God calls the Marginalized at Christmas

The main text we’ll be speaking out of is :

The New Revised Standard Version The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Remember Back to the Minor Prophets:

Back in the summer, I spoke on the book of Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament. If you remember, that book takes place a generation or so

Context of the Passage in :

It is always important to make sure we understand contextually what is happening when we begin to explore the Biblical Text. Sometimes when we preach topically it doesn’t matter as much because we’re not grounded in one particular passage, however, today were doing an expository sermon - and therefore context is vital before we venture further!

Historical Context:

First, the historical context of the text is what we’ll discuss first and foremost. The first clue for us within the text itself is at the very beginning of the second chapter in Luke. In , Luke gives us a big clue into the political happenings of the time:

“In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria”

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

The New Revised Standard Version The Birth of Jesus

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

So if we want to begin understanding the historical context we need to ask who some of these important political figures are? Why are they important enough to be mentioned by Luke? What I love about the Bible is that it never wastes words! Meaning, every detail given is there for an important reason.

So who is Emperor Augustus and who is Qurinius?

Caesar Augustus

While not being anywhere near the place Christ’s birth, Augustus brings a wealth of context to the birth narrative of Christ. You see, Augustus was not just any Roman Emperor - he was the first. Before he was known Octavius and he was adopted by Julius Caesar, which is why he adopted the name Caesar. At 19 years old, Octavius’ adopted father was assassinated - which sparked an intense civil war against the conspirators . The civil war waged for many years until Octavius was triumphant and his ally, Marc Antony was then the only one in the way of him having complete domination over the entire Empire.

You see, before Octavius, the Senate was the governing body of Rome. The idea of a monarchy or an empire was actually quite tabboo because, to the Romans, their only King was Jupiter. However this civil war was the beginning of Rome’s shift from a republic controlled by a body of hundreds of politicians - into a system where complete power of the civilized world was wielded by one man.

Imagine for a moment, if a civil war began in Canada. The governmental system from our branches of government to the role of the Prime Minister to the division of power between Federal, Provincial and Municipal governing bodies - all torn down in the blink of an eye and replaced with a Monarchy. This is effectively what Rome was enduring right before the birth of Christ. This political strife is palpable throughout the New Testament.

Qurinius

He was a celebrated military leader. He held various governmental positions throughout the Roman Empire - and he was handed responsibility of the newly annexed Roman Provinces of Judea and Samaria. Meaning, this guy was put in place to make sure these freshly conquered lands had zero resistance to Rome. One way to do so was to take a census, so after Augustus ordered that the entire Empire be registered - the responsibility fell on governors of provinces to handle that locally and report back to Rome.

Imagine for a moment, if a civil war began in Canada. The governmental system from our branches of government to the role of the Prime Minister to the division of power between Federal, Provincial and Municipal governing bodies - all torn down in the blink of an eye and replaced with a Monarchy. This is effectively what Rome was enduring right before the birth of Christ. This political strife is palpable throughout the New Testament.

It is important to also bare in mind that there was a deep seeded attitude of antisemitism among Roman officials. In fact, governors of Judea and Jerusalem were chosen for their distinct hatred of Jews. They would often try to bring Roman Imperial images and banners into places like Jerusalem to begin to break down Judaism and convert Jews to the cult of Augustus.

So as we venture forth into the text - keep in mind the peak levels of stress, uncertainty, persecution, alienation, and outright violence the Jews were facing at the time. THESE ARE DISTRESSFUL TIMES!

So .... this is a good place to back up!

Luke 2:8–14 NRSV

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

-148 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

Imagine for a moment, what these Shepherds must have been thinking:

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

We are oppressed

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

We are poor

and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Our lands are occupied by a foreign empire

....and Angels have just appeared to us.

I mean really… these Shepherds are the lowest of the low on the social totem pole - living their lives under an Imperial Empire looking to completely dominate them. There is no promise of tomorrow for these people and yet God chose them to call to the manger, where the messiah would be born. This is a glimpse of how God operates.

