His Birth Part 3 - Being Like a Shepherd, Telling the Truth

 Say it’s before sunrise one day, and you hear a bunch of shepherds from nearby fields running around excitedly. What would you think?

We often hear about the shepherds. We saw last week they were looked down on, yet God revealed Jesus’ birth to them. But have you thought about what it was like for people in the Bethlehem area to hear about it from them?

This ties into the absolute truth we’ve discussed many times. Just like the woman at the well(John 4), perhaps some townspeople had to go see Jesus for themselves. Others believed just at their words, I’m sure. But, all of them were pointed to the truth by people who them didn’t always trust. Why? Truth is Truth no matter who says it. And, Jesus is the Truth. The shepherds were so excited to tell people about Jesus.

Did you ever notice something about that story? The shepherds weren’t commanded to go. They didn’t have to be; most likely they were eagerly awaiting Jesus all those lonely nights that they were watching the sheep. The Lord knew their hearts were ready. But, even if you argue their being told where to find Him was a hint to go, they still weren’t told to go share it in town. Yet they had to. Why? Because it was such an amazing time; the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord, had come at last.