises, while angels worshipped the true king.

The current emperor, Augustus, was hailed for bringing worldwide peace. The angels proclaim that God in the highest heaven is the source of peace on earth.

The contrasts are vivid, and surprising as it all may seem, the truly significant birth of a ruler is that of the new-born in the manger.

Can we treasure the details of this story as it unfolds, and ponder them, as Mary did?

Will we contemplate this baby God and recognise him as our Saviour and Lord?

And as we see him for who he is, shall we glorify and praise God as the shepherds did?

Other versions are available here

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