A Small-Town Shepherd King

Introduction:

Humble beginnings. Small towns. Underdog stories. We are suckers for a story that features any of these tropes, right? I love the Lord of the Rings. In the first book of the Trilogy, the Fellowship is gathered to figure out how they would destroy the One Ring and defeat the power of Sauron and the Orc army and all the evil in the world. In The Fellowship, we have Gandalf, a powerful wizard capable of great things. We have Gimli the Dwarf, a strong, creative, and brave warrior. Legolas, the expert archer elf, is a royal prince of his race. Alongside Gandalf, Gimli, and Legolas are two men: Aragorn and Boromir. Boromir is a skilled warrior and protector of his kingdom, Gondor, and Aragorn is the heir to the throne of men, a mighty warrior and king. Great warriors. Kings. Accomplished statesmen. And then there are four hobbits: Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo. As you know, Hobbits are insignificant creatures in much of Middle Earth. They aren't built for battle: they are small, slow, and big-footed. They prefer to eat, grow gardens, and have meals together. They are from an insignificant place (the Shire) and have never played a significant role in Middle Earth lore. But who ends up being the hero of the story time and time again? The Hobbits! And not just Frodo, but also Sam, Pippin, and Merry. And we grow to love this use of a seemingly insignificant place and people growing into a highly significant place and people. The Shire becomes famous, and the Hobbits become renowned for their feats.

We eat up stories where insignificance turns into significance. It gets at our emotions. These stories aren't original to Tolkien or movie-makers of the last century. In fact, I'd argue that salvation or victory from a seemingly insignificant place hearkens back to the True Story, the story in which all other stories find their source: The story of redemption in Scripture. Throughout Scripture, God weaves together story after story that shows how he can take something or someone that seems unlikely, easily defeated, or insignificant and show them victory or salvation. Our passage today brings to mind a seemingly insignificant town. A village in the region of Ephrathah, Bethlehem, was tiny. But the promise — the prophecy — contained within our final Advent passage today is all about how the most significant event in history was to take place in tiny, insignificant Bethlehem.

Let's look at our passage, Micah 5:2–5: "2 Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times. 3 Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of the ruler's brothers will return to the people of Israel. 4 He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of the Lord his God. They will live securely, for then his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth. 5 He will be their peace."

Let's pray: Father, thank you so much for this Word and this Advent season. We have spent the last few weeks sitting in the shoes of your Old Covenant people, waiting for their long-awaited Messiah. We do this with the full knowledge that Messiah has come, and Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again for us and for our salvation. We praise and adore you for that. We celebrate Advent by looking back at his first coming and expecting his second coming. Help us to see the beauty of Christ's birth in Bethlehem and his work as our Small-Town Shepherd-King. Now, may the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Amen.

Today's passage is a well-known prophecy. We hear this a lot around Christmas time, and for good reason. We'll even reread this passage tonight during our Lessons and Carols service as we seek to tell the story of Jesus's birth from all of Scripture. This passage is essential to understanding why Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem and why that's important. This passage talks about a small town (Bethlehem) and a ruler that would come from it. This ruler from antiquity would regather the family of Israel and serve as its Shepherd. So, who is this Small-Town Shepherd-King? Of course, we know the answer to be Jesus himself. Micah lived 700 years before Christ was born but was a prophet to God's people. When Micah was prophesying, the Northern kingdom of Israel had just fallen to Assyria. The Southern Kingdom (What we call Judah) was being threatened and attacked by Assyria as well. The fall of Jerusalem and its subsequent captivity were to come in about 120 years. Why? As we talked about last week, God's people had constantly fallen into idolatry and were being given over to evil kingdoms to display God's just wrath on them.

But directly in our passage, Micah is promising a coming ruler who would bring a time of peace and, in fact, would be their peace himself. This is because Micah specifically dealt with the unjust and crooked leaders who had been leading God's people for generations. Micah calls out evil rulers throughout the earlier parts of the book. The first two chapters deal with evil leaders who have become wealthy through theft and greed. They posed as godly leaders but were anything but. Chapters 3-4 also discuss leaders taking advantage of the poor in their land. Disaster was coming! Why? Specifically in Micah, because of the ungodly leaders, who were exploiting their power and wealth at the expense of the people they were supposed to serve.

