We continue our series looking at the incarnation. We have looked at a couple aspects already:
1. Prophecy. The incarnation was prophesied in the book of Isaiah as well as other places in the Old Testament.
2. Anticipation. Prior to the incarnation, the saints at that time, many who knew the Old Testament prophecies had anticipated His coming with great excitement and Zacharias was one of those.
Today we are looking at the actual birth of Jesus. As we do so we are looking at the announcement by the angels of the coming of Jesus Christ.
We look to Luke 2 which is very familiar to those of us who are used to going to church and especially at Christmastime as it is the Christmas story. I am not going to read it all, but we are going to read portions as we dwell on the shepherd and angels at this time.
Luke 2:9 says, “And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.” We have the angels announcing to the shepherds the coming of Jesus Christ. They are going to give them good news.
Then it says in Luke 2:10, “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;” A couple things to point out here. Just think of the shock that had to be for the shepherds that night. They were minding their own business. They were out taking care of business tending the sheep as they often did. It was nighttime, nothing much happening. They were probably just sitting around, perhaps eating some supper or relaxing, we don’t really know. Then suddenly something that has never happened before, the sky fills up with lights and an angel and the great announcement is given. Now, the angel tells them not to be afraid, saying, “I bring you good news.” Good news is our word for gospel. So, the angel is bringing us a gospel. They are bringing us the good news of something transpiring not far from where they were. They wanted these shepherds to know that. Why God chose the shepherds we do not know. In that ancient time, shepherds were not important people, they were considered fairly low on the economic scale. They were not leaders or rulers or rabbis. They were common people and yet God chose to reveal to them first, outside of Mary and Joseph, that the Messiah had been born. So, it is good news, and the angels bring that good news to them . . .
