Today, we will light the pink candle that symbolizes the great JOY the shepherds experienced when the angels appeared and announced the birth of Jesus. Accordingly, it is sometimes referred to as the “Shepherd’s Candle.” And with that being the case, we are going to cover the wonderful message that the angels delivered to those shepherds as they tended their flocks in the fields outside of Bethlehem. It is a part of the Nativity Story that is very familiar to us. . . perhaps too familiar. What I mean is that the Christmas story is so full of mysteries and unexpected surprises. We tend to overlook the wonder of those mysteries and the thrust of the surprises when we become too comfortable with these Scriptures. Then, we fail to give them the attention they deserve. For example, I don’t know who could have been more surprised on the night of Jesus’ birth: The shepherds who received an angelic visit they never expected, or the angels who received an assignment they could have never anticipated. The Story of Christ is filled with wonders and surprises—we need to always treasure them and, more importantly, PONDER THEM.
To see what I am talking about, I want you to pretend to be something. I want you to pretend you were one of God’s angels assigned the duty of announcing the birth of Jesus. Now, pretending to be an angel may be a harder task for some of you than others. (I know it would be a particularly hard thing for me.) So, imagine this: There you are—in the throne room of Heaven. The commanding angel has just received God’s orders for you and a host of other angels to head down to earth to deliver the announcement of Jesus’ birth. So, as an angel of the LORD, you are very excited and overjoyed about this. Finally, the long-awaited birth of the Messiah for mankind has come, and you are going to be in the party of angels delivering the Good News to all humanity! Not being able to contain your joy, you breach protocol a bit by raising your hand to ask a question. (Normally, an ordinary angel, such as yourself, wouldn’t dare address the commanding angel with any questions.) But, the commander sees your hand and graciously allows your inquiry. You ask, “Well boss, who are we going to deliver this message to? Is it to King Herod in his great palace in Jerusalem?” “No—not to him,” the commanding angel answers. “Well, then,” you continue, “will we give this wonderful news to the priests and Pharisees in the Temple?” But, again comes the answer, “No, not to them either.” So, then you say, “Well, surely we’ll be hovering over the great city of Jerusalem where we’ll sing out this announcement for all the people of Jerusalem to hear—right? But, the commander responds, “No, wrong again.” Now, you are really stumped.
From what you know about earth, TV and radio stations, newspapers and on-line media are still about 2,000 years in the future. Accordingly, you realize that you won’t be delivering this wonderful announcement to any of those news outlets. So, you press your inquiry a little further and say, “But, I don’t get it boss. To whom are we supposed to give this amazing, history-shattering news? And, where is it that we are supposed to go on the earth?” The commanding angel then lays it all out for you and the rest of the heavenly host to hear: “This is where we are headed: Our destination is to a field outside of the little village of Bethlehem in the Roman province of Judea.” In response to this amazing revelation, you and the rest of the angels express your surprise in unison: “A field outside of Bethlehem??!! Why?—who are we supposed to deliver this great birth announcement to in a field?” The commanding angel doesn’t miss a beat and replies, “To the SHEPHERDS, of course! Now—no more questions. Everyone polish-up your wings and get ready for take-off. We’re headed down to earth looking for a field full of sheep and some lowly shepherds!”
We are so familiar with the Christmas story that the surprising circumstances, the awe and the wonder of it all sometimes eludes us. We fail to see that the coming of the Savior of the world transpired in a way that only God knew how it would unfold. And, every little facet happened for a reason bound up in God’s plan. So now, you can take off your angel wings as we start considering why lowly shepherds were selected by God to be the first ones to receive the news of Jesus’ birth. One way to approach this is to see why God ruled out King Herod, the priests and Pharisees, and the people of Jerusalem as the first recipients of Jesus’ birth announcement.