So that begs the question: Who would be a righteous leader who could lead God's people in justice and peace? That's where our passage comes in. In light of that, I propose this as the main point today: Because Jesus came as a shepherd-king, we can have real peace in our lives. This 'real peace' is not just the absence of conflict but a deep, spiritual peace that comes from living under the Shepherd-King, who is promised in our passage today. So, we will spend some time looking at the origin, the mission, and the glory of the shepherd-king specifically from this passage today.

I. The Origin of the Shepherd-King

To understand why Christ came as a small-town Shepherd-King, we need to look at his origin. Look at verse 2: "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah, one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times." There's a lot there. First, we need to see that this Shepherd-King, the ruler Israel needed, was to come from Bethlehem. As I said earlier, Bethlehem was not a prominent place. Rulers weren't born there. There weren't mansions or palaces in Bethlehem. There was no place for a ruler of a nation to be born. But God loves to write stories where insignificant things become significant. How does he do this? By working there. In the Bible, significance comes from God's work in a place or through a person. So Bethlehem, small among the families of Judah, can find significance. Not because of the place's wealth or fame or natural beauty. But because God chose to do work there.

Here, we know the popular birth story — what we know as the Nativity — comes into play. Joseph and Mary were making their way back to Bethlehem for a time so that Joseph could be counted in the census among his family. He was a carpenter from Nazareth, but his lineage was important. He was from the line of David. That is where we get this second part of verse 2: His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times. This ruler would be born in Bethlehem and would have ancient origins. We need to do some Bible survey work here. The whole point of this Advent sermons series called 'Covenant Christmas' is to see how God worked to bring about a New Covenant through the coming of Christ. In the first week of this series, I talked about how the Bible is organized through covenants, God working with his people in making and keeping promises. One of those covenants was made to God's people through David. Let's look at 2 Samuel 7:8–13: "8 "So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: 'This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth. 10 I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done 11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. " 'The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." God promised David that a descendant would come from his line, and his kingdom would be forever. This wasn't Solomon; it wasn't Josiah or Hezekiah. It certainly wasn't any of the kings we read about in David's line. And then, as we read the Old Testament, the kingdom goes away. David's line is not well-known anymore. Who would be the one to establish David's ancient lineage for eternity?

Of course, it is Jesus. Joseph was descended from David's line. Though David's line had fallen into obscurity and relative insignificance, it was about to experience renewal and restoration. This ancient origin, this royal lineage, would experience a new birth through the birth of Jesus. And it would all happen in Bethlehem, just as Micah prophesied. Bethlehem was David's city. It was where David was from. David, that shepherd boy who grew up to be the greatest king of the Israelites. David, the man after God's own heart. This man was from Bethlehem. Though Bethlehem was small, God had given it significance. And this was about to happen again, but on a much grander scale. In David's city, from David's line, another shepherd was born. We can call this Shepherd the True and Better David. David was great, yes. But David sinned. David died. Acts 13:36: "36 For David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed." He died. He was no more. But the new ruler, the True and Better Small-Town Shepherd-King, would not decay. Though he would die, he would not decompose but would instead be raised again. Who is this? Jesus.

Jesus is the Small-Town Shepherd-King born in Bethlehem Ephrathah. According to his father Joseph's ancestry, he was from the line of David. His origin was from antiquity, from ancient times. This is the origin story of the ruler that God's people needed. This is where Jesus the man came from and why that is important. There was no doubt that Jesus, born of the virgin Mary and Joseph, was the answer to Micah's promise. In fact, when we survey the life of Jesus, we can be confident that 'all of the promises of God find their yes — their fulfillment — in Jesus. That's the origin of the Shepherd-King. Why does this matter? It so clearly shows that Jesus is the answer to all prophecy. The coming of Jesus is the high point of history. But we have a rather unique phrase in verse 3: "Therefore (or because of the coming of this ruler), Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor has given birth."

