Seeing Christ this Christmas--The Humble Shepherds
John Barnett
Luke 2:1-20
When God gets to tell the story of salvation, the Coming of the King, the birth of the Lamb of God--what details does He carefully include for us?
Here's one that has shaped my whole outlook on life, on worship, on Bible study, and most of all--on prayer. God really loves and responds to humility.
Who came first to the birthplace of the King? The humblest, lowliest, and most unworthy in man's eyes of all the inhabitants living around Bethlehem--the shepherds.
Join me this morning in a stable with men of the least likely profession to see a King--and yet the most honored of all Christ's greeters and seekers. Open to Luke 2:1-20
Humble shepherds who found Baby Jesus in a stable remind us that the Inn of Bethlehem was full. That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus.
The only place where there was room for him was on a cross. He sought an entry to the over-crowded hearts of men; he could not find it; and still his search--and his rejection--go on. Yet Luke gets us to look from the inn with no room, to the shepherds with room in their lives for Christ's coming. They made room.
First century shepherds lived in a world that made it hard, to make a living. They struggled and scraped along at minimum wages. In fact someone describes the 1st Century this way--
"Taxes were high; wages were low, hypocrisy was rampant; honesty was rare. Freedom was gone; Roman occupation was hard. The rich were getting richer; the poor were always struggling. Morality was ebbing; rebellion was brewing; cruelty was reigning."
The Shepherds of the Christmas story gives us such a profound lesson. They show us how God delights in using for His glory the humble. God calls some of the most distant, defiled and outcast of all--and through them produces great glory for Himself.
Before we read the story, here is what I want you to see from Luke's inspired w ...
John Barnett
Luke 2:1-20
When God gets to tell the story of salvation, the Coming of the King, the birth of the Lamb of God--what details does He carefully include for us?
Here's one that has shaped my whole outlook on life, on worship, on Bible study, and most of all--on prayer. God really loves and responds to humility.
Who came first to the birthplace of the King? The humblest, lowliest, and most unworthy in man's eyes of all the inhabitants living around Bethlehem--the shepherds.
Join me this morning in a stable with men of the least likely profession to see a King--and yet the most honored of all Christ's greeters and seekers. Open to Luke 2:1-20
Humble shepherds who found Baby Jesus in a stable remind us that the Inn of Bethlehem was full. That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus.
The only place where there was room for him was on a cross. He sought an entry to the over-crowded hearts of men; he could not find it; and still his search--and his rejection--go on. Yet Luke gets us to look from the inn with no room, to the shepherds with room in their lives for Christ's coming. They made room.
First century shepherds lived in a world that made it hard, to make a living. They struggled and scraped along at minimum wages. In fact someone describes the 1st Century this way--
"Taxes were high; wages were low, hypocrisy was rampant; honesty was rare. Freedom was gone; Roman occupation was hard. The rich were getting richer; the poor were always struggling. Morality was ebbing; rebellion was brewing; cruelty was reigning."
The Shepherds of the Christmas story gives us such a profound lesson. They show us how God delights in using for His glory the humble. God calls some of the most distant, defiled and outcast of all--and through them produces great glory for Himself.
Before we read the story, here is what I want you to see from Luke's inspired w ...
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