This reveal includes the astonishing truth that the Savior who had come to save them, the Christ who had come as their Messiah, was in fact deity robed in flesh. So you could paraphrase this announcement to read, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there's been born for you a Savior, the anointed Messiah, who is none other than God. The true Gospel demands all three titles.
Merry Christmas. Have you ever wondered why God chose shepherds to receive the news of Jesus' birth? Of all people, these were the societal outcasts. Why were they the ones invited to witness such a significant moment? Today, Stephen reveals the remarkable grace behind God's decision. You'll hear about the heavenly reveal party orchestrated for these humble shepherds.
You'll also hear about the connection between these temple shepherds and the sacrificial lambs they tended. God was delivering a profound message to the world. Let's explore that message right now. Couldn't help but think, you know, nearly 2,000 years ago God delivered a message to planet earth and he didn't use a telegram, he didn't use a letter, he didn't use a special code. He delivered it, I guess we could say, by angel gram. God loves to use angels to deliver messages and to this day they're at his beck and call.
I think it would boggle our minds if we could see the invisible world even in here today. If you were God and you wanted to deliver a message of incredibly significant importance to the human race, how would you deliver the message? I think what better way, of course, than send angels. So let's go back to this text in Luke and at his gospel. In chapter two, you more than likely know enough of the narrative to know that Joseph and Mary have arrived in Bethlehem because of the imperial decree to pay taxes. Some things never change. Bethlehem is overrun with people, they can't say no to Rome, as we talked about it yesterday in our Christmas Eve services, Joseph and Mary are committed to obedience.
No matter what the cost, they're making the best out of the worst of conditions. They found shelter in a Bethlehem stable, more than likely it's a shallow cave dug into the hillside which would be common in this region and provided a little shelter for animals or the animals belonging to travelers. It's in that cave where Mary gives birth to Jesus. There are no doctors, no midwives, no nurses, no friends, no relatives to help this no doubt frightened teenage girl deliver her first born into the hands of a calloused carpenter husband.
It's probably all thumbs. Back in their hometown of Nazareth, if everything had gone according to normal plans which have been entirely upended, the birth of a son was cause for celebration. The proud parents would have called, gotten ahold of all their friends and relatives, sent messages around, in fact the custom during the turn of the century was for the father to hire musicians to come and play music to celebrate the birth of their child. Instead, here they are in Luke's gospel in chapter 2 huddled in a cave, a lean to. They couldn't have felt more alone. They've swaddled their baby in strips of cloth. They've stuffed Joseph's cloak or maybe some fresh hay into a nearby feeding trough. More than likely it's nothing but a ledge cut along the side of that cave and hollowed out a little bit, chiseled out, laid their baby there who's asleep. No friends to celebrate with them, nobody to congratulate them.
There are certainly no musicians in sight. Then again God the Father has planned a reveal party and the musicians are even now tuning up. So let's slip into that scene at chapter 2 and verse 8 where we read, in the same region there were some shepherds staying out of the fields keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them just lit up the place and they were of course as always when you meet an angel terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all of the people. For today in the city of David there's been born for you a savior who is Christ the Lord.
This is, see it for the first time, absolutely astounding revelation. The angel has just announced the Son of God has been born and these shepherds are the first to find out. First of all what amazes me about this reveal is who God is ignoring. If you were assigned the public relations nightmare of announcing the birth of God the Son you would begin by making a list of everybody you want to know and making sure they all found out. But here God is ignoring everybody and anybody who ought to be on the list.
None of them are there. He bypasses the religious, the elite, the politically connected, the wealthy, the powerful, the educated. He doesn't announce it to the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin. He doesn't announce it to the high priest privately so he can deliver the news. He doesn't send a memo to Caesar Augustus in the Roman Senate. None of them, the astounding things who God will disregard in this reveal.
