I often wonder what Mary thought about Jesus being born in a
stable. Was she a bit disappointed? She was giving birth to the Son of God, the
Messiah, surely God could have arranged a room at the inn? The baby Jesus was
then placed in the only cradle available, the manger, a feeding trough for the
animals. However this unusual circumstance was going to become a sign for the
first group of visitors.
You might imagine that the religious leaders or the
synagogue rulers of Bethlehem would be first to visit the baby Messiah but no.
God chose shepherds as the first visitors; uneducated, straight from the
fields, probably dirty and smelly, working men. But God loves shepherds –
Moses, David and now his Son who would become the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:
4). Jesus spoke of himself:
I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10: 1
I am the good shepherd; I know
my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10: 14 – 15
So it
is not surprising that the shepherds get the news first and what a way they
hear the announcement. For me this is one of the great events of history. Here
we have shepherds possibly looking after the temple sheep (more symbolism) and
suddenly into the darkness an angel appears with the words, ‘Fear not.’ The Bible is full of angels
telling people to ‘Fear not.’ Obviously a glorified angel is a terrifying
sight. These men would have been used to fighting off wild animals, rescuing
silly sheep from their own predicaments, even dealing with sheep rustlers but
an angel appearing – and they are terrified.
The
angel then makes the royal proclamation. Today, a baby has been born, a
Saviour, the Messiah. The shepherds are then given the sign. This baby would be
found wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. This should surely be enough
but no.
A royal
birth requires the royal choir of heaven to rejoice over the Saviour of the
world being born. Suddenly – I love God’s suddenlys. Suddenly heaven is ripped
open and the heavenly choir steps forth. What a sight that must have been! A
choir of angels singing glory to God. How amazing! You can imagine the shepherds either lying terrified face down on the earth or standing with their mouths
hanging open.
When
the angels had gone back into heaven, the shepherds decide to investigate. You can hardly imagine them settling down round
the fire again. They ‘hurried off’
and found everything as it has been described to them. What Mary and Joseph
thought of this group of uneducated, uncouth men turning up to coo over the
baby we do not know but whilst the shepherds went out and evangelised the whole
area with the good news of the birth of the Messiah, Mary treasured up these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:
19). She didn’t need to tell the world that her baby was the Messiah, the
shepherds did that.
Jesus
wasn’t born in a palace in splendour to come and spread beneficence to his
lowly subjects. The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us (John 1: 14). Literally it means the Word tabernacled
amongst us – just as God had done with the Israelites in the desert ‘dwelling’
in the midst of the encampment.
Jesus didn’t
come to hob nob with the rich, the famous, the religious. He came and dwelt
with ordinary people – shepherds and fishermen, tax collectors and sinners. And
he will come and dwell with each one of us – if we will only ask him. Then we
will be those ‘on whom his favour rests’ and
we will know his peace – ‘the peace that
passes all understanding’.
Happy
Christmas.
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