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The Shepherds' Merry Christmas

As I wrote on Christmas in the first of a series of Christmas posts, the question facing every one of us is "How will you respond to the Savior?" Today we look at the shepherds' response to the Christ child as recorded in Luke 2:8-20.

The announcement came to the shepherds while they were at work in the fields.
... there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, (Luke 2:8)

Their initial response to the glory of the Lord was fear. This is different than fear as our world thinks of it now. A right relationship with God starts here. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

Wait, why should I fear a loving God? Because He is God and I am not. He is the Creator. I am the created. He is righteous, holy (i.e., set apart) and just and cannot and will not overlook sin. If you remember from Romans 3:23 and 6:23 from my previous post, as sinners, we all have plenty to fear in the presence of the Almighty.

When the angels explain that they come bearing good news and tell the shepherds how to find Jesus and the shepherds see and hear a multitude of angels praising God, they realize this is supernatural. It is from God (which the Lord has made known to us -- Luke 2:15a). In response, the shepherds do the following:
  1. Go - They immediately go to Bethlehem to see Jesus. And they go quickly.
    • When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. (Luke 2:15-16)
  2. Observe - The shepherds weren't satisfied to have the angels tell them. They had to see it for themselves. 
    • And when they saw it ... (Luke 2:17a)
  3. Tell others - The shepherds had to tell others what they had heard and seen. They had a personal, intimate, incredible interaction with Emmanuel (i.e., God with us) and had to share it. Think of how you tell others about a good deal or a good meal or good service somewhere. The shepherds experienced that but on a supernatural scale.
    • ... they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. (Luke 2:17b)
  4. Glorify God - The shepherds worshiped all the way back to the fields. Their response to their real, in-person encounter with the living God was praise and worship (i.e., ascribing worth) to God who allowed them to hear the good news from the angels, to get a glimpse of heavenly worship, to be led to the newborn King in the manger, to tell others of the Christ child.
    • And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen, as it had been told to them. (Luke 2:18)
The shepherds responded by going, seeing, sharing and worshiping. While you weren't in the field that night with the night-shift shepherds when the angels came to proclaim this good news of great joy, you do have God's word with the account of what happened that first Christmas and so much more. And you no doubt have heard about Christmas from others. So, again I close by asking you "How will you respond to the Savior this Christmas?"

Next, the wise men.
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