It's even more astonishing to me whom God will dignify in this reveal. Back at verse 8 the most unlikely people who ever be given the news, Luke writes there were some shepherds staying out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. You need to understand that in Jesus' day the only people considered socially more distasteful, more unwanted than shepherds were lepers. Shepherds weren't able to keep all the regulations of the scribes and Pharisees. They weren't able to wash their hands at certain times, never touch blood or a dead animal which are all part of the job description of being a shepherd delivering lambs, fighting off wolves, eating out on the hillside with no running water or filters or any of that stuff. In fact, according to the Mishnah which was the Jewish writings that codified scribal law shepherds were under a perpetual ban. They were considered perpetually unclean, they couldn't worship or enter the temple grounds. Besides, keep in mind that the shepherds worked on the Sabbath, the sheep would never take Saturday off.
So they had to keep working. So by occupation they are religious outcasts, unclean. And they are the ones invited to the reveal, to hear the news that God's Son has arrived.
So look at who God ignores, look at who God includes. By the way, isn't it fascinating if I just sort of pull over to the side of the road for a minute that Jesus willingly welcomed the title, Good Shepherd. Hey, I'll take that title, I'll get involved in this messy business of tending sheep. In fact, in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 4, the apostle Peter calls Jesus our Chief Shepherd. In Hebrews 1320, Jesus is called the Great Shepherd.
Fascinating. In fact, in the Bible the title Shepherd happens to be the title that Christ has given to the elders who serve his church and lead his church and feed his church. Of all the titles he could have bestowed on this office of careful guidance and loving leadership, it's interesting that he chose to call them shepherds, Ephesians 4-11, translated pastors or more literally feeders who pasture the flock.
Pasture and pastor are from the same root word. It must have seemed really odd, by the way, in the first century for men who led the church in worship to be given the title of men who could never worship in the temple. Let me go back to this scene and add to the fact that shepherds were never allowed to be witnesses in any Jewish court of law. They were considered unreliable.
Think of it in this terminology. They never went to church. They had nothing to do with the scriptures. They would have been ignorant of the custom and the ritual. They had nothing to do with it. They cared nothing of it because they were cared by all those around them, not one stitch.
Here's the irony. God is choosing them to be the first to give testimony that his son was born. Listen, at the very outset of his son's life, beginning with the public reveal, you cannot miss the grace of God in all of this. Look who he disregarded.
Look who he dignified. The Apostle Paul, by the way, applies it to us, for consider your calling, brethren, not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the things which are wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. He's chosen the common things of the world and the despised. He has chosen 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
That's great news because then that includes you and me in this party. One more thing about these shepherds before we move on. The text tells us that they were in the vicinity of Bethlehem, verse 8, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Now Bethlehem is only six miles south of Jerusalem.
It's on the rural outskirts, you could say it, of the holy city, sort of like Angier is to Raleigh. Jerusalem, of course, would swell with several million Jews during Passover when they came with their lambs to sacrifice there in the temple precinct celebrating their former deliverance from Egypt. Now if you're old enough in the faith, you may know the narrative from Exodus 12 where the death angel is going to sweep into Egypt and kill the firstborn of every family, including Pharaoh's family.
God is preparing the exodus of Israel from that land. The only way that night to be rescued from that death angel is to put lamb's blood on the doorpost of your home, which the Israelites then did. Those who had the blood of the lamb smeared on the doorframe of their little slave hut. They were effectively behind the door, behind the safety of atoning blood.
That death angel then passed over them. That began the tradition of Passover, an annual celebration that would swell the population inside Jerusalem of more than two million people. In fact, one first century Jewish historian named Josephus records for us that during the lifetime of Jesus, at one Passover, 250,000 lambs would be killed and eaten in this annual Passover feast. Now where would they get all those sheep from? Well, many people raised their own, but the temple also raised sheep and other animals which it sold to worshippers who came without an animal to sacrifice. More than likely than these and most conservative scholars believe, these shepherds are on the temple payroll. They're watching flocks of sheep belonging to the temple system.
