From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 37 of a series. Read part 36.

By human standards, the audience for the greatest announcement in history could not have been more poorly chosen. But not by God's standards.

There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. (Luke 2:8)

The first of the many astonishing things about the announcement of the first advent of the Messiah was the audience to whom it was given, "shepherds abiding the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night." Lowly shepherds in the hills of Judea were the last people one would expect to be the first to hear of the greatest event in history.

By All Human Measures, The Wrong Audience

Humanly speaking, one would have expected that the announcement would have been made to the religious authorities of the day - the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees - or to the priests of the Levitical order who ministered in the temple at Jerusalem. Or, perhaps, to the civil rulers of the day - Herod, the king of Judea who was appointed by and served at the pleasure of the Caesars of Rome, or Quirinius the governor of Syria whose territory included the province of Judea. Or perhaps the Sanhedrin, the assembly of men who exercised who exercised day-to-day civil and religious authority over Israel.

Surely, by human calculations, the announcement of the entrance of the greatest Personage in history upon the world stage should have been made to the greatest personages of the day. But not in the eternal plan of God.

The Appropriateness of Shepherds

The greatest announcement in all of history came to men who had no formal religious training, who exercised no authority over men, and had neither fame nor a following. Their occupation was to raise and care for the animals that were used, among other purposes, for the sacrifices of the Old Covenant system.

In that sense the announcement to shepherds was eminently fitting. Their ancient occupation bred and cared for the simple creatures that had long served as God's chosen type and symbol of the Messiah, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. The patriarchs, especially Jacob, had been their forebears in that occupation. David, to whom God promised that the Messiah would sit on his throne, had been a shepherd in those same hills of Judea as a youth, and was divinely anointed to be the shepherd of the people of Judah and Israel as their great king and defender.

The Messiah Himself had been prophesied as the Good Shepherd in Isaiah:

He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; and He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40: 11)

Jesus identified Himself as that Good Shepherd who "gives His life for His sheep" (John 10:11).

The God of Remnants

The audience for the heavenly announcement was also eminently appropriate because of the character of God. He is the God of small things, the God of the remnant. He sent seventy souls into Egypt, and four centuries later millions of their descendants emerged from captivity in the great Exodus. Of the millions of their descendants, whom God centuries later sent into captivity in Babylon and Assyria because of their spiritual adultery, God called a mere remnant to return to the land and perform works befitting repentance.

The same God had called Gideon to defeat the Midianites, but first reduced his army of thousands to an unarmed force of a mere three hundred, so that Israel might understand that the victory was the Lord's. God chose and anointed David, the youngest son of his family, as king rather than his nobler-looking brothers, because "man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

During His earthly ministry Jesus the Messiah chose a mere twelve men to become His disciples when He could, as He told Pilate, have called twelve legions of angels to do His bidding (Matthew 26:53). In the upper room of Acts chapters 1 and 2, a mere 120 men and women waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit at the ascended Messiah's command; but as a result, three thousand and then soon afterward five thousand souls were added to Christ's body.

The God of "Foolishness"

When the Corinthian church, after beginning well, soon departed from the true faith and became enamored with "big things" and "big men," the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul reminded them of the truth about their Redeemer, His Gospel, and their calling:

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

To sinful man - and to many who are in love with church growth at all costs in our day - the proclamation of the most stupendous announcement in history by the angels of Heaven to a mere collection of shepherds would seem foolishness. But not in the plan of God.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption - that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:20-31)

The man-worship of our day seeks after and identifies with mere sinful personalities while ignoring or denigrating the greatest Personality of all. This generation, and others before it, have loved the preacher-actor, the pulpit personality who operates in the power of the flesh. People likewise flock to hear and see the "star" figure from sports, politics, or Hollywood who gives a "testimony" that usually cannot bear close examination in the light of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. This is true foolishness.

Do You Fear a Lack of "Credibility"?

Dear reader, how would you respond if the lowliest of men brought you the greatest news in all of history? Doubtless many in our time would mock them. But nothing deterred the shepherds:

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." And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.... Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:15-18, 20)

Are you perhaps fearful to share the good news of Jesus the Messiah because you worry that you lack what is falsely called "credibility" and that your testimony will be mocked and rejected? Do you understand where the power and authority of the Gospel reside? When Jesus sent out seventy men who were unknown, unlearned, and lacked credibility by all human standards, He said to them,

He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me. (Luke 10:16)

The ascended Messiah used mere fishermen to proclaim the truth about Himself.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel... If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:8-13)

May we, like the shepherds who were the first to receive the greatest announcement in all history, and the fishermen who were the first to proclaim it after the Messiah's triumphant ascension, let nothing deter us from speaking its truth to a lost and dying world - least of all our supposed lack of standing in this world. Whether they accept our message or reject it, may men and women know that we have been with Jesus.

Next: "They Were Sore Afraid"

hm_37

Copyright 1998-2024

TeachingtheWord Ministriesmmmmmwww.teachingtheword.org

All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only,
for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included.

We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article
for the convenience of your readers.