“There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.”
Luke 2:8-9
Anglican minister J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900:
“The birth of a king’s son is generally made an occasion of public reveling and rejoicing. But the announcement of the birth of the Prince of Peace was made privately, at midnight, and without anything of worldly pomp and ostentation….
“To shepherds—not to priests and rulers; to shepherds—not to scribes and Pharisees, an angel appeared, proclaiming, ‘Unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ The saying of James should come into our mind …: ‘Has not God chosen the poor of this world, to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?’ (2:5)….
“The things of God’s kingdom are often hidden from the great and noble and revealed to the poor. The busy labor of the hands need not prevent a man being favored with special communion with God. Moses was keeping sheep; Gideon was threshing wheat; Elisha was ploughing, when they were each honored by direct calls and revelations from God…. The weak of the world are often called before the mighty.”
“The birth of a king’s son is generally made an occasion of public reveling and rejoicing. But the announcement of the birth of the Prince of Peace was made privately, at midnight, and without anything of worldly pomp and ostentation….
“To shepherds—not to priests and rulers; to shepherds—not to scribes and Pharisees, an angel appeared, proclaiming, ‘Unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ The saying of James should come into our mind …: ‘Has not God chosen the poor of this world, to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?’ (2:5)….
“The things of God’s kingdom are often hidden from the great and noble and revealed to the poor. The busy labor of the hands need not prevent a man being favored with special communion with God. Moses was keeping sheep; Gideon was threshing wheat; Elisha was ploughing, when they were each honored by direct calls and revelations from God…. The weak of the world are often called before the mighty.”
Scripture Focus
Luke 2:8-20
Insight
“Shepherds, in the field abiding,/ watching o’er your flock by night,/ God with us is now residing;/ yonder shines the infant light.” (James Montgomery, 1816)
Bible In A Year
- Jonah
- Proverbs 21
- 3 John