- araratchurch
- Dec 19, 2022
- 3 min read
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.”
Luke 2:8-9 NKJV
Looking at the same portion of the biblical story concerning the birth of our Lord as yesterday we now turn today to consider the question: “Why shepherds?” Of all the people in the world—great and small—at that point in time, what was it about the shepherds that made them the appropriate recipients of the greatest announcement that has ever been made?
To digress for a moment, it is said that in the time of Jesus, Bethlehem was the place where the lambs were raised for Temple sacrifice. Indeed, every firstborn male lamb in that area was considered holy and was to be considered for sacrifice. I say that it would be “considered” for sacrifice because the lambs ultimately used had to be without blemish. Now, whether or not it is the case that this was the area where the sacrificial lambs were raised, it does not take away from the fact that the people hearing this wonderful announcement were definitely shepherds.
Many of you are familiar with the story of Abraham: how—being tested by God—he intended to sacrifice Isaac. We know that when Isaac made the observation that they had all the wood and things needed to make the fire for the sacrifice, yet they had not brought a lamb to sacrifice, Abraham gives a very prophetic answer to his son’s question:
“But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.”
Genesis 22:7-8 NKJV
Indeed, the Lord did provide a sacrifice for Abraham to offer; but that ram caught in the thicket was only a symbol of what the Lord would do to bring lost humanity back into fellowship with Him.
“And He [the Angel of the Lord] said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.””
Genesis 22:12-14 NKJV
John the Baptist made the pronouncement that indeed Jesus was the Lamb of God:
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29 NKJV
The Lord provided for Himself a sacrifice by taking on flesh and living a sinless life so that He could be offered as the only sacrifice capable of atoning for the sins of the world.
For today meditate on the unfathomable love of our Father in offering His son to be the perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins.
Additionally, consider how our Lord—appearing as a sacrificed Lamb—is the only one worthy to open the seals on the scroll to set in motion the events of the Last Days.
“But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”
Revelation 5:5-7 NKJV
Ultimately, He will return—no longer as a Lamb for the slaughter—but as the conquering King of Kings, the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
Peace to you.
- araratchurch
- Dec 18, 2022
- 2 min read
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.”
Luke 2:8-9 NKJV
I don’t know what we think needs to happen in order for the miraculous to be made manifest. The idea that the miraculous is somehow always preceded by some eerie otherworldliness is not a biblical concept. Indeed, a thorough examination of the miraculous throughout the Bible will illustrate that more often than not, the miraculous abruptly interrupts the monotony of everyday lives.
The most miraculous event to ever happen to man: the birth of our Lord, had just happened in a stable and He was placed in a manger, a feeding trough for livestock! As we have discussed, you can’t get more lowly or mundane than that. And—to continue that theme—the first announcement concerning the Lord’s birth is given to lowly shepherds!
We will—in the next couple of days—discuss why the announcement was made to shepherds; for our purposes now we look at the unlikelihood of shepherds to both see and hear an angelic host proclaiming the good news of the birth of our Lord.
I think it’s safe to say that most people—at one time or another in their life—become tired of their daily existence. Some people respond to this scenario with a surrender of despair; others can do ridiculous things to try to bring some excitement into their otherwise mundane existence.
Now, I am a person who appreciates the miraculous in the very creation surrounding us, the miraculous in things actually going right most of the time, and so on. I tend away from boredom. However, I do appreciate that it is easy to begin to think that your routine has become your destiny. However, in terms of our relationship with God in Jesus Christ, and all that He has for us, that could not be further from the truth. In fact, our routine—what we reckon as mundane—is that through which the Lord most often chooses to show His marvelous deeds, His miraculous doings.
For today meditate on the fact that the miraculous is indeed all around us all the time. In fact, your very life is miraculous. With that, it is important to remember that those exclamatory moments of life we all cherish can be just moments away. As you look to the Lord, meditating on His goodness, He may send a fresh reminder of the glory of His presence, the wonder of His love, illuminating the darkest night.
Peace to you
- araratchurch
- Dec 16, 2022
- 3 min read
“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:7 NKJV
Many sermons, devotions, and lessons, have focused on the last part of our opening scripture for today. The point is made that the reason Jesus’ birth happened in a stable was because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. Then the question is presented: “Do you have room in your life for Jesus?”
Now, that question is often met with responses pointing to church attendance, prayers before meals, or just simply believing that Jesus exists along with excuses about being so very busy.
What I want to do is to point out a few things and then allow you to ask yourself that question again.
As we learned earlier on, Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem because of a required census. As we know, this census was imposed on all the Roman citizens. Therefore, it followed that the inns were overwhelmed with people looking for a place to stay while fulfilling their obligation to the government.
In other words, the innkeeper didn’t turn Mary and Joseph away because they were rejecting them as people, or even because they didn’t have compassion on them. The fact was, the innkeeper, in attempting to accommodate a high demand, seemingly had no choice but to turn them away.
Face it, life happens. And with our daily grind comes myriad demands on our time, attention, and money. Now, the Lord can strengthen us to do what we need to do; He can even help us to do what we do expediently and to be good managers of all our resources. But, the fact remains that there are just so many hours in the day, a limited amount of personal resources, and a limit to the number of things on which we can focus at one time.
In order for Mary and Joseph to have had a room in the inn, someone else would’ve had to have been kicked out. What I’m saying is that if most of what we have in terms of time, energy, finances, attention, etc., is taken up by other things such that the room we have for the Lord couldn’t even hold a broom, then something’s got to be kicked out.
Obviously, we all have responsibilities we must meet; the Lord never calls for us to shirk our personal responsibilities. But the fact is, many people will somehow make room for the things that are really important to them. So, when we find ourselves having no time, no space, and nothing to give to the Lord, we have inadvertently given a commentary on what we hold dearest to us.
For today meditate on how the use of your time, attention, and personal resources does or does not reflect that you have room for the Lord in your life.
The Lord truly wants to come into our lives and abide with us. Indeed, His abiding Presence in us by way of the Holy Spirit is the only way in which we can be transformed into His very image. Additionally, it is the only way we can access the many great and precious promises the Lord has given to us.
So let’s pose that first question again, but in a slightly different way: “Does the way you use all of your resources (time, attention, money, mental energy, etc.) indicate that the Lord has room to be born into your life, or must His glorious gift be relegated to be realized somewhere else?”
Peace to you.