[This post is not a typical "sermon" but rather a first person monologue giving the Christmas story from the perspective of one of the characters. Scripture is quoted extensively, but due to the nature of the presentation references are not given. SN.]
The Love of Advent: A Shepherd’s Story
Call me Yitzak, Yitzak ben
Yehuda. I am a humble shepherd, as was my
father, and his father before him. I am a son of Abraham and a follower of Yeshua ha meshiach… I am what I am by
the grace of the Most High – that is really the Story I have come to share – a
story of Grace, the unmerited favor of the Most High, and the love He has shown
us! Yes, a story of LOVE, not my love for Him, but His love for His
sheep. I am old now, four score, 80 years, can it be? I am old, but I come
today to tell you of a night many years ago, I was but a boy... Well, my 10th
birthday had passed, in my culture, I was nearly a man, it was time to work, to
join my father and the other men in the fields!
Yes,
I know that we Shepherds are not the most respected of people by the pious Jews...
People say we smell like sheep... [sniffs
himself, and then shrugs]. I say is that
such a bad thing? It is true that it has
always been difficult for us to be observant Jews—we need to be in the fields
taking care of the flocks—how can we get into the city for worship and
sacrifice? Of course that has changed
since the Temple was destroyed last year, almost 40 years after the Master’s departure…
Most of us Shepherds are not educated...
few of us learn letters, but then why would a shepherd need to read? It’s not
like we could afford our own copy of the Scriptures! But even those who
can’t read can still hear the Word of the Lord, and learn it, and hide in our heart...
Kî-yeºled yullad-läºnû
Bën niTTan-läºnû
waTTühî hammiSrâ `al-šikmô
wayyiqrä´ šümô
·
Pele´ yô`ëc… ´ël GiBBôr
·
´ábî`ad… Sar-šälôm
Oh, you don’t speak
Hebrew? Excuse me my Gentile friends! What do they teach you these days! Let me
translate into your strange tongue:
“For to
us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
For
centuries we had waited for the Promised One. Yes, even simple shepherds like
us had looked for his coming... It
is true, shepherds have been at the heart of the story of God’s dealing with my
people. The fathers were shepherds were they not? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… Moses himself tended
sheep—and this is the heart of the matter—when God was hardening the heart of
Pharaoh, he told the people through Moses to sacrifice a Lamb, a spotless
Lamb—and to put the blood over the door and on the door posts... It meant life
in that home instead of death...
I am just a simple shepherd, and like my
father and his father before him I tend my sheep in the fields around a small
and humble hamlet in Judea. The best of our lambs, spotless, without blemish, were
reserved for the Temple sacrifices in those days. The name of our town means “House
of Bread,” “Bethlehem” you call it... a small place but with a great
history... It was here that Ruth met
Boaz and had a son, Obed, who would be the grandfather of David the King. Yes,
our father David was from this very place! He too tended sheep you know on
these same hills. Ahh, the City of
David… The great prophet Micah spoke of this place when he wrote centuries
before the Master’s birth…
"But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the clans of Judah, Yet
out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings
forth are from of old, From everlasting."
This would be the place from which the Messiah would come…
The Promised One, the Son of the Most High… the Son of David for whom we had
been waiting for so long. [Looks aside with a sneer of disdain] We
were under the thumb of Rome even in those days, we needed our Deliverer, we
longed for His coming, we were looking and waiting for the Hope of Israel. Oh,
but there was so much we did not understand…
It was
a quiet and cold night all those years ago, yet it seems to me like yesterday… We were in the fields taking care of the
sheep with my father and a few other hardworking, humble shepherds. It was a clear night… the Heavens truly
declare the glory of God… so many stars! I tried to count them more than once but I ran
out of numbers long before I ran out of stars… It wasn’t a dream… I was laying
on the ground, looking up at the marvel of the heavens… Suddenly, a glorious
sight, I can hardly describe it even after all these years… There suspended
above us in the sky a shining angel of the Lord! I was already laying on the
ground, but we all knew we were in the presence of holiness! My father and the
men with him fell to their faces in fear before that powerful creature from
heaven… Why was he here, what had we done, what did this mean? And then, the incredible Word…
“Fear not…”
Fear
not? How could we not be afraid at such
a glorious sight? Though his voice was
powerful, at the same time his words were comforting, calming, peaceful. And you know, immediately, I was not
afraid. But he went on, and his next
words brought a message that our people had longed to hear for so long… He
said,
“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
Messiah had come? Messiah had come!
