Jesus' First Coming Part 2 - Shepherds, Sheep, and Witnessing

 You know shepherds and sheepdogs are different, of course. I’m a very visual thinker, & Looney Tunes had a cartoon with a Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. So, at age 4 or so, I envisioned sheepdogs when I pictured shepherds outside Bethlehem.

Silly, I know. Unlike Sam Sheepdog, shepherds didn’t punch a time clock. These people guarded sheep all day and night. It was lonely and dangerous – wolves didn’t use Loony Tunes’ self-destructive products. Although they may have smelled bad with no hygiene while always near sheep. Maybe a Sunday School teacher described them that way when I was little, leading to my silly image. We don’t see shepherds in this area, after all.

  These people were looked down on as very low-class. Yet, they were quite smart. Luke 2 says the angel appeared, and they were sore afraid. Heavenly beings popping in out of the blue would scare lots of us, though. The shepherds knew Messiah – Hebrew for Saviour – would come someday. They also knew, for instance, “city of David” meant Bethlehem, since David was born there. It’s like saying “city of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Here are some interesting things to consider when applying this to our lives.

First, they left the sheep. David did this, too, when going to fight Goliath. They had faith God would protect the sheep. Also, they realized worldly cares weren’t as important as following God. He would take care of their needs.

Second, they didn’t just worship. They told everyone all around what they’d seen, from the choir of angels to their trek in to see baby Jesus. Time we spend with God should make us want to tell others about Him. It should make us desire to be like Jesus, of course, and to share His love and salvation – it’s part of our reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1) When was the last time you shared what Jesus had done for you, online if not in person?

Jerusalem to Bethlehem is 5.52 miles now, but Jerusalem is probably a lot larger than it was in Jesus’ day. About 5 ½ miles is like going from the west end of Canton through downtown and most of the Eastern part. It wasn’t on good roads, though. They had to walk. Even on a clear day, walking around takes a while. So, they probably told people in and around Bethlehem but didn’t get to Jerusalem before they had to get back to their sheep.

The news had to have gotten to Jerusalem by the time the Wise Men got there, but it may have been forgotten since people were so busy. Months later, Joseph and Mary were in a rented house in Bethlehem (Matt. 2) when the Wise Men got to Jerusalem after following God’s star. And, the people weren’t excited; in fact they were very anxious. 

We need to be careful we don’t get so caught up in our own lives that we forget about God. The devil is always out to stop us if we don’t keep praying and trusting the Lord, whether things are good or bad. We see this in Matthew 2. King Herod was used by the devil to try to stop God’s plan to save us. So, God warned Joseph to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt for safety. Herod had every child age 2 and under killed. It’s still very sad, thought at least kids that age go to Heaven because of Jesus’ death on the cross, since they can’t understand the need to trust Him to save them yet. Herod was very evil. But, the point is that Herod wanted to know about it so he could  do evil. Yet, no Jewish leaders, from what the Bible says, ever went down to worship their newborn King the way the shepherds did.

Remember how Isaiah 53 confused people? Part was they didn’t understand God would be born as a baby. But they were also troubled by what the Wise Men said.  They were so focused on their own lives they missed the greatest blessing of all. Yet, people they thought of as very low, shepherds, rejoiced over Jesus’ birth and were rewarded for it.