There was coming a time when Israel would lack a Davidic king. There would be an era of centuries when God would give the people up and leave them without a ruler who would glorify them. And that point would end with the time when "she who is in labor has given birth." I think this is a reference to Mary and the birth of Jesus. We have a promise of a ruler born in Bethlehem with Davidic origins. And there would be a period of abandonment or silence from God leading up to that point. Then God would dwell with his people again in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. On the night Mary gave birth, the skies lit up with grandeur, and God's voice was heard again in the cry of a newborn in a manger. The angels declared this to the shepherds. God was with his people once more. Origin stories matter. Understanding Jesus's origin story helps us understand his mission. And that is where we turn our attention to now.

II. The Mission of the Shepherd-King

What did Jesus come to do? In stories, we often meet the hero in the midst of doing what they came to do, and then we learn more about their origin story. But now that we've learned where Jesus came from and his origin, we can follow our passage and get into his mission. We have several purpose statements that we can follow to figure out why Jesus came.

First, in verse 2, he will be a ruler over Israel for God. As we discussed earlier in the sermon, one of Micah's main emphases was to point out the injustice from the leaders of Israel. They had made themselves rich off of the poor of their land and had not mirrored God's righteousness to his people. They were crooked. God's people needed a righteous leader, and he would raise one up himself, from himself for himself. Jesus was coming as that righteous ruler. He was coming to right the wrongs of the leaders that had come before him. Jesus is the righteous ruler, the righteous branch that would come as the king that his people need. Jesus's mission was to come as a king who ushers in a new kingdom: a kingdom of his peace. Jesus is the exemplary king and ruler.

He would also act as a gatherer of his people. And here's where the Shepherding aspect of Jesus's reign comes in. Look at verse 3: "then the rest of the ruler's brothers will return to the people of Israel." Israel was about to experience a scattering. The Israelites would be scattered all over the face of the earth. This tends to happen to nations that get taken over and lose their own land. God's flock would be scattered. But Jesus would act as the one to bring them together again. The ruler's brother's: This means the family of God. Salvation is often described in adoption language. When we experience salvation, we are brought into God's family. And the act by which we are brought in is the gospel: The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this way, we become co-heirs with Christ; we are his siblings, as it were, in God's family. How does this righteous ruler bring his brothers — his family — back? By giving his life for them and allowing them to enter the kingdom through his blood. This is the New Covenant. Christ acts as a gatherer of his people by dying for them and giving all who believe in his gospel for life a unifying theme and family. If you are in Christ today, you are his brother. You are his sister. You are unified with everyone from every tongue, tribe, and nation who has given their lives to Christ. Christ's mission was to serve as a ruler from Bethlehem but also to bring all of God's people together under his covenant, the covenant that was ratified in his blood. He has gathered us, and he continues to gather us. He gathers us each week as a local flock that mirrors the gathering of his global flock. As an encouragement to you, remember that sheep are not made to exist on their own: They are part of a community. You have been gathered into the global flock of God, but you are also part of this smaller, local flock called Christ Fellowship. Here, you experience the tangible care of Christ as you partake in the ministries and fellowship of this congregation. Let that be an encouragement to you.

But that's not it! Christ, our Small-Town Shepherd-King, acted as a shepherd by standing watch over and shepherding us. This morning, we read Psalm 23 as our Call to Worship text. This is one of the most famous chapters in all of Scripture. We hear it all the time and see it all over the place. The whole point of this passage is that God acts as our Shepherd. This is a reality for the people of God! Jesus comes and acts as our Shepherd-King, standing over us in protection. He takes care of our needs, he leads us to water, he satisfies our needs and every desire, he restores our souls, he renews our lives, he leads us out of the valley of the shadow of death, he protects us with his staff, he will not let us be defeated. And under his care, we experience goodness and faithful love in his flock. In fact, as our Shepherd, he pursues us with goodness and covenant love. He brings us into his house to dwell in his presence, where there is fulness of joy. What does it look like to be in the flock of God? To experience him as a shepherd? We experience security and peace. We have so many promises that being in God's hands will result in our own protection: God's flock is the church, and Jesus tells us that the gates of hell will never overcome the church. We are in his hands, and no one can pluck us out; those who believe in his name will endure to the end. Promise after promise of spiritual security and protection. How can he make good on this promise as our Shepherd? He shepherds us in the LORD's strength and in the LORD's name.

