Luke chapter  2:8-20  New Living Translation

The Shepherds and Angels

^8” That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, ¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. ¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! ¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

¹⁵ 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.”

¹⁶ They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. ¹⁷ After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. ¹⁸ All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, ¹⁹ but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. ²⁰ 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.”

This is for most people the time of year when family and friends come together to celebrate Christmas with various traditions that have in many cases defined the season as something other than what it in reality is.

  Christmas as most people know is when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is widely believed that in reality He was more likely born in the spring of the year and not on December 25^th, which is irrelevant the important thing is that He was born!

  His birth is often portrayed as a sad event in that he was born in a ‘barn’ and not in a palace befitting the King that He indeed was. The truth is that it was necessary for Him to come into the world the way He did because He was born to be more than a King, He was born to be the Redeemer of mankind. Until His arrival among us, man’s sin was covered over repeatedly with the blood of animals as a sacrifice for the atonement of sin. He was destined to be the ultimate once and for all time sacrifice for the REMOVAL, not the covering, of mans’ sin.

  Every detail that was mandated under the Old Covenant dealing with the animal sacrifice for the atonement of man’s sins were fulfilled in his death, none of which could have been met had He come into the world in any other way. God’s ways are not our ways and our ways are not His, He uses the foolish things to confound the wise!

 This year take a few minutes to reflect on the greatest gift ever given, the redemption from sin and the free gift of salvation! Always remember that Christmas is celebrating the beginning of the story. The most important part of the story is that Jesus only remained a baby in a manger for a short time. He grew into a man who changed the lives of countless millions when He willingly gave His life for theirs on a cross made from a tree that He created, wearing a crown made of thorns from a bush He created and at the hands of men He created and willing died for and whom He asked His Father to forgive! He was born to die and it is that which we celebrate on December 25^th.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!