We don’t have to wonder too much about this. We are told how they reacted to the fact that Jesus had come as the Messiah about two years following Jesus’ birth when the Wise Men came to visit Joseph, Mary and Jesus there in Bethlehem. Now, I am not trying to burst anyone’s bubble who loves those Christmas cards that have tranquil scenes of three Wise Men bowing before a manger where Jesus lay. But, as I will explain in a subsequent sermon, the Scriptures are fairly clear that the Wise Men did not follow the Star to Bethlehem until about two years after Jesus was born. That doesn’t mean that you have to kick them out of your “manger scenes” or cross them out of your Christmas cards because they serve a very important theological role regarding Christ’s arrival in this world. The Wise Men came to Jesus exactly as the Bible says and their coming has a great deal of spiritual meaning. (We’ll cover that on the Sunday following Christmas.) But, for now, suffice it to say, that what we need to focus upon is the reaction of those in Jerusalem to the arrival of those Wise Men. The reactions of Herod and the others make it clear why God did not choose them to receive the angelic host that appeared to the shepherds.
Matthew’s Gospel describes how King Herod and his subjects in Jerusalem took to the Wise Men’s visit: 1 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ 3 When HEROD THE KING HEARD THIS, HE WAS TROUBLED, and ALL JERUSALEM WITH HIM. 4 And when he had gathered all the CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet.” Matthew 2:1-5 (NKJV)
So, how did Herod, the priests and scribes (or Pharisees), as well as all the people of Jerusalem react to the wonderful news that the “King of the Jews” (the Messiah) had finally come? Well, Herod was anything but overjoyed to hear this. In fact, it says he was “troubled” and so were all the people of Jerusalem. What about those learned religious leaders of the Temple—how did they respond to this wonderful news? The Scripture says they knew he would be in Bethlehem. Unfortunately, that’s all it says about them. They simply stated the Messiah’s whereabouts and left it at that. You would have expected them to have jumped on their donkeys and out-raced the Wise Men to the place Jesus was staying—shouting out “Glory Halleluiahs” as they rode on. But, apparently, they stayed right there in Jerusalem as indifferent to the whole matter than if they’d been speaking of the arrival of some ordinary peasant in Bethlehem.
So, you see, if the angels had showed up to Herod, his Temple advisors or the people of Jerusalem, they would have been sorely disappointed at such joyless responses. God, of course, knew in advance that sending the angels to them on the night of Jesus’ birth would have been a useless mission. Those people in Jerusalem, along with their political and religious leaders, had such cold and hardened hearts that they would have never believed the angels. In all likelihood, they would have dismissed the appearance of the entire angelic host as some kind of mass hallucination! So, God knew he’d need to find a more responsive group to be the first ones to hear of the Savior’s birth. That’s where the shepherds came into play.
Do you want to hear a totally different response than that of the faithless king, religious leaders and citizens of Jerusalem? Well, listen to how the shepherds responded as reported in Luke’s Gospel:
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 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. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 15 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." 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. Luke 2:8-20 (NKJV)
So, how did the shepherds react? Well, at first, the angels’ appearance struck fear in them. This doesn’t seem unusual. Angels are breathtaking heavenly beings who reflect God’s glory, power and awesomeness. With this being the case, their unexpected appearance naturally generated a certain degree of alarm. Throughout the Nativity Story, the appearance of angels had this effect on the humans who were exposed to their amazing presence. The angel Gabriel had to reassure Mary when he came to her that she need not be afraid.[1] Likewise, when an angel appeared to Zacharias,[2] his fears had to be calmed. But, once the shepherds overcame their fright, they responded to the angels’ news with great excitement. They couldn’t wait to head to Bethlehem—the “city of David”—to seek out the Christ-child.
