Luke 2:15 “So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made [f]widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”
If you are a shepherd and you have seen angels and you have told everybody you could find about the angels and the baby lying in a manger, what do you do when you return to your sheep? One of our friends, Pastor Doug Hardin, recently wrote a piece called “One Lone Shepherd.” A practical – minded farm boy, Pastor Doug realized that somebody must have had to stay back and mind the sheep while everybody else ran into Bethlehem. How did they choose who stayed back? There must have been a discussion; probably the youngest shepherd had to stay while the other shepherds got to go into Bethlehem and then they allowed him to go in and see the Baby after they got back. But what must the shepherds have done after that?
First comes the question of credibility. How many people in Bethlehem believed the shepherds in the first place? After all, shepherds weren’t exactly upper class. And then perhaps some people thought the shepherds might have been drinking, except that they couldn’t smell any alcohol on their breath. Did the shepherds attempt to inform any religious leaders? And if the shepherds informed any religious leaders, did the religious leaders believe the shepherds? After all, this is the middle of the night. Perhaps the shepherds had simple friends and relatives they could trust and they informed those people, but if that’s the case, we never hear about more visitors to the Baby Jesus.
Perhaps the people who heard the shepherds’ story believed them, but their thinking might have gone like this: “Hey, Miriam! How much longer is this census supposed to last? Can you believe these huge crowds? These strangers are flooding into our small town of Bethlehem! I never knew there were so many people claiming to be descendants of David! Where have all these people come from? And how much longer are they planning to stay? The inns are full, food and water are running short, and even getting fodder for donkeys and camels is becoming a problem. And the Roman soldiers are plain ridiculous, marching down the center of the narrow streets like they own the place! Meanwhile, my next door neighbor just told me this weird story she heard from her crazy brother who is a local shepherd….Huh! Angels? Babies in stables? Incredible! Who knows? Perhaps we can check it out in a few days when things settle down.”
I like to think that there were people who visited Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus. Certainly, the children of Bethlehem were probably running all over the place, getting into things they weren’t supposed to. Little kids would have been fascinated by a baby lying in a manger in a cave that served as a stable. And children would have no problems believing in angels. Perhaps some of those children later followed Jesus in His ministry and even became some of the first Christians. We will never know this side of heaven.
And meanwhile, the shepherds have had to return to their stupid stinky sheep. Instead of angelic voices, all the shepherds are hearing now is “Baaa!” But for the shepherds, the angelic visitation was life – changing. For the rest of their lives, the shepherds would remember that night and glorify and praise God. And when they died, they would find that Baby now all grown up, welcoming them into heaven. All because they believed and remembered and continued to praise and glorify God.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please help us to have the same faith the shepherds had. Help us to search for you, to find you, and to hold fast to you. Thank you for coming, for living, for dying for us, and for rising to give us eternal life. Amen.
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