Because not only were these Shepherds under fear of political violence and uncertainty - they had Jewish cultural customs also working against them.

Cultural Context:

Randy Alcorn, Founder of Eternal Perspectives Ministries said this about Shepherds:

In Christ’s day, shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers…. During the time of the Patriarchs, shepherding was a noble occupation…. When the twelve tribes of Israel migrated to Egypt, the encountered a lifestyle foreign to them. The Egyptians were agriculturalists. As farmers, they despised shepherding because sheep and goats meant death to crops…. In the course of 400 years, the Egyptians prejudiced the Israelite's’ attitude toward shepherding.

Some shepherds earned their poor reputations, but others became victims of a cruel stereotype. The religious leaders maligned the shepherd’s good name; rabbis banned pasturing sheep and goats in Israel, except on desert plains…. ‘To buy wool, milk or a kid from a shepherd was forbidden on the assumption that it would be stolen property’…. Shepherds were officially labeled ‘sinners’—a technical term for a class of despised people.

12/23/2015

By Jean Boonstra Facebook Twitter SHARE

A few Christmases ago we were living in Maryland. Over the holiday we managed a day trip up to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to visit Amish country. It was incredible to see how the Amish live and work, and I was delighted to bring home what is now one of my favorite Christmas items: an “Amish” nativity set.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

📷Jean Boonstra is the Associate Speaker for the Voice of Prophecy. She is the author of several books, including eight in the Adventist Girl series.

VIEW MORE POSTS BY JEAN BOONSTRA

Notice the shepherdess in this set. She is dressed in a traditional bonnet and dress with a little quilt slung across her skirt—a sheep in her arms. There is another sheep at her 📷feet, and Joseph is depicted with a shepherd’s staff. A sweet, tranquil scene surrounds the babe in the manger. Quite unlike what it was really like that night.

I’ve often wondered, and perhaps you have too, why the shepherds were the first to hear the news of Jesus birth? Why not the scribes or scholars? To find the answer we have to begin in the only gospel account that mentions the shepherds, and it is found in Luke.

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 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. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

​“Glory to God in the highest,

​​And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

​So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seenHim, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” 

This scene has been read and re-enacted for nearly two thousands of years. Scores of children have dressed up in bathrobes with hand towels or ties wrapped around their heads to depict this starry-night scene. When you read the account in Luke perhaps a memory from your childhood or of your children came to mind instantly. It is a beautiful scene, but the reality was probably not like any scene that we’ve ever seen re-enacted at the front of a church.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an interesting article by Randy Alcorn called “Shepherd’s Status”. Alcorn describes in fascinating detail what it would have been like to be a shepherd back in Jesus’ day.

In Christ’s day, shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers…. During the time of the Patriarchs, shepherding was a noble occupation…. When the twelve tribes of Israel migrated to Egypt, the encountered a lifestyle foreign to them. The Egyptians were agriculturalists. As farmers, they despised shepherding because sheep and goats meant death to crops…. In the course of 400 years, the Egyptians prejudiced the Israelites’ attitude toward shepherding.

📷

The shepherds that watched over their flocks by night in the Biblical account in Luke were not men revered or esteemed by society. These were men marginalized by society.  Alcorn continues,

Some shepherds earned their poor reputations, but others became victims of a cruel stereotype. The religious leaders maligned the shepherd’s good name; rabbis banned pasturing sheep and goats in Israel, except on desert plains…. ‘To buy wool, milk or a kid from a shepherd was forbidden on the assumption that it would be stolen property’…. Shepherds were officially labeled ‘sinners’—a technical term for a class of despised people.

So now that we have a bit more context we can see how this just doubles down on the state of the Shepherd. Their historical, political and cultural context that they find themselves in all disfavor their class!

Theological Context:

Remember Back to the Minor Prophets:

God Invites the Marginalized into the Holy of Holy’s!