We need to note the stark differences between these shepherds as compared to King Herod, his advisors and supporting citizens. The shepherds were on a very different socioeconomic level. They were poor and lowly as compared to the high-and-mighty, rich King Herod. And, the shepherds certainly did not have a social status on par with those more “refined” city-dwellers of Jerusalem. In fact, the shepherds who eked out a living in the first century A.D. in the vicinity of Jerusalem were generally considered to be social outcasts. Their grimy work made them ritually unclean in the eyes of pious Jews. And, their occupation usually kept them away from the city of Jerusalem which meant that they rarely had an opportunity to come to the Temple where sacrifices could be offered to cleanse them. But, there is a lesson in God’s choice of these humble shepherds. You see, God couldn’t care less about whether you are wealthy or of high social status. Rather, God is interested in the quality of a person’s heart—not the size of their pocketbook. So, quite often, He passes over the rich and famous, and calls upon the humble and lowly to achieve His purposes.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, sang a wonderful song that was filled with God’s truth. One of her lyrics expresses this about as clearly as it can be stated. Mary sang: 51 “[God] has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 HE HAS BROUGHT DOWN RULERS FROM THEIR THRONES BUT HAS LIFTED UP THE HUMBLE. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” Luke 1:51-53 (NIV) Later, the Apostle Paul also preached this theme when he told a group of Christians: 26 “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” 1st Corinthians 1:26-29 (NLT2) [3] Considering these Scriptures and how the shepherds responded to the angels’ Good News, as compared to their wealthy and elitest counterparts, it’s not hard to see why God sent His angels to a field outside of Bethlehem instead of to the palace or Temple in Jerusalem.
Now, there was another crucial difference between the shepherds and those who resided in Jerusalem. Those in Jerusalem were “troubled” by what they heard about the Messiah’s arrival. The shepherds, on the other hand, were not troubled at all. On the contrary, the shepherds were MOTIVATED by the Good News of Jesus’ birth. They were motivated to SEEK Him in the “city of David”—otherwise known as Bethlehem. It just so happens that it was King David who stated the biggest difference between the shepherds and those “troubled” people of Jerusalem. In Psalm 10, David wrote lyrics to a song that were just as true as those of Mary’s song. David’s lyrics declared: “In his pride the wicked does NOT SEEK [the LORD]; in all his thoughts there is NO ROOM FOR GOD.” Psalm 10:4 (NIV) Just as there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn,[4] the arrogant people of Jerusalem had no room for God in their hearts. Clearly, this was not the case with the shepherds. They received the angels’ news with joy and had an urgent desire to come into the presence of this Newborn King. Then, after finding the baby Jesus, they couldn’t contain the Good News of His birth. And so, as the Scriptures say: “They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.” Luke 2:17 (NKJV) Christians today need to be more like those shepherds. We need to show joy in our daily lives. We need to make it widely known that Jesus was born in a dirty stable so that we can one day reside in mansions of glory.[5]
Also, notice something else about the shepherds. As soon as the angels departed, they all agreed that they should immediately go in search of the Messiah. They didn’t say to each other, “Well, let’s wait until the end of the month after we have taken a bath—then we will be clean enough to go.” Although they were as dirty and smelly as their sheep, they knew they couldn’t, and shouldn’t, wait. But, unlike their sheep, the real dirt and terrible odor came from the sin in their lives. Yes, in this regard, the shepherds realized that they were the ones who were truly the smelly, unclean “sheep.” But, they were also aware of something that came with the angels’ Good News. That baby born in Bethlehem had come as the Savior of the world. He could clean even the dirtiest, sin-stained “sheep.” Christian writer, Carrie McKean, expresses what these shepherds already knew: “Jesus is God-made-flesh who doesn’t ask us to clean up the mess before [we come to Him]. He enters into our messes, always with us. He put on human skin…willingly emptying himself,[6] becoming [the Good Shepherd] for you and me—a bunch of dirty sheep.[7] He didn’t leave us in our squalor but led us to green pastures—to healing, rescue and restoration of our souls.[8] I love a God who sees dirty sheep and tends them Himself.”[9] From the angels’ message, the shepherds knew, that in Bethlehem, they were about to meet a Lamb like no other they had ever seen—for the baby in the manger was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of even the lowliest of shepherds.[10] And so, they left their sheep in the fields to seek their Savior.
