Why the Angels Came to Shepherds – Sunday, December 06, 1981
The cultural and religious climate of Judea at the time of Christ’s birth was one of diversity. There were the Sadducees, who were the aristocracy and devoted students of ancient scripture. And there were the Pharisees, strict observers of Jewish religious ceremony and tradition. There was also the affluent political party of Judea, of which Herod was a member, the Maccabees.
But it was to none of these devoted and learned groups that the angelic visitor delivered the eventful message that Christ the Lord and Savior of the World was born.
Rather, this holy announcement of eternal consequence was given to a few humble shepherds who were herding their sheep in the hills surrounding Judea.
The most important revelation ever given to mankind was kept from the scholarly and pious and delivered to the unschooled and meek.
As we ponder this fact, the divine wisdom of God becomes clear.
For who but the shepherds would have followed the heavenly mandate, to search for a child lying in a common manger, and there among the cattle and sheep worship the Son of God.
Only the shepherds would have knelt before a King born far from the palaces and courtly halls of the rich and powerful. Only the shepherds who had cared for and safeguarded the lambs of their own flocks could appreciate the unadorned value inherent in the Lamb of God.
Perhaps we, living in this sophisticated age of discovery, are no different from the people of that time. Perhaps if the same message were delivered on this night, to us, only a few meek and humble could receive the communication. No doubt, many of our learned individuals would discount the appearance of angels as a paranoid hallucination. Not a few of our businessmen would be too busy to attend the birth, especially at this time of year when sales are high. Our politicians would find it undiplomatic to worship a Jewish king, particularly one born in a stable. And many of the rest of us, for lack of proof or mere inconvenience, would turn a deaf ear to the angels.
But hopefully, like the shepherds, there would be some—perhaps only a few—who would receive the celestial messengers and leave the comforts of affluency and vanity to search amid humility for the Son of God—wishing, hoping, praying that it might be so.
____________________________________________________________
December 06, 1981
Broadcast Number 2,729