Weekend Words

From Christmas - Quiet Moments for the Season...

The Shepherds

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them,  "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." - Luke 2:8-10

The angel bypassed Jerusalem, the religious centre of Israel.  He didn't go to Herodium, Herod's villa near Bethlehem.  He appeared instead to a band of shepherds tending their flocks (Luke 2:8-9).

Back then no-one thought God would be interested in shepherds, or that shepherds would be interested in God.  Shepherds were notoriously irreligious, ranked by the rabbis with prostitutes and other 'habitual sinners'.  They were outcasts, barred from the synagogue and polite society.  They assumed that God would never accept them, and they feared Him.

But God spoke to them.  I think He knew that these shepherds, like so many people who appear indifferent to spiritual things, were quietly longing for God.

All of us have a longing for something more.  And no matter how hard we try to appear self-sufficient, sooner or later we run out of something essential - love, money, time, or life.  Isolation, loneliness, and fear of death lead us to acknowledge our need for a Saviour.  But where can we find Him?

The angel's words to the shepherds were simple and direct: "Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  You can find Him too.

 - David Roper