… and there were shepherds…

Posted by David Whitten on December 13, 2011 under Featured Articles |

…and there were shepherds……

dsw@GBCC12-11-2011

[Luke 2:8-20]

Most people in America are familiar with this passage, even if they rarely crack open a Bible. These verses from Luke have even entered the popular culture, through Linus’ famous speech in the Charlie Brown Christmas video. Every December since 1965, in between televised scenes of the Grinch slithering around Whoville, and George Bailey being saved by Clarence the angel just as he’s about to jump off the Bedford Falls bridge, and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer running around the North Pole with Herbie (an elf who wants to be a dentist), we have Linus, who discovers the true meaning of Christmas in the gospel of St. Luke, chapter 2.

(DVD Video Charlie Brown Christmas – Linus reads luke 2)
The Nativity has long been a symbol of our Christmas celebration. It helps us focus on the real meaning of the season. Its characters each tell a part of the story of God’s precious gift to us. For the next few weeks that remain in our Christmas season I would like to take a section of the nativity and highlight its signifance in the Christmas story.

Today is like to focus on the shepherds

Linus was kind enough to read this test for us this morning.
In  looking at the Shepherds part in our Christmas story we have some obvious questions.

• Who does God announce the birth of His Son to?
• Who does he invite to come and see the new baby? A ragtag collection of sheep herders! There is only one announcement of Christ’s birth recorded in the Scriptures, only one invitation from God to anyone to come visit Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus. And that one invitation goes to a bunch of uneducated, smelly, low-class, social and religious outcasts, a bunch of shepherds.

Let me tell you a bit about shepherds.

a little about Shepherds:

Luke 2:8-9 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

Let me tell you what I know about shepherds in bible times. There were three major types of shepherds.

ABBIR: One was a hired man of a servant of a wealthy household or a designated possession in a kings or nobles household. These Shepherds were called “Abbir” which is translated “mighty”. The Abbir was not the picture that we should see when we talk about the “Good Shepherd” or think of David and his care and love for his sheep. The Abbir was not concerned about this sheep. he was a sheep header and had little concern for his sheep other than the money he could make from them. It was strictly business. he would have hired hands to move from one grazing place to another all on the land owner’s land.

I do not believe this the type pf shepherd that was out in the fields that night.

PEASANT / OWNER: There leaves two other types of shepherds the local peasant who owned sheep. Similar to the sheep owner of a single lamb in Nathan’s story the told king David after he sinner with Bathsheebs and against Uriah in 2 Samuel 12. This shepherd owned no more then a hand full of sheep and was located in the town and had a home in the city. they were  poor people raising the sheep for his wool that was sold in the market place. The Sheep were like family to its owners. In fact sheep were known to live in the house with the peasant and treated like we would treat our pets.

Even though this is the image of the “good Shepherd” loving his little flock, it is not the type of  Shepherd we see here in this story.

A good shepherd could identify each one of his sheep by sight. He knew his sheep and they knew him.

“The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” – John 10:2-4 (NIV)

BEDOUIN: The Shepherd in our account of the angels is called a Bedouin or nomadic shepherd. When I visited Israel the Bedouins were there following their sheep living in tents along the roadways and in the fields. These are the shepherds that Luke is referring to “living out in the fields nearby” or “abiding” as the KJV puts it… actually means “living under the open sky”.

These Bedouins were a shady sort of people and were not trusted. They were poor and because they were unknown they were accused of any crime that might happen in he particular town hey were near. they would often be shewed off  with their herds by local land owners.

They had an abundance of sheep they would live on the money they got from selling the wool from their sheep which was only seasonal pay they would wonder from place to place choosing the town to settle sheering  time who had the best market price of wool.

People would often complain of their uncleanliness they smelled like their sheep. They were seldom a part of religious celebrations or festivals. the religious leaders were now welcoming to these travelers because little was known of who they were, they were poor and could offer little to the synagogue and they were considered unclean.

