After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. Luke 2:17
My young nephew, Owen, is very perceptive. He picks up on information quickly and always seems to know what is going on in his family's life. For example, he told my mom, his grandmother, that he was going to come to see her and stay at her house soon. Now, Owen and his parents and sister live four hours away from my parents, and no one had told my mom that my brother and his family were planning to visit her and my dad. Although Owen is an unlikely person to be spreading this kind of news because he is only four-years-old, my mom believed him because he has been right about similar news before. Not long after Owen declared his visit, my brother told my mom that they wanted to come to visit the following week. Once again, Owen had been a trustworthy messenger of news for my mom and dad. Sometimes important news can come from unlikely places. Scripture teaches this, too. Often throughout Scripture, God used unlikely messengers too. This began with the announcement of Jesus' birth not through royalty, but through shepherds.
Birth announcements are special for any child, but they are particularly special for children of royalty. I distinctly remember waiting to hear about the births of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, the children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It seems the entire world waited to hear the royal family announce the birth and the names given to each of these children. In the same way, yet on an infinitely greater level, the world was waiting for an announcement of the birth of the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior of the World. Luke 2:17 tells us that the long-awaited birth announcement came to shepherds, not the king or socially elite. These shepherds were the people God chose first to announce the birth of His Son. God will often spread His messages through unlikely people and places.
The shepherds' story does not end with the announcement that Jesus was born. After the shepherds heard the angels' announcement, we find out that they went to find Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, exactly as the angels had told them (verse 16). But they did not stop at hearing about Jesus and finding Him; after they found Jesus, Scripture teaches that they "told everyone" their story of hearing about Jesus and finding Him. What a beautiful picture!
The shepherd's story is a beautiful picture of our own stories. When we felt like the underdog, and when we were lost in our sin, God made Himself known to us and invited us to find Christ and give our lives to Him. After finding Christ and committing our lives to Him, He asks us to tell everyone about our experience and about what Christ has done in our own lives. Let's share our story with everyone around us!
Have you been wanting to share about your faith with others, but feel unqualified, sort of like an underdog? Take comfort in the story of the shepherds, who were the very first people to announce the birth of Christ, the Savior of the world. God can and will use you to share your faith with the people around you if you are willing to let Him. Find someone today to share your story of how God has changed your life with. This means sharing what your life was like before Christ, how you came to know Christ, and the difference He has made.
Read Luke 2:8-20 (NLT)
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