Back in the summer, I spoke on the book of Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament. If you remember, that book takes place a generation or so AFTER the Israelites return from exile, rebuild the Temple, and have continued on living as a nation. However, their disposition and devotion to God became stale and stagnant. The Israelites stopped experiencing the glory of God as a nation like they once did!

They accuse God of not loving or caring for them, to which YHWH responds through the prophet.

(Well, In this case its a manger!)

Word Study: “Messenger/Malachi”

What is interesting here as well is that the word “Malachi” means My Messenger or His Messenger:

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible says “His name means “my angel” or “my messenger”(מַלְאָךְ) and is so translated in and elsewhere. Apart from the book which bears his name, nothing else is known about him from the Bible. In the apocryphal book of he is identified as “Malachi, who is also called a messenger of the Lord.” Rabbinic tradition suggests that Malachi may be another name for Ezra the scribe, although there is no supporting evidence for this identification.

HEBREW:

The word “messenger” in general written in Hebrew sheds light on what this word means in a Jewish context as, typically in English it means to literally deliver a message - something inconsequential in most cases:

mal’ak: Refers to a prophet, priest, angels, the angel of YHWH.

biser: Refers to bringing of good news, glad tidings - it is sometimes made a verb to suggest you are receiving good news!

malay: Refers to a priestly consecration - a priestly action which declares something is Holy

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Malachi (Person). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1380). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.”

GREEK:

aggelos: Refers to an angel

**The Temple/Tabernacle was once a place for the High Priest, now it is a place for the Marginalized!

apostolos: refers to an apostle

Both of these Biblical characters carry out an action on behalf of God in the New Testament.

Both of these Biblical characters carry out an action on behalf of God in the New Testament.

So, we have now a better understanding of what is happening in .

This story is not a stand alone, random occurrence of Angels appearing to some Shepherds to give them instruction - but the continuation of God’s plan from 400 years prior in the book of Malachi! The previous messenger, beckoning a nation to wake up from their slumber! To hear YHWH’s words that the stale and stagnant faith of the nation is not the end! More is coming!

Now, 400 years later, in a completely different political, historical and constrictive religious and cultural setting - the motif of messenger bringing a godly message is brought before us again. This time, God is not calling a nation to wait! He has sent his messengers his AGGELOS to BISER to these Shepherds! This story in Luke is so tightly interwoven into Biblical history, while we sometimes don’t even see how deep this actually goes!

And… there more!

God Invites the Marginalized into the Holy of Holy’s!

(Well, In this case its a manger!)

What I find so fascinating in the story is the theological parallels of God’s presence in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Old Testament:

The name given to the innermost shrine of the sanctuary of Yahweh.

1. In the Tabernacle:

The most holy place of the tabernacle in the wilderness () was a small cube of 10 cubits (15 ft.) every way. It was divided from the outer sections by curtains which bore cherubic figures embroidered in blue and purple and scarlet (), it contained no furniture but the Ark of the Covenant, covered by a slab of gold called the MERCY-SEAT , and having within it only the two stone tablets of the Law Only the high priest, and he but once a year, on the great @@clothed in penitential garments, amid a cloud of incense, and with the blood of sacrifice.

2. The Temple of Solomon:

The proportions of the most holy place in the first temple were the same as in the tabernacle, but the dimensions were doubled. The sacred chamber was enlarged to 20 cubits (30 ft.) each way. This sanctum, like its predecessor, contained but one piece of furniture--the Ark of the Covenant. It had, however, one new conspicuous feature in the two large figures of cherubim of olive wood, covered with gold, with wings stretching from wall to wall, beneath which the ark was now placed.

3. The Jewish Leaders took the Holy of Holies very seriously:

The Jew took these holy places with the utmost seriousness and reverence. It was said that if you entered into the presence of YHWH, you would simply drop dead!

:

44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him 48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:49 “‘Heaven is my throne,and the earth is my footstool.What kind of house will you build for me?says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?50 Has not my hand made all these things?’

In fact Jews in the New Testament took this fact so seriously that they stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr for saying YHWH does not reside in their temple any longer, but rather in Christ!