For
centuries our people had looked for the coming of the promised One… It was our
“blessed hope” at that time to be sure. Messiah!
The prophecies had started almost from the beginning… from the time of the
Fall… Adam and Eve sinned, and brought
death and the curse upon humanity… But God even then promised a Seed, who would
crush the Serpent’s head… And he gave
them skins for a covering… Think of that, God himself killed one of his
creatures, shedding its blood, to provide a covering for the man and his woman…
Yes, they learned quickly: sin would require a price, a life, it would
require blood… The hope of a Savior, the Messiah, took many shapes in the
Scriptures… The sacrifices yes, also… The great prophet Isaiah spoke of a
suffering Servant when he said,
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry
ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his
appearance that we should desire him. 3
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with
suffering. Lke one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. 4 Surely he
took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken
by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed. 6 We all, like sheep,
have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. 7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did
not open his mouth (Isaiah 53:2-7).
Like
a sheep… We raised sheep, but only the finest, without spot, without blemish,
could be used in the temple sacrifices. It was our Law. He, the Messiah, the
King, the Good Shepherd, He was also the Lamb, without blemish, without sin…
The sacrifices, the Servant, also David spoke also of a Son, an ideal Son who would have an
eternal reign, and also be called the Son of God… This cord of three strands, the Lamb, the
Servant, and the Son who would be King, was woven through the fabric of the
Scriptures… How could they come together? When would the promised One arrive? God’s timing is perfect: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent
forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were
under the Law that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
That night the Angel answered with the
joyous news… “TODAY, in the town
of David, a Savior has been born to you… He is Christ the Lord…”
Messiah!
Could it be? Today? The fullness of time had come! Generations
before had longed for this day, and now it had come! The Son of David, the Servant, the Lamb, my
King, he was here!
But
what else did the angel say? Could it be
true? “Unto YOU has been born a Savior…” To us? Including humble shepherds like us? We were not the pious ones, the tsaddaqim! We were not the religious
elite! We were not aristocracy… We were not royalty, not powerful or
influential. Could it be He came for
the meek? Could it be that He came for sinners? I must say that it didn’t strike me at that
moment on that starry night, but for many nights afterward I heard my father
and the other men speculate, “Why did the angel bring this news to us?” Why
not to the priests or the
Scribes? Only many years later did it
dawn on us… we were in those fields caring for the sheep, some of those animals
were destined for Temple Sacrifice. He
was THE sacrifice, God’s Lamb who would take away the sin of the world. It was as though the angel was saying,
“Why are you here watching over these
sheep? Get down to Bethlehem and see the Lamb of God!”
Thirty
years later, as he presented himself to John the Baptizer to begin his public
ministry, John saw him and said: “Behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The blood of our
sacrifices could not take away sin… a perfect sacrifice was needed, one of
infinite worth… The Eternal Son, Emmanuel, God with us—The Lamb had been born!
How could we imagine that one day, His precious blood would be shed?
The word the Angel spoke was more than we
could imagine… “This will be a sign for you… You will find a baby
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” In a manger? Wrapped in rags? The Messiah? Our King and Savior? The Great I AM, now
incarnate, in an animal’s feeding bin?
Suddenly,
there was with that Angel a multitude of Angels, the hosts of heaven, praising
God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Peace! How long we had waited for it. God’s favor had truly rested on us. Simple
people, and yes, sinful people… But God chose us to receive the GOOD NEWS, he
chose us to be his own, to be his witnesses, to be his messengers… Has
He chosen you? Do you believe Him? He would say one day, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…”
Well we hurried to town,and found them… exactly
as the Angel had said: Emmanuel, God with us… Think of it, a tiny baby - on
such a slender thread as the feeble throb of an infant life, the salvation of
the World should hang. “Though he was God, he did not think of equality
with God as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position
of a slave and was born as a human being.” His first bed in this cold world a feeding bin, his
first shelter, a grotto used as a shelter for animals. But his name told the story: Yeshua, Jesus, the Savior.