In fact, one of the most confirming pieces of evidence along that line is a rule that's included in the Mishnah, the ancient Jewish code book. It's stated in printed form that any animal found between Jerusalem and a nearby small village could be used and should be available at any time for the temple use, and that little village was called Bethlehem. These shepherds are more than likely temple shepherds keeping watch over sheep, destined to become one of thousands upon thousands of lambs and sheep, older lambs, headed for the altar to atone for the sins of the people. So now, with that in mind, can you imagine the gospel and the grace of this significant announcement? God is announcing the birth of the final sacrificial lamb to men watching over sacrificial lambs. God is announcing to men considered perpetually sinful that the Passover lamb that will take away their sin has been born. God is announcing to men out of fellowship with the worship system of Israel that the baby has been born who will bridge them into fellowship with God. God is announcing the gospel to men who are outcasts that they can become members of the family of God.
What a volume of truth and grace at this reveal. And that's just verse 8. Verse 9 is where it gets interesting. Verse 9, an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them. Have you ever noticed as you read the Bible, it's always suddenly with these guys, these angels, suddenly. By the way, angels have not been seen by mankind for more than 400 years.
Keep that in mind. In fact, for nearly 500 years, no angel has been seen by anybody on earth. And now, in these last few months, angels are everywhere. We kind of read the story, yeah, there's another angel, there's another angel. This is an amazing revelation from God.
They're just showing up everywhere. Gabriel, we know, came to Zacharias in Luke 1.19 to tell him he was going to have a baby boy named John. We'd call him John the Baptizer. Gabriel comes to Mary in Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 26. More than likely, we don't know for sure, but more than likely, this angel here is Gabriel, who now speaks with the shepherds.
Notice further. And the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, don't be frightened, and I always think that's easy for you to say Gabriel, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you, wait, wait, did you catch that?
For you. He wasn't just born, he was born for you. Make that personal in your Bible. In fact, you might take out a pen or a pencil, as I've done, and write your name into the margin of your Bible here at verse 11. I've done the same thing so that my Bible reads, for today in the city of David, there has been born for Stephen.
How about for you? There has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Now this reveal, and we're going to get through it fairly quickly, but it's quite a mouthful. In fact, the angel delivers three titles.
You notice them? The first title is the word Savior. Now this is politically combustible revelation. The word Soter, Savior, was known all over the Roman Empire, and that's because the title had already been given to Caesar Augustus. He was called, you can still see the inscriptions, carved in granite. He was the Soter, the Savior of the world.
No, he wasn't. The Gentiles would especially perk up their ears when they hear that word Soter being designated for this baby. He is the Savior. The next title perks up the ears of the Jewish people. He's not only the Savior, but he is the Christ, Christos, the anointed one. This is the term for the Messiah, the messianic office. Only the Messiah could claim Christos. So now both the Gentiles and the Jews, their antennas are sort of zinging.
They're gonna be zinging. The first message that's gonna be delivered to the shepherds is that he is the real Savior and not Caesar, and he is the long-awaited for Messiah. But the last title summarizes it all in one breathtaking claim. Today in the city of David, there's been born for you a Savior who is Christ, the Lord, Kurios, happens to be the Greek counterpart for the Hebrew name, get this, Yahweh, Jehovah. In fact, throughout the Greek New Testament, Kurios is often used, but in the Old Testament, the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, more than 6,000 times the Hebrew name Yahweh is translated Kurios. Lord means God. This reveal includes the astonishing truth that the Savior who had come to save them, the Christ who had come as their Messiah, was in fact deity robed in flesh.
So you could paraphrase this announcement to read, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David, there's been born for you a Savior, the anointed Messiah, who is none other than God. The true gospel demands all three titles. A Jehovah's Witness cannot agree to all three.
In fact, it always makes me sad to consider the fact that Kurios is the Greek translation of Yahweh, Jehovah. True Jehovah's Witnesses would be talking about Jesus. A Mormon cannot agree to all three.
