“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”
Luke 2:17-18
Luke makes sure we know that the shepherds didn’t waste time gazing into the Bethlehem sky. Once they heard the testimony of the angels, they “came with haste.” Wouldn’t you? There was no way they could keep this message to themselves. They abandoned all pretenses and bolted into Bethlehem to find the Messiah. There the Lamb of God was held and handled and touched by those who appreciated and knew how to care for a lamb.
Imagine the stir they must have caused, knocking on doors, waking the locals, shouting the good news that the long-awaited Messiah had come. They marveled, they believed, and they proclaimed.
These roughly hewn, likely illiterate shepherds told many of what they’d heard and seen. They became the world’s first missionaries, the first in a long line of ordinary, unheralded messengers of the gospel. God is on the move, building His church around the world, mostly through people you will never hear of: folks without significant Twitter followings, with no official titles, and yet of whom the world is not worthy.
Imagine the stir they must have caused, knocking on doors, waking the locals, shouting the good news that the long-awaited Messiah had come. They marveled, they believed, and they proclaimed.
These roughly hewn, likely illiterate shepherds told many of what they’d heard and seen. They became the world’s first missionaries, the first in a long line of ordinary, unheralded messengers of the gospel. God is on the move, building His church around the world, mostly through people you will never hear of: folks without significant Twitter followings, with no official titles, and yet of whom the world is not worthy.
Scripture Focus
Isaiah 63:7-9
Insight
“Go tell it on the mountain,/ over the hills, and ev’rywhere;/ go, tell it on the mountain/ that Jesus Christ is born.” (African American spiritual, 19th c.)
Bible In A Year
- Obadiah
- Proverbs 20
- 2 John
