December 15th - The Shepherds Angelic Encounter
Passage: The Shepherds Angelic Encounter
8 That night, in a field near Bethlehem,
there were shepherds watching over their flocks. 9 Suddenly,
an angel of the Lord appeared in radiant splendour before them, lighting up the
field with the blazing glory of God, and the shepherds were
terrified! 10 But the angel reassured them, saying,
“Don’t be afraid. For I have come to bring you good news, the most
joyous news the world has ever heard! And it is for everyone
everywhere! 11 For today in Bethlehem a
rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord Yahweh, the Messiah. 12
You will recognize him by this miracle sign: You will find a baby wrapped in
strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough!”
13 Then all at once, a vast number of glorious angels
appeared, the very armies of heaven! And they all praised God, singing:
14 “Glory to God in the
highest realms of heaven! For there is peace and a good hope given to
the sons of men.”
15 When the choir of angels disappeared back to
heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go! Let’s hurry and
find this Word that is born in Bethlehem and see for ourselves what the
Lord has revealed to us.” 16 So they ran into
the village and found their way to Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby,
lying in a feeding trough.
17 Upon seeing this miraculous sign, the shepherds
recounted what had just happened. 18 Everyone who
heard the shepherds’ story was astonished by what they were told.
19 But Mary treasured all these things in her heart
and often pondered what they meant.
20 The shepherds returned to their flock,
ecstatic over what had happened. They praised God and glorified him for all
they had heard and seen for themselves, just like the angel had said (Luke
2:8-20).
Ponder:
“Many scholars believe
that these could be the same fields where sacrificial flocks were kept for
temple worship. How fitting that these shepherds would hear the announcement of
the birth of the Lamb of God. Others believe these fields could have been near
the field of Boaz, or the fields where David once watched over the flocks of
his father, Jesse.**
He entered the world
as a lowly baby, and though he is the mighty God, he lived his life on earth in
gentleness before all.
Luke’s Gospel is the Gospel of peace. The four prominent sacrifices of the Old Testament are emphasized in the four Gospels.
In Matthew we see the death of Christ in the figure of the trespass offering,
in Mark the sin offering,
in Luke the peace offering, and
in John the burnt offering.
The peace God gives us is emphasized in Luke’s Gospel, which is why the angels announced peace and hope. On the day of his resurrection Jesus said, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36)
The Shepherds were given the gospel story (good news) by a choir
of angels. The Shepherd’s story is our story. It is worth repeating: For I have come to bring
you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard! And
it is for everyone everywhere! 11 For today in
Bethlehem a rescuer was born for you. He is the Lord Yahweh, the
Messiah. Not only did the shepherds follow where God led them, but also led them
to share what God had shown them, when they witnessed Gods word come to
pass.”
Prayer:
Lord, let this be a season of peace
on earth, goodwill towards men. What was announced by the choir of angels
to the shepherds is “good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard” is for me too. Not only lead us to
Jesus, but also enable us, like the shepherds, to recount our faith
encounter (the shepherds recounted what had just
happened) to others, that they too will experience the joy, peace and
love of the Christ of Christ-mas.
While shepherd's watched their flocks by night
The First Noel
https://first-noel.mp3quack.live/
Once in Royal David's City
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0f3PsS9IQ6whvNMFFKnpjl
*(The Jesus Diary – The Most Comprehensive Chronology of
the Life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God)
** Luke: The NIV Application
commentary from Biblical Text to Contemporary Life: Darrell L. Brock – Quotations (moving forward)
will be from this source and The Matthew Commentary Collection by
Wilkins, Osborne and McKnight.
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