To whom did Jesus come

Awe and wonder mark the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.  Now, notice to whom the angels first go and share the good news.  I might have expected the angels to have gone to the Temple to tell the religious leaders what God was doing.  They should have gone to the governor and let him know that something extraordinary was happening in Bethlehem.  They should have gone to Herod.  After all, he was the king of Judea at that time.  They should have told Herod that God was doing a great thing in Bethlehem and that the King of kings had been born.  But the angels, instead of telling the elite and influential, announced Messiah's birth to a bunch of shepherds.  Of all the people in Bethlehem, God chose to send His angels and announce His birth to some lowly shepherds!  Commentators say that in first-century Judea, shepherding was a despised occupation! 

Have you ever wondered why God sent His angels to the lowly shepherds?

It is about God meeting us where we are, in our sins and transgressions, pain and loneliness, frustration and sadness.  It is about God meeting us in our everyday life.  I believe that is why God sent the angels to the shepherds, to let us know that this Child was for all people, even the most ordinary, just like you and me!  Amid an ordinary night, some ordinary shepherds encountered an extraordinary God!  The shepherds must have been surprised that God broke into their ordinary lives.  Eventually, the whole world would celebrate the coming of Jesus, but for now, only the shepherds knew what had happened in Bethlehem.  "Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child"(Luke 2:17).  What did the shepherds do after seeing Jesus?  The shepherds glorified and praised God and reported what they had heard and seen to everyone!  That kind of response should arise from all God's people who have met Jesus! 

My friend, one of the charges against the early church was that those men turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  After the shepherds saw Jesus, they spread the good news concerning Jesus to everyone.  That is the challenge for us today: to let the world know that a Saviour is born, a Saviour to redeem us from the penalty of sin, a Saviour to walk with us through our every life situation.  Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

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