“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.”
Luke 2:15
When a celestial choir lights up the night sky with a glorious message from heaven, you don’t roll back over, reposition your pillow (in this case, more likely a rock) and go back to sleep! The visit from Gabriel and the “heavenly host” (maybe your Bible translation says, “multitude”) jolted the shepherds awake and prompted them to take action. They heard the message but wanted to see for themselves.
Have you heard about Jesus? Have you seen Him for yourself?
The shepherds took off for Bethlehem and their journey was rewarded: they beheld the
newborn King. Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. I don’t think they ever got over it.
What about you? Are you “over it?” Has the message become so familiar that has become stale or irrelevant in your life? Has the good news become old news for you?
After seeing Jesus – the good news in living proof human flesh – verse 17 tells us they spread the word about Jesus. That’s the thing about good news. It just must be shared. It can’t not be shared. Those who heard it were “amazed” (verse 18).
And the shepherds were also changed – transformed into worshipers who glorified Jesus:
“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all the things that they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.”
Luke 2:20
Carrying the good news and walking in worship are responses to seeing Jesus.
Have you seen Him? Do you know Him? Are you a news-bearing worshiper?
I hope you will commit to writing the WORD with us during December. You can access the Characters of Christmas bookmark on our Downloads page. You can also view the teaching video on The Shepherds below:
During our five week Christmas study, the third week’s focus was the shepherds, those bottom-of-the-social-ladder men who received a cosmic message of peace and joy from heaven — a message that changed their lives. As we examine their response to the good news of Christ’s birth, we pray it challenges each of us to evaluate our own responses to Jesus.
If you enjoy our videos, it would bless our ministry if you would SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel. All that’s required is a Gmail address. There is no cost to you, and we will never share your email address with anyone, for any reason.
