God Speaks to the Heart of the Shepherds: Luke 2:8-20

It is difficult to understand how the shepherds felt when an angel appeared with the glory of the Lord shining around. Indeed, the Bible tells us they too were terrified. A common theme in the Christmas narrative is seems to be fear upon seeing the messengers of God. Yet, one after another the people are told not to fear. The shepherds are told just a couple of lines and then ‘a great company of heavenly hosts appeared and praised God. By this time perhaps they feared the Lord, in the sense of revered God and stood or knelt in awe.

They knew the Word

Here’s the thing I didn’t understand until a few years ago. How did shepherds in the field then know where to find the Messiah? They had just been told that the Messiah was born! And they ran off to meet Him. As far as we know, they were not given a map. They were not told much at all as far as details go. They were told, ‘This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying a manger,’ in Luke 2:12. Then they ‘said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord told us about.’ In verse 15. After they had seen the child is when they began spreading the word about him. That tells me that they did not wander about town asking at every inn and house if the Messiah was there. They knew. But what exactly did they know?

They knew the Scriptures. I have heard it said that these shepherds were not just simple men, but rather the Levitical line that looked after the sacrificial lambs. They would have been well trained in the priesthood and especially the requirements for the lambs that atone for sin year after year. They knew the scriptures that taught of the coming Messiah and that He would atone for our sin. They recognized the swaddling clothes as those that kept the lamb from any blemish upon birth. They practiced the swaddling themselves when the ewes came time to give birth; they took them to the stable and prepared clothes for the young lambs to be wrapped too. It has been suggested that they looked into the very stable where they would take their own ewes when the time came.

Final sacrifice

Lambs were constantly made available for the sacrifices, so the shepherds probably understood better than others just how temporary the sacrifice was. They must have looked forward to the final sacrifice, once and for all. These were likely the men who assisted in the births and checked over the lambs to ensure they were without blemish; they knew how old each was so that at one year they could be brought to the temple for sacrifice according to the law of Moses. They knew the laws and understood that the law was inadequate. As Colossians 2:17 says, ‘These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.’ The shepherds were in an ideal place (literally, how blessed they are!) to see how the shadow they have cared for is no longer required, but the reality and substance has come into the world. I can imagine their joy as the leapt through the streets to tell everyone that the Messiah had come.

Return to our job

Then they returned to their job in the fields. Verse 20 says they ‘returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.’ What a letdown. They have seen the messiah who has come into the world as a sacrificial lamb, yet they return to continue preparing the lambs for sacrifice. They knew scripture, perhaps they understood that as a babe, the sacrifice would not yet happen, and they had to keep waiting. Perhaps they had nothing else to do since this was their job year-round and they needed to work. Whatever their reason, things happened as they had been told and they did as they had been told. Is there anything more to do than just what God asks of us?

God sent word to men who knew Him, knew His Word, and carried out His instructions. We have the same opportunity today to know His word and hear his message through the Holy Spirit in us. The fear we may have shall be overcome because of who it is that asks us to act. Just as the shepherds were full of joy at hearing and carrying out God’s desires, we too can find joy in hearing and carrying out God’s desires not only in this season, but every day.