Day 22 - Luke 2:15-18
21 Dec 2023
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“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.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.”
Up to this point in the Bible, God’s people do not have a strong track record for believing and acting on God’s words. The prophets have spoken and yet the drift has been away from obedience and trust.
This makes the response of these ordinary men so much more impressive. And if I am right in thinking they represent us - ordinary men and women to whom the message of the gospel comes - then we should measure our response to the message about Jesus Christ to theirs.
As soon as the angels leave they do three things. First, they go to Jesus. They waste no time in heading to Bethlehem. This is more costly than it first appears. Remember their job was to look after their flocks in the field. But going to Jesus was a priority which trumped everything else.
In this, they model for us the right response to Jesus’ call. Later his first disciples leave their fishing nets and tax collecting booth. Others were rebuked for giving excuses for not following Jesus (even the excuses of just having got married and having to bury one’s father). The test of whether we have really heard and understood the good news Jesus is that we go to him without delay, regardless of the cost.
Second, they continue to believe the word of God that was spoken. They don’t go to Bethlehem to check what the angel has said is true. Instead they go believing, to meet Jesus. They go to proclaim the message of the angels. Even Mary and Joseph and others around need to hear what the Lord has said through the angels to interpret the meaning of the baby in front of them.
Then, third, and linked to that last point, they pass the message on. They are not content to keep this news to themselves. After all, they haven’t been told because it is just for them. It is “good news for all the people”. It is to their great credit that they don’t remain silent, worrying that no one would believe simple shepherds. Those who heard them are to be imitated for hearing what the shepherds say and not just ignoring them as simple mad men.
The good news of Jesus is not just for us, or for those who are particularly religious. It is for everyone. Once we’ve received it, we can’t but pass it on. The Lord continues to spread the message of Jesus in this same way. He doesn’t call humanly impressive figures, or expect his church to look and sound spectacular. He speaks his message through ordinary messengers. Shepherds and other ordinary people who just pass his message on. The power is in the message. The effectiveness lies in the one whose message it is, and in the one the message is about. It is not in the one who delivers it.