Learning from Dad’s and Shepherds

Introduction

I want to ask you a question, how many of you remember certain events for odd reasons? Maybe someone said something funny, or maybe something strange happened. One event that I remember for a strange reason is going to play practice for the Christmas play at my home church when I was about four years old. The thing that consistently comes to mind and makes me remember that particular occasion is the scent of a fresh cut Frazier fir. Back then the church put up a real Christmas tree in the old sanctuary, and that evening some of the ladies had just finished decorating it. To this day, no matter where I’m at or what I’m doing, if I catch a whiff of a Frazier fir that’s the first thing that always seems to come to mind. I’m sure that if I were to ask you, you’d be able to tell me similar stories about times or events in your life that you remember for strange or funny reasons. Sometimes those of us who have been raised in church have the keen ability to remember certain Bible stories for certain reasons too, like the time one of my Sunday school teachers decided to teach us about the flood by letting us play with water guns. Water guns in a class where little boys outnumber little girls isn’t good, especially when the little boys like to try to squirt the little girls wearing the pretty little dresses! (Pause) This morning we’re going to take a quick look at Luke’s account of the birth of Christ, Luke 2:1-20. My hope is that I can give you a couple of different reasons (reasons that you might not think of) to help you remember this text and make application of it to your life. First, in vv.1-7, I want to focus our attention on Joseph, and then, in vv.8-20, I would like to look briefly at how the shepherds reacted to the whole situation, and in all of that I want to ask you the question, does your faith drive you to great lengths to proclaim the king? So, if you’ve got your Bible open to Luke 2, let’s read from God’s Word.

Luke 2:1–20 KJV 1900

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Beth-lehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, And on earth peace, Good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Beth-lehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Prayer

“Learning from Joseph”

-Let’s look at vv.1-7.

When you read your Bible, the fact is that you’re not really told that much about Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father. We know from the genealogy given in Matthew that Joseph was a descendent of David. We also know that Joseph was a craftsman because of what’s said about him when Jesus went back to Nazareth and was rejected. The people there, after being amazed by the teaching of Jesus, commented saying, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Mt. 13:55). We know that in the ancient world sons followed in the footsteps of their father when it came to what they did for a living. (Pause) An interesting note about Joseph being a carpenter revolves around the Greek word that’s used, τέκτων (tektōn), which simply means “builder”. Many solid Bible scholars have wondered over the years as to what kind of “builder” Joseph really was. It’s interesting that in the region of Nazareth there aren’t that many trees, but there sure is a lot of stone. Because of this many scholars have wondered if Joseph might have been a stone mason. Either way, what little we know about Joseph, we do know that he was what we today might term as a blue-collar worker who supplied for his family through a trade that he likely learned from his father. Truth be told, Joseph probably made a meager living and had a fairly normal life, but all of that would change with the birth of Jesus, and it would begin with the events that surrounded his birth. So, what can we learn from what’s said about Joseph here in the first few verses of Luke, chapter two. First, in vv.1 through 3, Luke tells us about the situation into which Joseph was thrown. Verses 1 and 2 say that a census had been decreed by Caesar Augustus, then v.3 says that “… all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.” Then finally in v.4 Luke tells us that, “… Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem [Why(?) It was … because he was of the house and lineage of David).” Now, if you stopped right there you’d probably be left thinking, “What’s the big deal? So Joseph had to make a little trip to write his name on a piece of paper. So what!” But then you’re presented with v.5 which points out the fact that Joseph took Mary, “his espoused wife”, the woman he was engaged to, along with him. Oh, and by the way, she was “great with child”. Now, let’s park right here for just a second. Do you know how far it is from Nazareth to Bethlehem? It’s about 90 miles, and let me tell you what, this couple really had luxurious traveling arrangements, one small donkey. I don’t know about you, but I’ll tell you from the experience of having three kids that my wife would not be a happy camper, especially right at the end of a pregnancy, if I told her she was going to have to travel 90 miles on the back of a donkey! (Pause) Now, take a look at vv.6 and 7. After Joseph finally made it to Bethlehem, after traveling 90 miles, most of which was probably on foot walking on his part, there wasn’t anywhere to stay. What does he do? (Pause) I’ll tell you what he does; he does what any soon to be dad would do; he does his best to find a place for his family to stay, and at some point during that stay Mary gave birth to the Son of God. Now, here’s the thing that I want you to see about Joseph. Joseph did everything I’ve told you knowing that this baby that Mary would have didn’t biologically belong to him. Joseph did everything I’ve told you while likely being ostracized by the community around him, and do you know why. It’s because he believed; he had faith. In Matthew’s Gospel, concerning Joseph, we’re told that he was a “just man”; that word “just” means righteous.

(Appeal) Friends, you don’t load up your donkey, walk ninety miles, sleep in a stable, and then help deliver a child that’s not really yours unless you believe in the reality of what you are doing. Many years later one of Joseph’s sons, and the half-brother of our Lord would write these words, “17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Jas. 2:17–18, ESV). I wonder if somewhere in the back of his mind James might have thought of his father when he wrote these words. You see, his point isn’t that we receive our salvation by working for it, no, the point is that we prove to ourselves and the watching world that we are truly believers because of the fruit we bear in the actions we perform. My question for us today is this, when we look in the mirror, do you and I see the faith of a Joseph staring back at us?

“Learning from Shepherds”

-Let’s look at vv.8-20.

