![]() Do you remember in Genesis 46, that strange little verse when Joseph is speaking to his brothers, and he says to them, “Every shepherd is detestable to the Egyptians.” You may have read the story of Joseph and wondered quite what that statement is supposed to mean there in the middle of Genesis 46. In the clean-shaven courtrooms of Egypt, shepherds with their straggly beards and smell, well, they stood out a little. Shepherds can smell a little, not to put too fine a point on it. Shepherds, well, let’s not mince words about it, and I grew up on a farm with sheep so I know a little of what I’m talking about. They were a nomadic people, but the Egyptians weren’t. Joseph, you remember, had been captured while looking for his brothers who were tending their sheep. They, of course, encountered a foreign lifestyle. You remember when Israel first migrated to Egypt, back in the time of Joseph and Jacob and his sons. We need to go back a little and dig for a moment or two. But shepherds in the first century were entirely different. Often in sentimental Christmas cards, of course, those shepherds look a somewhat pleasant bunch of people. Did you get the ones with shepherds on the hillside of Bethlehem, the star, the wise men coming–not the one with Santa looking into the crib, I hope. Actually, you Americans don’t do Christmas cards the way they do in Britain, so maybe you haven’t had quite as many as I think you have, but you’ve had some. Now, I want to think about these shepherds for a minute, because you’ve had some Christmas cards. To whom do you think God would send the first announcement of the birth of His Son? You might think the Roman governor of Judea, an important office, with political clout perhaps to the High Priest in Jerusalem perhaps to the members of the synagogue in Bethlehem–but no–to Shepherds. I wonder, of course you know the answer, but let’s try imagine for a minute if we didn’t know the answer. But Jesus wasn’t born today it was 2,000 years ago, and things were very different. Of course, if Jesus were to be born today, CNN would be there, FOX News would have its satellite dish on the hillside outside Bethlehem, and you wouldn’t be able to move for the reporters from around the world, I’m sure. We look at a very familiar passage together, and we pray that You would bring us a sense of freshness as we try to unravel some of the mysteries and profundities of the birth of our Savior. Our Father in heaven, we ask now for Your blessing. So far God’s holy and inerrant word may He add His blessing to the reading of it. The shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. ![]() But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ![]() This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. ![]() But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. Now, you may just be at the point this morning of saying, “Enough of Christmas, already, it’s time to move on.” But this is about our Savior, and we can never have enough of Jesus. ![]() We have been looking at the story of the birth of Jesus, especially as we find it in the gospel of Luke, and we come today to the familiar passage of the shepherds on the hillside of Bethlehem. ![]()
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