Widely Known

Glory in the Highest

[Title given by the NKJ Thomas Nelson Study Bible of Luke 2:8-20]

 

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

 

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

 

Shepherds! Of all the people available, the astounding announcement of the birth of our Savior, the long awaited Messiah, was made to shepherds—commoners that were not highly regarded by their fellow citizens. Randy Alcorn wrote, "In Christ’s day, shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers." So—why the shepherds?

 

Perhaps it was because of their humble hearts. Just think. They pretty much literally gave their lives for their sheep. They couldn't let climate bother them. They had to stand up to thieves and wolves, even lions and bears as David did. Their flock's comfort and needs came before their own. So much of what was lived out in the lives of shepherds is what we see in the Messiah Himself.

 

Peter described Jesus as "the Chief Shepherd" and our "Shepherd and Guardian" (1 Peter 5:4; 2:25 HCSB), which only echoes what Jesus said of Himself in John 10:11, "I am the Good Shepherd."

 

Perhaps there were other reasons. Out where the shepherds lived among their flocks there was deep darkness and wide open sky with no city distractions. And, unlike the city folks who were asleep, the shepherds were awake and aware. They wouldn't roll over in their beds and pull up the blankets over the heads to hide from the light.

 

Or, perhaps it was because, used to the rejection of the populace, they were uninhibited in proclaiming to all they could what they had heard and seen. What the Lord through the angels made known to the shepherds and what they'd seen with their own eyes—their Messiah "wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger"—they in turn made "widely known" to others.

 

The prayers of Israel and others had been answered. The Child promised had been born. The birth announcement was made. Yet—

 

How soon was the announcement forgotten. How soon the darkness again overshadowed the shepherds' words of good news. Trials and day to day struggles seem to have that effect on humans.

 

Perhaps, though, the shepherds kept the good news alive telling over and over the story as they sat around the camp fires, sharing it as newcomers joined them. The Lord God knew just who would be the ones who should hear the announcement first and who would not let the news go unheard.

 

Praying moms, as you follow the example of the shepherds and share the good news of Christmas with your children, make the message widely known and living through your prayers and through Christ in you, the Hope of glory.

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o’er the plains,

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be

Which inspire your heav’nly song?

Come to Bethlehem and see

Christ Whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

See Him in a manger laid,

Whom the choirs of angels praise;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

While our hearts in love we raise.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

 

 

Joyous Noel to you all!