As God, his attributes are always to the best and highest degree. God is strong, but he is infinitely strong. Therefore, when we are shepherded by the very strength of God, we are under an infinitely strong shepherd. Nothing will be able to defeat this Shepherd. What comfort! I wonder how often you've considered this truth? It can be easy to doubt God's presence, and in moments of suffering, it can be even easier to doubt God's strength. But he reminds us that his strength is divine. Whatever you go through, whatever temptation you face, you are under the protection of a divine shepherd who has come to make you a sheep in his own flock. He has brought you in; nothing can take you out. He will ensure your safety. He will ward off your enemies. And in fact, in his divine power and strength, and motivated by his sovereign love of his sheep, this Shepherd has already defeated your greatest enemy: Death. He has conquered your greatest need. When you find yourself doubting the care he has for you, remember the cross. And this is all by his strength, not yours. Thanks be to God for not considering the strength of our faith when he leads us as our Shepherd. Because we are weak. We are often faithless. RC Sproul says it best: "We are secure, not because we hold tightly to Jesus, but because He holds tightly to us." Remember the fact that Jesus defeated the greatest enemy on the cross and laid death in its tomb once and for all. As your King. As your Shepherd.

What was the mission of Christ? To come to earth and shed his own blood to bind himself to his people as a ruler and Shepherd. One who reigns and one who protects. One who leads on the throne victorious over the power of sin and hell. Christ was born in an otherwise insignificant town to bring the most significant event ever to earth and save a people for himself. To gather his family together and bring his glory to the earth.

III. The Glory of the Shepherd-King

That's where we turn to next: The glory of the Shepherd-King. All of creation redounds to the glory of God. And this is no different in Christ coming as our Shepherd-King. "For then his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth." In coming to earth, saving and redeeming a people for his own, being the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus displays God's glory. God's glory exists all over creation, yes, but he is most glorified in the act of saving and redeeming sinful people. Christ's mission to seek and save the lost as their Shepherd-King wasn't done for good sheep. It was done for stubborn, sinful sheep like me. Jesus came to earth in a lowly manger in a small town as the ruler and shepherd to seek and save lost sheep. He had compassion on sinful people because we were sheep without a shepherd. And all of this is how God is glorified. He is glorified because he is the hero of the story. He is glorified in saving people.

Advent is a season where we celebrate the coming of Christ. And one way we can phrase that is that Advent is the season where we celebrate God's glory. God will be glorified in every soul, either in judgment or in acceptance. And that is based on whether or not that soul is in Christ or not. Where are you today? The Shepherd-King will be glorified in your life. How? Well, if you receive him as Savior, he is glorified in his salvation of you. If you reject him, he is still glorified by his pouring out wrath on you, which you deserve. Perfect justice. Your sin deserves punishment. Receive Christ today — he is a worthy Savior and Shepherd-King. Repent of your sin and believe in him today.

IV. Conclusion

These last few weeks, we've spent a lot of time looking at various promises and prophecies in the Old Testament. All of these promises were fulfilled in what we call Christ's Advent, his coming. In fact, all of the Old Testament is finally and fully fulfilled in what Christ did. We know that he has come to earth, was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He then rose again after three days and has now ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the alive and the dead. That's where we find ourselves today. And maybe today, you feel insignificant. You feel as though you have no purpose. I can tell you today that the greatest way to find significance is by finding yourself in Christ. He is not writing your story; he has already written it. He can turn insignificance into purpose and significance. The only way that can happen is by finding yourself in Christ today. Let's pray.