In these verses you find out who first received the birth announcement of the long-awaited Messiah. When most people think about the birth of a king being announced they usually think along the lines of a royal announcement, maybe an announcement made from the castle walls for all of the king’s subjects to hear, and that only after all of the important people in the royal family and court have been told. In these verses, however, we’re told that the birth announcement came first to “shepherds abiding in field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Now, not to chase a rabbit here, but people will make a lot out of the fact that these shepherds were oh so poor and lowly. Whether you realize it or not, that view is actually a fairly late interpretation, only arriving on the scene at some point in the fifth century AD over 400 years after the birth of Christ. In the ancient world, the view of the shepherd was really quite robust. Listen to what one scholar writes concerning shepherds, [quote] “Possession of animals indicated power and wealth; Job had thousands of sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys (42:12), and Abraham’s flocks, herds, camels, and donkeys were counted among his blessings (Gen 24:35). At the dedication of the temple, Solomon sacrificed innumerable sheep and oxen (1 Kgs 8:5). The owner himself was sometimes the shepherd of his flock. Abel was a “keeper of sheep” (Gen 4:2, 3) and Jacob cared for his own flocks (Gen 30:40). God is pictured as a shepherd who seeks out his own scattered sheep (Ezek. 34:12). The work might be delegated to the owner’s children; Rachel looked after Laban’s sheep (Gen 29:6), and David, though the youngest of Jesse’s sons, was given this responsibility (1 Sam 16:11; 17:15). The principal duty of the shepherd was to see that the animals found enough food and water (cf. Psalm 23); and it was important that he guard the sheep, since they were easy prey for wild animals (1 Sam 17:34–35; Amos 3:12). There was also a danger that thieves might sneak among the sheep and carry them off (John 10:1).[1] [unquote] So, as you can see, the job of being a shepherd might not have been that “lowly” after all, but in many instances quite prestigious! (Pause) Considering that, I wonder if the reason the angels announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds first was not so much because they were supposedly so humble and lowly, but because he was the promised fulfillment of the original Good Shepherd passage in Ezekiel 34 that condemns the false shepherds and then speaks of God coming to shepherd his people? (Pause) Look at vv.9 and 10. Have you ever thought about how you might have reacted if you had have been one of those shepherds? The text here says these men were “sore afraid”. In other words, these men were terrified, and I think rightfully so! I mean, let’s just be frank, what would you do if, all of a sudden, in the night sky there was an angel talking to you? The last thing I would have been thinking about would have been peace and good will, but that’s the message the angel brought, telling the shepherds, “… unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Now, at this point, after being reassured not to be afraid, these shepherds were probably wondering, “Where can we find the baby, this Savior?” Don’t you know what the angel told them next was a shock to their system, (v.12) “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” So, from the perspective of the shepherds, “the Messiah, the Savior of the world, has been born, and we’re going to go find him resting peacefully, not in a palace, not in a jeweled crib, but in a stable sleeping in a feed trough? When I read what Luke wrote here in these verses, I just can’t help but wonder if that’s what these shepherds might well have been thinking, and because of that it makes me wonder if that’s not exactly why you have vv.13 and 14. (So, picture this …) The shepherds are standing there in awe listening to what the angel is telling them, and it’s almost like God says, “Look guys, I’m really serious about this!” because in vv.13 and 14 the whole sky bursts forth in song being slap full of angels praising God saying, “Glory to God in the highest …”! (Pause) Now, here’s where I think it gets interesting because you might think that having seen something like what these guys saw you’d want to go hide under a rock somewhere, but instead, look at what the shepherds do, (v.15) “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Beth-lehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.” These shepherds don’t beat around the bush do they! No, they high tale it to Bethlehem to see what going on and when they get there, after finding Jesus exactly where the angel said they would, what do they do? Do they look at each other and say, “Hey guys we’d better not tell anyone about this!” No, and that’s the point of vv.18-20, they tell others about it! Why(?) Because they believe, they have faith that what they have just witnessed, what they have seen, is the truth and culmination of all that God promised in the Old Testament! (Pause) Let me tell you how they know it; it’s because they believe and understand what’s going on in Luke 2:11, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” No, they didn’t actually read the words Luke wrote, but they did here they angel say them, and they understood the significance of the words “this day/today”, σήμερον (sēmeron) in Greek. Listen to what Darrell Bock, NT scholar at Dallas Theological Seminary, says about this in his commentary on Luke’s Gospel. Bock writes, [quote] “The Greek word for today [this day: KJV] (σήμερον, sēmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as [Luke] 2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).” [unquote]

The point, church, is that this baby the shepherds were looking at, this baby whose birth we will celebrate this week is the King of kings and Lord of lords, he is the fulfillment of all God has promised. As the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Cor. 1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ” (NIV). There is coming a day at some point in the future, be it near or far, that before him every knee will bow and confess that he is who he says he is whether they want to or not (Phil. 2:10-11). And in conclusion …

[1] Jack W. Vancil, “Sheep, Shepherd,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1187.

Conclusion

My question to you today is this, are you like those shepherds so many years ago, do you believe? Will you bow the knee this Christmas before the crib of the king of kings? Are you willing to be like Joseph and step out in faith, believing that God will accomplish what he has set out to do? Does your faith drive you to great lengths to proclaim the king? If that’s not you, then why not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today and be saved before it’s too late?

Invitation

Prayer