This is the  type of shepherd that is spoken of here in this text here in Luke 2:18

the word used here is “poimēn” poi-main which mean “to feed” to a direct word translation is the word “pastor” which is the word used then the bible talks about its spiritual leaders the elders.

So these are the people that the angels appeared to with a message of great joy.

The Message:

When the Shepherds saw the angels the bible says they were Terrified the KJV says they were sore afraid. The word actually used here is the greek word “megus” it means just how it sounds like the word “mega” in  which we get the idea of huge or massive in description to their fear it was big fear huge massive fear.

I wondered what it looked like… we respond to fear in different ways. scream like a little girl, run, jump. Start swinging. Faint. I wonder how they responded in their fear.. they were sore afraid…

Well Id be afraid too wouldn’t you? You are sittin out there by your camp fire under the stary night cookin your beanie weenies… or whatever they’d be cookin. Keeping an eye out for possible dangers then boom, a bright light and this angel looking all shiny or what angels look like talking however an angel talks. I imagine a big booming voice.

Now have you ever noticed that almost every time  an angel shows up in the bible his first words are “fear not” because it is so unexpected and awesomely spiritual. And his first job is to calm down the one he is intended to bring a message to.

After he calms down these shepherds down he gives them an awesome message…

Listen to the message Given to these Shepherds

^{Luke 2:10-14    10} But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

The meaning of this message

Great expectation

There was a great expectation of the coming of this promise that the angels revealed that night to these lowly shepherds.

Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David were all promised an savior. All the kings of Israel and the nation as a whole was reminded of this promise over and over again by the prophets. If there was nothing clear to the teachers of the law and prophets this message was clear. God had promised one who would come and save his people.

And they believed it.

They lived in terrible oppression and experienced exile as a nation   by the hands of pagan nations. Now they were oppressed as foreigners in their own land and they waited for a deliver likened to Moses and in the line of their Great King David. Their prayer was one of long expected hope of such a messiah.

The prophet Simeon when Jesus was presented at the of 8 days old offered a common thought that was held by the Jews of his day. Listen to this  praise of revealed prophecy.

Luke 2:28-32    ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss^[a] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”

What a wonderful message was brought to those shepherds that night. It is a message of incredible hope.

It is a message that we share today in this season. I love the song we sing this time of year. “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”     John Wesley—1745 listen to this message of hope

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

What does it mean to call this child “The Christ”?

One of the most important is the word "Christ". What does it mean to call Jesus, "Jesus Christ"? Or, what implications does it have for us to say that Jesus is the "Christ"?

First of all, the word "Christ" comes from "christos", a Greek word meaning "anointed". It is the equivalent of the word "moshiach" (mä·shē'·akh) , or Messiah, in Hebrew. So, to be the Christ, or Messiah, is to be "the anointed one of God". But what does that mean?

To be anointed is literally to have sacred anointing oil poured on one's head because God has chosen the person for a special task. Priests and kings were anointed, and occasionally prophets. Kings were anointed during their coronation rather than receiving a crown. Even though prophets and priests were anointed, the phrase "anointed one" or "the Lord's anointed" was most often used to refer to a king.

So, the main picture of the word "Messiah" or "Christ" as the "anointed one" was of a king chosen by God. While Jesus also has a priestly and a prophetic role, the main picture that word "Messiah" is used for is a king. Through the Old Testament, we see little hints that God would send a great king to Israel who would someday rule the world.

This has implications about the basic understanding of what a Christian is. We tend to define ourselves by our creeds and statements of belief, but the very word Christ calls us to more than that. If Christ means King, a Christian is one who considers Jesus his Lord and King, and submits to his reign. Those who are saved have two things: both a belief in the atoning work of Jesus, and a commitment to honor him as their personal Lord and King.

They’re response

^{Luke 2:15-18           15} When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

They Sought Him out

They spread the word

The response to the shepherd’s good news was amazement