One of my favorite pastimes as a parent is to read God’s Word with my children and talk to them about it. Helping their young minds understand the remarkable events God had recorded in His Word is such a blessing and a privilege. One such event, found in Luke 2, is God’s angels appearing to shepherds to declare the birth of Jesus Christ. With meek hearts, these shepherds received the good news, believed and acted on it, and then declared it to others with joy!
I would love to share this record with you as I would with my two sons.
When God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was born, God wanted to share that joy with others and sent special messengers to tell the good news. God chose humble shepherds to hear about this wonderful event of Jesus Christ’s birth. What a special time for them! Who made up the group of special messengers God sent to them? First one angel appeared and told the shepherds that he was bringing words of great joy for everyone to hear: the savior, Christ the lord, had been born (Luke 2:9-11)! This first angel also told them that they would find the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Then more of God’s angels appeared to the shepherds.
Luke 2:13,14:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
The angels had something very important to say. They told the shepherds that the birth of Jesus was a glory to God and that it would show God’s peace and goodwill to others. What a message! The shepherds now had a choice to either believe God’s good news or to not believe it. What did they choose?
The shepherds chose to believe God’s news and act on what they heard. As soon as these believing men heard what the angels told them, they left to find the baby Jesus right away! We can see that they trusted in God and believed the good news the angels had spoken to them.
Luke 2:15,16:
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.
The shepherds found the newborn baby Jesus just as the angel had said they would. God’s timing was perfect! This must have brought great joy to the shepherds as they saw that God kept His promise.
As a result, the shepherds went about declaring the good news of Christ’s birth. These believing men were so excited by what God had done that they wanted to tell everyone about it!
Luke 2:17,18:
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad [made known everywhere] 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.
All the people that the shepherds spoke to were filled with wonder as they learned the news of Christ’s birth. What joy the shepherds must have had in spreading this happy news! We can see that God did not choose a king or rich, powerful men or the religious leaders of that time to hear His message, but meek shepherds who He knew would believe and spread the message with joy. God always looks on the heart!
This record in God’s Word of the shepherds is a great example of having a humble heart to receive God’s Word, and it shows us how God blesses those who believe. God sent His angels to declare the good news of Jesus Christ’s birth to these meek men, and they took that message and spread it with joy. Like the believing shepherds, we can receive God’s Word, take action on it, and then declare it to others with joy!