The Life of Christ
Christ and the Shepherds
by
Rev. Mark Perkins, Pastor
Denver Bible Church
326 E. Colorado Ave.
Denver, Colorado 80210
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Luke 2:8-20, "And some shepherds in the same region there were bivouacking and diligently keeping guard over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were afraid with great fear. And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I am announcing to you good news of a great joy which will be for all the people; because there was born for you today in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.' And all of a sudden there was together with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among respectable men.' And it came about after the angels had gone from them into heaven, that the shepherds were saying to one another, 'Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and let us see this event that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.' And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby laying in the manger. Now seeing this, they made known the statement which had been spoken them concerning this Child. And all who heard wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. And Mary treasured all these matters, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God over all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them."
Greek notes
The shepherds were "AGRAULOUNTES" bivouacking, or staying
outside overnight. It is from the noun AGORA, which means outside,
and the noun AULAZOMAI, which means to lodge, or stay away from
home.
While they were there, they PHULASSONTES PHULAKAS, which is a
very strong way to say that they kept guard.
It was in this same region that David watched over his flocks.
It was in this same region that the temple flocks were kept.
We cannot confirm it, but it may be that these shepherds watched
the temple flocks.
The angel of the Lord EPESTE., which literally means to stand
over someone. The glory of the Lord shone around them. This is
described by the verb PERILAMPO.
Angels are apparently beings manufactured from light, and thus
they produce the glory of the Lord. This is the awe inspiring
thing that so often causes great fear.
The shepherds were EPHOBE.THE.SAN PHOBON MEGAN. Afraid with great
fear.
The angel EUAGGELIZOMAI - the word from which we get the English
evangelize. The herald of the king is announcing His arrival.
First the angel makes it very clear that this is great news -
a great joy for all the people. Then he describes the news in
detail. It is important to note that the angel concentrates on
Christ as the savior. The herald of the king of kings and Lord
of Lords directs his listeners to the mission of the first advent,
which is redemption of the soul.
The sign which will reveal the truth of the matter to the shepherds
is unique. A baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. This
is why Christ had to be born in a stable, and why there was no
room at the inn. Because it would provide a unique setting which
could be used as a sign of the veracity of God. If one is true,
the sign, then the other is true as well, the savior.
The verb EXAIPHNE.S means literally out of a sudden. Our English
'all of a sudden' works also.
The multitude of the heavenly army is PLE.THOS STRATIAS OURANIOU,
and it is literally an army. They appeared to angels, praising
God and saying specific things. These things were recorded by
Luke in the form of verse, so they may indeed have been singing
a song.
They praise God first, worshipping Him for what He has accomplished
in the birth of Christ. Second, they give a message of good will
to men on earth. They wish peace [eirene] to respectable men.
The word for respectable is eudokias, which means to think well
of someone. It is literally "well thought of men".
The angels leave, and so the shepherds have a brief discussion
among themselves as to what they should do. It is a decisive
and quick meeting - They say, "let us go through immediately
to Bethlehem" DIELTHO.MEN DE. HEO.S. In the English, Let's
go straight to Bethlehem. The syntax suggests that this is an
urgent and repetitive meeting. They recognize clearly that the
Lord made known to them this event, and so they take off in haste
[SPEUDO] and search and find [ANEURISKO] the stable where the
Christ child lies.
The first thing that the shepherds do when they arrive is recount
the events of the evening to Joseph and Mary, and everyone there
(apparently there were others) wondered at the things which were
told them. Mary treasured [SUNTEREO] these things in her heart,
putting them together [SUMBALLO] in her heart.
Mary was thinking about these things, and throwing them together
so that she had a full understanding of the events of the last
few months. She treasured these things - they were precious to
her, because she knew that her savior was born.
The shepherds had to get back to their flocks, but they left
glorifying and praising God over everything which they heard
and seen, just as it was spoken to them. Their worship is directed
toward the veracity of God, and there is two levels to this veracity,
one of which is not mentioned. The first level is the immediate,
obvious one. The events of the night fulfilled what had been
spoken to them by the angel. The second level is that everything
spoken by the prophets of old, everything in the Mosaic Law,
was now coming to pass on this night.
These shepherds no doubt had a great sense of destiny before
the angel ever came that night. They watched over flocks near
the city of David's birth, and near where David himself shepherded.
Therefore, when the chief shepherd arrived, they knew the implications.
They were shepherds in the region of the temple flocks.
We cannot be completely sure if their flock was the flock, but
even if they were only near, they would have known much about
the temple flock, and they would have been acquainted with the
temple flock shepherds.
The lamb of God was born that night, and everything in the ritual
system was fulfilled in that baby in the manger. Everything that
they knew of the ritual system would have come to mind as the
angels appeared, and as they rushed to the stable, and as they
saw the fulfillment of the sign.
It was what the shepherds knew beforehand that gave meaning to
the events of that night. It was especially appropriate that
the shepherds should come to see the chief shepherd and the lamb
of God in that baby that night. And they went away glorifying
God, because what they knew before went together with what they
knew now.
The Davidic, Mosaic, and Abrahamic covenants were all fulfilled
in Christ, and the shepherds knew it.
Lessons from the Passage
The quality of our worship is directly related to the amount
of Bible Truth that we understand in our hearts. This was true
for both Mary and the Shepherds. It is very clear that Mary understands
the significance of the birth of her child. Because of this,
she treasures those significant things in her heart.
The shepherds worshipped, not because they were neophytes to
the faith, but because they had waited faithfully for the Messiah,
and knew God already. This is the interpretation which best explains
their actions. The shepherds were quite willing to go check out
the sign which the angel had provided. They glorify God even
as the angels had done just a little while before when the army
of heaven was visible to them.
Therefore, the more you know of Bible Truth, the greater your
worship and praise of God will be, for God is the author, and
the Bible is the mind of Christ. The more you know of Bible Truth,
the greater appreciation you will have of the grace of God as
it is revealed in the events of your life.
You cannot interpret the events of your life in the right way
without the truth. When you do have the truth, the events of
your life have meaning.
There is more to this life than the visible - there is an invisible
realm which is far more important, and which adds meaning and
importance to our own visible lives.
The angels rejoiced on that night for what God had accomplished
in the birth of Christ. That the elect angels rejoiced gives
us an indication of the mood in the enemies' camp on that very
same night. It must have been gloomy indeed. Insofar as we take
part in the invisible realm of conflict, we add meaning and importance
to our lives in the same measure.
God reveals Himself in the first advent - His grace and power
are revealed in the birth of Christ.
o Through the virgin pregnancy and birth.
o Through the birth of John the Baptist.
o Through the child in the manger.
o Through the minds and hearts of those who were prepared for the first advent of Jesus Christ.
This advent had to do with the redemption of sins.
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