10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11
For several days we have been looking at this first public proclamation
in Luke of the Gospel by the angel to the shepherds “living out in the fields”.
Remember Luke was writing his Gospel to confirm the historical account of Jesus
and His life on earth (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3). I believe that Luke may have taken
the time to find one of these shepherds and to personally interview him about
that night when they were paid a surprise visit by this angel and then later
joined by “a multitude of the heavenly host”. I’m convinced that this
detailed account was not made up to enhance the story of Christmas!
The shepherds were terribly shaken and afraid as this angel
appeared standing before them, and the light of the “glory of the Lord”
must have lit up the whole area around them. They no doubt were aware of the stories
of the appearances of angels and God’s glory in the Old Testament, and usually
that meant some type of immediate judgment. Now fear can be both a bad thing
and a good thing.
There is a fear that we might have that paralyzes us, like
fear of failure, fear of opposition, fear of rejection, and so on. This fear
keeps us from doing the will of God and proves we are not really trusting and
believing Him and His Word. But there is another fear that is good. In Jude 1:22-23
we are told: “And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others
save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled
by the flesh.”
Some people, like myself, respond to the Gospel message because
of the fear of spending an eternity in hell apart from God. I had memorized
Mark 8:35-38 as a child and couldn’t get away from it as a teenager. “For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for
My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he
gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed
when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
It was fear of eternal judgement that brought me to
repentance as a nineteen-year-old teenager! For sure, this “Fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom”, as the Scriptures repeat many times. The devil
and Bible haters would like to use this fear of eternal punishment in the Bible
to cause you to reject this kind of God that threatens to do this to those who
reject Him. But listen to what the angel went on to say! He continued to say
that he was bringing a “message of great joy which shall be to all people.”
Jesus did come first to His own people; the Jews, and they
rejected Him (John 1:11-12). “He came to His own, and His own did not
receive Him.” Oh, how I love the
next word, “But”!!!!! The message of hope, peace, and salvation is for
everyone and anyone who will believe and receive!!!! “But as many as received Him, to them
He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”.
As the angel said, this message of “great joy” is
for “all” the people of the world! It is for the rich and poor, the servant
and the king. It is for the head-hunter in the jungle as much as the person in
America. It is for the people in every tribe, kindred, and nation. For the
greatest of sinners and for those who don’t seem to be so bad! Yes, it is for
anyone, everyone, anywhere!
Thank the Lord, one day I realized that I was one of those “all”
people. There is a Savior for me!!!! Jesus died for me! If you have never received
Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I plead with you to do so today before
it is eternally too late!!!!
God bless!