But, King Herod, and those like him today—they are not seekers at all. And, they certainly have no interest in seeking spiritual truth. The Truth was lying there in Mary’s arms.[11] It never occurred to them to leave their sinful comfort zones and go seeking the Truth. The only thing they sought was worldly things that never last—things like wealth, power and earthly comforts. But, the shepherds’ comfort came when they found the peace and joy of the Christ-Child. And, while the dirt and grime associated with a shepherd’s work stained their hands, the stains of sin upon their hearts were about to be washed away. Now, the power of God’s grace and forgiveness was made available to them, and to all mankind, through the birth of His Son. And so, the angel’s Good News of Jesus’ birth is now the Good News of salvation for all those who truly seek Him. “Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you,” Jesus would one day proclaim. Matthew 7:7 (NIV) The shepherds found eternal life after they knocked on the door of the stable, entered in and found Jesus.
And, then a strange thing happened. You see, those shepherds changed into “sheep.” Their occupation prepared them to accept the fact that the only path to follow is the one of the Good Shepherd. And, what a profound effect this had upon those shepherds. Once they received the news about the Good Shepherd, they weren’t afraid anymore. After they found Him in Bethlehem, they went forth praising God and sharing the LOVE OF CHRIST with everyone they met. This is the LOVE OF CHRISTMAS that lasts beyond a single day and extends into eternity for those who seek, find and follow Jesus Christ. But, that wasn’t the case for Herod or those troubled people of Jerusalem who insisted upon making their own path. They weren’t God’s sheep, but they surely were the world’s goats.[12] A goat can dress up in royal robes like King Herod did, but that still doesn’t change the fact that such people still remain as goats. Their worldly path eventually leads to destruction.
And, finally, we read in Luke 2:19 that “Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She thought about what the angel Gabriel said about her baby being the “Son of God” whose kingdom would have no end.[13] No doubt she and Joseph had discussed his dream in which an angel said that this infant child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and He would grow up to “save His people from their sins.”[14] And now, the shepherds added to this the angels’ message that her little baby was the “Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This was, indeed, a lot to process and Mary pondered all these things and tried to make sense of them. At that point in time, Mary never imagined that the light of the stable passing through the manger cast a long shadow pointing to the Cross. For one day, this precious baby, who was lying there innocent as a little lamb, would be the sacrificial Lamb of Calvary who would pay for your sins and mine. Then, the GIFT OF CHRISTMAS would become the BLESSING OF EASTER. This truly is the reason for the season which we now celebrate and offer praises to God! This Christmas Season PONDER all of these things and be faithful “sheep”—take up your cross and follow the Good Shepherd!
Let us pray.
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
December 15, 2024
©2024 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] Luke 1:30 “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” (NKJV)
[2] Luke 1:13 “But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.’” (NKJV)
[3] Warren Wiersbe, Be Compassionate (Luke 1-13), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 176-177.
[4] Luke 2:7 “She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger—there was no room for them to stay in the inn.” (TEV)
[5] John 14:2-3 2 “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (NIV)
[6] Philippians 2:5-8 5 “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, 8 He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (NLT2)
[7] John 10:11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd sacrifices His life for the sheep.” (NLT2)
[8] Psalm 23:2 “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters.” (NIV)
[9] Carrie McKean, “Filthy Night, Fetid Night,” Christianity Today Online (December 19, 2023), citied in PreachingToday.com., https://www.preachingtoday.com/search/?query=shepherd&contentFilter= Illustration&type=word [accessed December 11, 2024].
[10] John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (NIV)
[11] John 14:6 “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (NIV)
[12] Matthew 25:31-32 31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (NIV)
[13] Luke 1:32-35 32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." 34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. (NASB)
[14] Matthew 1:20-23 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." (NASB)