New Testament:

Hebrews:

The New Revised Standard Version Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus is in a very similar fashion, described as a High Priest!:

He is the mediator between us and God

He is the one who offers sacrifice and prayer on behalf of the people

In other ways, Jesus is contrasted to the High Priests of Israel:

Jesus was tested in “every respect” - yet did not falter.

Jesus

You see, Jesus represents for us the New Covenant!

It

Similarly to when we partake in communion together, Jesus expresses that is the partaking of the New Covenant. That it is no longer that the presence of God lives in the Temple - a physical place we must go to pray/sacrifice/and receive. But rather it is through Christ himself who now lives in us. Jesus is our new high priest, inviting us into the new “Tabernacle” which is a personal relationship with God. We now have a high priest who can finally know what it is like to live at the bottom of society. Previous high priests could not know what it was like to be weak - but Jesus knows - and he calls us into the presence of God regardless. This imagery is put into narrative form as we see the Shepherds called by God into the holy place - the place of Jesus birth.

**Jesus is our new high priest, inviting us into the new “Tabernacle” which is a personal relationship with God. We now have a high priest who can finally know what it is like to live at the bottom of society. Previous high priests could not know what it was like to be weak - but Jesus knows - and he calls us into the presence of God regardless. This imagery is put into narrative form as we see the Shepherds called by God into the holy place - the place of Jesus birth.

God is Calling the Outsiders into the NEW Holy of Holies:

The call from the Angels to the Shepherds was not a call to make just any journey - but the God was calling these Shepherds to go to and enter into the presence of God through Christ Jesus. This is signifficant because symbollically I don’t think they were asked to enter into just any building - but rather they’re walking into the new Holy of Holies. Where once it was only the High Priest’s role to enter - all else would die - but now God has broken that tradition. The first he called into the sacred place wasn’t the prominent, wealthy, or the powerful; it was the marginalized, the outsiders.

**The Temple/Tabernacle was once a place for the High Priest, now it is a place for the Marginalized!

Mate in 2:

Mate in 2:

Again, I think back to the Shepherds and their journey throughout life. It probably felt hopeless in some sense! They knew something had to give! Funny enough - that is normally when God does something big! This can be true in our own lives.

Famous Painting:

It's a checkmate! You're out of move. You're cornered, there's no where to run. Give up, you're done. You have lost the game!

This is the illustration in the painting entitled The Chess Players created by German painter named Moritz Retzsch. The devil is playing chess game with a young man in a battle for his soul. The man despite having the white pieces found his king cornered and was thinking desperately how to avoid a checkmate. He was apparently in a state of agony knowing that he had lost the game. The devil on the other side of the table was grinning wickedly thinking that he made the final move to end the game and claim victory. The angel at the middle of the picture was about to burst into tears when she saw that the young man did not only lose the game but also his precious soul.

Paul Morphy, an American chess master and hailed as a world champion in 1858 was on tour one time in Europe. He was visiting an art gallery with his friend and it happened that they ran into this painting depicting two men playing a chess game against each other. Being a chess player with great passion for the game, the painting caught his attention. He studied the picture and looked at it for a long moment. His friend instead of waiting for Morphy decided to move on to view other art exhibits in the room. Morphy got fixated at the chessboard and stared at it intriguingly. Stunned and flabbergasted with what he had discovered, he stepped back and excitedly exclaimed, "It is not over yet. The King has one more move!"

EXPOUND IN THIS TO CLOSE: Jesus being our high priest now means we don't even have to play the game anymore per se. Its not us vs the devil nor is it us vs sin, in a close grudge match we’re fixing to lose - but Jesus has already condemned sin on the cross so that the next time you feel like the young man to be check mated in 2. The exclamation “The King has one more move” is extremely fitting to me. Yes, the King of heaven had a move to play - and this was to shift the paradigm - to call ALL of us into the Holy of Holies, the sacred place, to see the New Born King. This is the hope given to even the Shepherds that there political, cultural and historical backgrounds will not overcome them because they, the outsiders, the marginalized - have been called in by God.