The Shepherds-Jesus’ First Witnesses
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:15-19
After the angels had announced the birth of Jesus the Savior, the shepherds, who apparently were not only aware of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, were looking forward to God’s sending of One who could bring peace to a world in dire need of a Savior. I don’t know if the shepherds realized how privileged that they were to receive a personal message from God the Father about the birth of the Messiah, and also to be the first ones to be notified of such an important event that had been foretold for thousands of years. It may not be our generation who physically witnesses the return of Christ, but there will be folks who have looked for His return who will see Him split open the eastern sky and appear to the entire world. There are also those who are completely oblivious to the fact that Jesus will return as the King who will judge the earth. They will be in for quite a shock.
An awful lot of people seem to think that Jesus is still a baby in a manger. He did come as a baby, but that was just the way that He entered the world. It is right to celebrate His birth each Christmas, but He is not to be left in the manger until the next December. He came to bring salvation to mankind so that man could be reconciled to God the Father. Man’s sin had separated him from his Creator. God required a perfect sacrifice in order to redeem man, and sinless Jesus was the only One who could fulfill that requirement.
People today are no different than those residents of Bethlehem were two thousand years ago. The shepherds, who understood the enormity of the event which was told to them by the angels, began to spread the news to all with whom they came in contact. I guess one could say that they were the very first human witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. The King James Version states that when the shepherds began to tell others about the Christ Child, the people “wondered” at the words of the shepherds, but nothing is recorded about throngs flocking to see for themselves. Of course, God may have designed it this way because of the political atmosphere of that day. He knew that Jesus would be a target of Herod. However, later, when the wise men came to see and worship Jesus, no one could tell them where He was. The wise men found him by following the star which shone over the house where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were staying. Those very people whom God had chosen at His special people, the very ones through whom the Savior of the world would come, and no one seemed to be aware of Jesus’ birth and that He was living among them in Bethlehem. It seems that the wise men, who were Gentiles, had more knowledge and a greater desire to worship Him than Jesus’ own people. That, of course, is speaking in general terms. There were those of Israel who were aware that the Messiah had come, and perhaps they remained quiet to protect Him from Herod.
Just like today, many of the people had no idea what God’s word said and neither did they seem to care all that much. That certainly held true when Jesus began His ministry. Some followed Him, but the majority of the people of Israel rejected Him. So, let’s don’t be like those who either ignore Jesus, even though it is His birth that we celebrate at Christmas. Neither let us keep Him as a Baby in a manger, but rather worship Him as King of kings and Lord of lords.