A Muslim cannot agree to all three. These three can say that Jesus was an anointed prophet, they can say that Jesus was a Savior, but they cannot say that Jesus was eternally, preexistently deity, God in the flesh. The Apostle Paul in fact declares in Romans chapter 10 verse 9, that in order to be saved, you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Kurios, Jesus is Lord, God in the flesh. Now let's jump to verse 13 where the reveal sort of goes into surround sound. Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, now all of a sudden, zap, here they all are. Now before they, you know, they begin to sing and we rush to verse 14, I thought the angels were singing. It says here, the heavenly host is praising God and saying, it says they're saying and not singing. I mean, we're gonna mess up the entire Christmas season and a bunch of Christmas hymns that the angels are saying and not singing. I thought the big one sang bass and the little one sang tenor. I mean, didn't have the way it worked.
What fun is this? Well, were they singing or not? Well, here in verse 13 it says that the heavenly host was praising God. That verb praising, eineo, is rarely used in the Greek New Testament. However, it's often used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, again called the Septuagint, for the verb halel. That verb means to praise primarily through song. In fact, you've got a collection of them in your hymnal located in the middle of your Bible called the psaltery.
Eineo is interchangeable with halel. Both words typically refer to praising God through song. You could paraphrase and amplify verse 13 correctly to read it this way. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God with these lyrics or praising God with these words.
And you notice how verse 14 is given to us in poetic form or fashion. Here are the lyrics of their singing. So yes, I believe they were singing.
So take a deep breath and relax. Verse 14, here are the lyrics. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. They're singing the greatest composition ever heard on planet earth.
And what's singing? I mean, the angels explode into the atmosphere, as it were, and suddenly you have a multitude. How many? A hundred million? I'm sure they all wanted a part. Declaring the gospel of God. Job chapter 38 tells us that angels were singing at the dawn of creation.
They were created first. They watched God the logos, God the sun, the word, Colossians tells us. Jesus was the agent of creation. He is speaking the worlds into existence. And while he's doing it, the angels are singing.
Can you imagine what that must have been like? Now get this, at this significant moment in world history, as the creator arrives in human form, they are singing again to his glory. Verse 15, when the angels had gone away, it wasn't a very long concert evidently, into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let's go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their way, that verb translated found their way means to discover after searching.
They had to look for a while. And what was the sign that would tip them off? Go back to verse 12, we're told that the sign will be a baby, that isn't it, there are probably a number of newborn infants in the village that night. But this baby is absolutely impoverished, belonging to parents, without a roof over their head, no adoring family around, all alone, wrapped in cloths, strips of clothing, and lying in a feed trough, there's only one baby doing that. That's the sign that God has come.
He's totally impoverished, lying in a feed trough. So when they'd seen this, verse 17, they made known the statement which had been told them they're delivering it to Joseph and Mary. All who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds, Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And then, note, the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they'd heard and seen. By the way, did you notice that the shepherds are glorifying and praising God?
That's what the angels were doing earlier. These shepherds are evidently fast learners, the implication here is that they are now singing what they heard the angels sing. And maybe this is the first clue we have of what will become the music of this new dispensation that will come fairly soon. This is our commission. This is our mission. This is our privilege to carry the reveal to the rest of the world. From Luke chapter two to this day until the coming kingdom, he's choosing to use ordinary, simple, sinful, faltering, forgiven, once outcast, ignored, now included. He's choosing to use you and me as his singers, today. The angels announced the Savior's birth to shepherds, outcasts, and unlikely witnesses. They became God's chosen voices to share his good news.
That was Stephen Davey, and this is Wisdom for the Heart. Today's message is called The Reveal. Thanks for joining us today. The Wisdom International staff is not in the office. They're celebrating the birth of our Savior with their family and friends.
I hope you have a special day planned as well. Even though we're unable to answer our phones today, we can still interact with you online. It might interest you to explore Stephen's extensive collection of Christmas messages.
Those are all organized together as one category. We also have many other resources to help you grow in your faith. Navigate to wisdomonline.org. Once again, that's wisdomonline.org. I'm Scott Wiley, for Stephen and the entire Wisdom International team, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. I hope it's filled with blessings. Join us next time on Wisdom for the Heart.
