The Shepherds Hear the News - LUKE 2:8-20

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Commentary

Our message today is, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”

For the shepherds hearing these words, the key word is Messiah. The Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah for hundreds of years. The Messiah was going to become the king of the material world. The Messiah was going to set them free from their bondage to Rome, and the local despots that Rome was propping up. The Messiah was going to introduce a government that was just and compassionate. This was truly “good news of great joy”.

From our vantage point 2200 years later, we know that the infant really lying in the manger that night was Jesus. Not the Messiah, but the teacher of unconditional love. The level of Jesus' concern with Rome was summed up by his statement “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's”. From our vantage point, having embraced the teachings of our lord, we can honestly say, the original distinction between Messiah and Jesus does not concern us all that much. We can honestly say that the birth of Jesus is at least as good a message as the birth of a Messiah would have been. It is truly not only “good news of great joy” but equally “good news of great joy for all people”.

I think that sums up the message for today. “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people”. The whole Christmas season is about the joy of knowing that Christ was born to live among us. But, I find in the reading, one little caution that I would like us to look at.

“and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”

That one little word, But, says to me there is a contrast being made. The shepherds were amazed, BUT Mary treasured and pondered. The difference is really quite huge.

Amazement is really a very transitory emotion. Just look at how fast things come in and out of the nightly news. In our world of near constant bombardment of “amazing” statements, it is hard to hang on to our amazement about anything for very long. So once again, Mary comes along to show us a better way.

The Christmas stories were deliberately written to be amazing. It gets our attention. But amazement is not going to keep the stories in our hearts for an entire year. For that we are going to have to treasure and ponder. Treasure that we have them, and ponder as to what they tell us each day about how we should be behaving.

That is the gift. Merry Christmas.