Small Town Savior - Week 2 - 12/08/24

Luke 2:8-21
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 

14 “Glory to God in the highest, 

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 

21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Never Disappointed

Luke gives a detailed description of the angelic announcement to the shepherds of Jesus’ birth. It is yet another shocking encounter with God’s creation from an unfamiliar realm. The shepherds are shocked, and the angel reassures them that the reason they were there was to bring good news that was for all the people. This single encounter turns quickly into a host of heavenly figures praising God. When the angels disappear, the shepherds understand the seriousness of the proclamation and make their way immediately to find the baby.
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The Announcement
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Luke 2:10–14 “10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!””
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Proclaim to you a good word that will be for all people
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The shepherds were a despised class with a reputation for being dishonest. It may be true that this herd of sheep was specifically for temple sacrifices; nevertheless, the shepherds keeping watch were of the same class.
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"A savior for all people" would have been a striking remark. God has seen the common as well as the ruling class.
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Christ and Lord
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Jesus would be the Savior King
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Glory to God in the highest
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The worship of the one true God is the origin of peace and joy.
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Psalm 100:4 “4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
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The announcement of peace to all men was entrusted to common, despised shepherds.
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The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26: Luke (A Threefold Peace)There is an old saying that “war is too important to be left to the generals.” I suggest peace is too important to be left to the diplomats. The professionals have messed it up again and again. In giving this message to the shepherds God bypassed the professional peacemakers. He gave the message and its interpretation to amateurs. We need amateur peacemakers. The great diplomats and ambassadors of two thousand years ago, the councils that met and the peace treaties that were signed are mostly forgotten. But the world still reverberates with the peacemaking message of a group of amateur preachers and peacemakers like the apostle Paul and Luke himself.
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Peace comes when common people stop fighting each other. God commanded us to love one another.
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Matthew 22:34–40 “34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””
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"Those whom he is well pleased" - Those who would receive the peace (salvation) that Jesus would offer. There is no peace without salvation. Before Jesus, we were enemies of God .
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Romans 5:10–11 “10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
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James 4:4–10 “4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
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The Find
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Luke 2:10–12 “10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.””
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Luke 2:15–16 “15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.”
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The shepherds had just been greeted with a host of heavenly figures proclaiming praise to God and the announcement of the Christ child’s birth. It was a fear-inducing, adrenaline-pumping experience. It would not be likely that they would ever experience anything like that night ever again in their lifetime. The rest of their days would be filled with the monotonous duty of shepherding sheep for temple sacrifices. The irony lies in the fact that this singular announcement would be the very thing that would render their job unnecessary. Jesus would be the final sacrificial lamb for all mankind.
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When they walk into town they find it just as the angels said: Mary and Joseph in a bit of an inconvenient situation as to need to lay their newborn in a manger. There is no indication that Mary and Joseph would be expecting them. There are introductions and stories told. “This is how we knew he was here!” What was not present were angels or choirs or lights or a host of people pushing in to see this miraculous thing. Actually, the shepherds were not even aware that it was a virgin birth.
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They had simply been invited to see God, and what they saw was enough. When they were invited, they did not inquire as to what benefit it would bring them or what would be required of them. There were no negotiations made for them to attend. They desired to see what God had done. There was no disappointment.
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Luke 2:20 “20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
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We approach God with demands and expectations. We will go to see the manger as long as healing is promised. We will look as long as prosperity follows. I’ll show up to the speech as long as a free weekend comes with it. The shepherds showed up because it was simply Jesus. No strings attached to other promises made and no other forms of excitement. They find the baby and two confused young people and yet gave praise to God for what they were able to witness.
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When Herod finds out he immediately calculated how this affects him.
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Matthew 2:7–8 “7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.””
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Matthew 2:13–16 “13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.”
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Jesus offers us peace through salvation. When we attach demands to that salvation, we miss the opportunity to be with God. Being with him is the point, not being the best here. Herod wanted to ensure his earthly life was not affected, but the shepherds simply wanted to see the Christ.
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If we were told to find Christ in a manger, would we be disappointed?
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