And
in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. 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. Luke
2:8-9
When you think of Christmas, what comes to mind? Many think of wreaths and Christmas trees—the
big guy in the red suit and time spent with friends and family. But, do you ever think of a crown of
thorns? Or the nails from
Crucifixion? Or the Cross?
My guess is that when you think on the last three
images, there is a holiday that comes to mind, but not Christmas. But the truth is that the Christmas story is
as Gospel-centered a story as we have in our Bible’s. We learn all throughout the first part of
Matthew and Luke that the Christmas story is a story centered on redemption.
For example, though the passage above mainly focuses
on a group of shepherds and an angel of the Lord, this passage is centered upon
God and His Gospel. In these two verses alone,
we learn that God is gracious to sinners—we learn that sinners are the recipients
of the Gospel. Many miss this because
they fail to realize how the shepherds were perceived in this area of the world
in and around the first century.
We often view shepherds in a positive light today
because that is the way they are portrayed in the Scriptures. In one of the most well-known chapters of the
Bible, we learn “The Lord is my Shepherd” and in John 10:14 Jesus even said, “I
Am the good Shepherd.” We also learn here
that God shows His favor toward a group of Shepherds by making His message of
Christ’s birth known to them and we also learn that they respond favorably to
the message and become some of the first witnesses for the Lord Jesus. So Shepherds are often shown in a favorable
light in the scriptures, but that was not the view of those who lived in the 1st
century.
Context is key in this passage. What you learn when you study a bit of the
background of shepherds in first century Palestine is that they did not have a
good reputation—they were not held in high esteem. In fact, they were despised—they were
unclean—they were viewed as liars and thieves.
Their reputation was so bad that their testimony was not permissible in
a court of law.
They were also viewed by many in the Jewish
community as being ceremonially unclean.
The reason being they often came in contact with injured and/or dead
animals. Also, because they were out in
the fields keeping watch of the fields both day and night, they were often
disconnected from temple worship.
Therefore, they were viewed by many as being wicked low lives—trash.
Though that’s the case, we see here in Luke 2 that
God sends His angels to them. He makes this
grand announcement of the coming of His Son to this group of low down, dirty
and wicked sinners. And Luke by making
mention of this story is revealing something exceedingly pertinent to us about
God and His Gospel. Luke clearly shows
us here that God has sent His Son to save sinners. Folks, that’s the reason Jesus came. And this truth is repeated time and time
again in God’s Word. Jesus came to save
sinners—sinners like you and me. Jesus
even said this of himself, did He not?
Recorded in three of four Gospel accounts, He says
that He came to “call sinners to repentance.”
Jesus says, “I’ve come for those who know they need me—I’ve come for people who know they are fallen. I have
come for sinners in need of salvation—I’ve come for sinners like these
shepherds whom many of you despise. I’ve
come for the dirty and the sinful—for those you consider being low down and
wicked.” JESUS CAME FOR SINNERS—SINNERS ARE
THE RECIPIENTS OF HIS GOSPEL.
Be honest, how many of you think about this at
Christmas time? Though we can’t help but
think about Christmas trees, the big guy in the red suit, and presents under
the tree, how many of you, when thinking about Christmas, think about the fact
that we are sinners in need of salvation?
Christmas should remind us that salvation is needed and that it has been
provided in the person and through the work of the Lord Jesus.
