What a night for the shepherds! Shepherds were well down the social order and whilst not exactly ostracised by society, they were definitely on the fringe, mainly one suspects because they spent so much of their time away from family and friends and probablyfrom the synagogue looking after their sheep.
Jesus came as the good Shepherd (John 10: 11 ) to save people (his sheep) from their sins. God seems to love shepherds. Abraham and his family, Moses and David were all shepherds and the last two must have learned a lot about looking after and leading people from their experiences of looking after sheep.
So it was the shepherds who are chosen for a unique display of heaven’s power and God’s glory. They were terrified by the first angel who appeared and by the ‘glory of the Lord which shone round about him.’ He gave them the good and wonderful news that a baby had been born that would save mankind from their sins and the necessary sign so they could find the baby.
Suddenly! I love that. Suddenly heaven rips open and the heavenly host step out to praise God for this auspicious occasion. What else could you possibly have to announce the birth of the Son of God? It has to be the angelic heavenly host. What a sight it must have been!
The significance though is as incredible as the event. This baby was not announced by the heavenly host to the religious leaders at the temple in Jerusalem, just 5 miles away, where one might have expected it. No, it was announced to a group of uneducated, poor shepherds out minding their own business, doing their job.
The significance is that God was announcing that this baby, this Messiah would be for everyone. Time and again Jesus showed that it was not just the religious, the learned, the socially acceptable that he came for but the poor, the marginalised, the hated by society, the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus constantly turned the social norms on their head. He made rough fishermen and tax collectors his disciples. He ate with people like Zacchaeus, he let prostitutes wipe his feet with their tears and hair and he appeared first to a woman after he rose from the dead.
No matter who you are, what your background, social standing, education, marital status, Jesus came for you. He wants every single one to be not just his friend but his brother. No matter what others may say about you Jesus loves you and came to save you from your sins and in case we are not sure, just remember it was to shepherds, those at the bottom end of the social ladder, that the heavenly host appeared to announce the birth of the Son of God.
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