We shouted to whoever would listen that
Messiah had been born. The News was too good to keep to ourselves! But, many had shouted that before—who would
listen to a handful of Shepherds? You
know the rest of the story…
We were the first, but not the only ones that
received a revelation that the Messiah had come. Some time after His birth the
Magi came from the East to see the new born king, they offered Him gifts and
worshipped Him, and then left another way to return to their own land. What followed next was the most horrific
experience our village would ever know. That madman Herod! We had no warning, Herod’s soldiers swooped
into town, ripping babies and toddlers from their mothers’ arms, slaughter,
every male child under 2! Oh the wailing! The unspeakable grief! They could not be comforted. The pain of
violently losing a Son… Do you know it?
God does... [pauses, looks downward and
sighs] …but His time had not yet come. Later we learned Mary and Joseph had
escaped with the Son to Egypt. Only after Herod died did they return to his
family’s home in Nazareth.
He grew up as did I, and for years, we
heard almost nothing more about him. It was many years later that we began
to hear reports of a rabbi who taught with authority… a prophet, a miracle
worker and preacher. When I heard the
stories, I thought it might be Him! He
healed the sick, fed the hungry, cured lepers, and cast out demons. He gave
sight to the blind, he even raised the dead! When I heard his name there was no
doubt: JESUS! The name his parents had
given him that night in Bethlehem! We thought he would soon assume the throne
of David and establish his kingdom. Even
we, the shepherds, forgot what the Lamb had come to do.
And then that
final week He entered Jerusalem… “Hosanna,
blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord…” A week is such a short
time… the days pass quickly… Passover, would the Savior reveal himself at the
feast? Then it happened. Betrayal. Rejection.
Denial. Scourging. Darkness. The cross.
How could they do it? Why did He
let them? We should have known (it
was Passover after all) and as Moses had written: “Without the shedding of blood, there could be no remission of sins.” There was sadness and confusion among us for three
days. What had happened? What did this mean? Three days later, all doubt was removed
forever! The tomb was empty! He
appeared, first to the women, then to Cephas, then to the 12, and on one
occasion to over 500 of the brethren at once!
I have spoken with those who were there—they saw him, they touched him,
they even ate with Him—he is alive!
The time
came for him to return to heaven…
·
After 40 days of teaching about the Kingdom, the
disciples asked: “Lord, will you at this
time restore the Kingdom to Israel?”
·
The Master is so patient with us! He didn’t rebuke them,
like a Shepherd guiding a lamb that was wandering he simply “redirected” them. It
wasn’t a stupid question, it was just the wrong question! Rather than ask “when” the kingdom will come
they should have asked “what” shall we do until that day!
He said they
were to wait for the Spirit to come and empower them, then they would be His
witnesses starting in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth! When He finished speaking,
before their very eyes, He ascended into Heaven!
·
Then an angel spoke: “Men of
Galilee, why do you stand gazing upward? This same Jesus, who you saw go into
Heaven, will return in like manner!” HE WILL RETURN! Now, in faith, we wait. Our beloved brother Paul
said in his letter to Titus,
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking
for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from
every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for
good works (2:11-14).
That is my hope, that
is how I must live. And you? Have you put your hope, your trust
in Him? He is the Good Shepherd, Jesus, who laid down his life for the sheep. This is how God showed His love among us, He
sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him!
Think of it, “…God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, so that
whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And,
“God demonstrated His love toward us in
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” He is the Way, the
Truth and the Life. Are you looking for that Blessed Hope, the glorious
appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ? THIS STORY IS NOT YET OVER!
YOU ARE INCLUDED IN THE CAST! As surely
as he came the first time, in fulfillment of Scripture, he will come again,
according to his promise. How then will
you live until he returns?
Your trees and lights and decorations are beautiful. But even more
beautiful is this truth: The Word was
made flesh, and lived for a while among us… As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children
of God, even to those who believe on His name…
Do
you know Him? Will you follow Him? Think
about that, AMEN. Baruch ha shem Adonai,
Yeshua, ha Meshiach! Blessed be the
Name of the Lord! Jesus, the Christ.
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