Call me Yitzak, Yitzak ben Yakov. 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, Jesus, the Christ… I am what I am
by the grace of the Most High – that is really the Story I have come to share –
the story of His Amazing Grace! God has
acted in history for our good—but I am getting ahead of myself—I am old now,
fourscore, 80 years?... 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, time to join my father and the other
men in the fields!
Yes, I know that we Shepherds are not the most respected of people… especially
by the pious Jews... People say we
smell like sheep... [sniffs himself, and then shrugs]. I say is that such a bad
thing? If I minded the smell of sheep I
wouldn’t be a shepherd! 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 for everyone since the Temple was destroyed
last year, almost 40 years after our Lord’s departure… There would be no more sacrifices!
Most of us Shepherds are not
educated... few of us learn letters, but then why would a shepherd need to
read? But even those who can’t read,
can still hear the Word of the Lord, and learn it, and hide it in our heart...
ybev.yO lAdG" rAa War" %v,xoB; ~ykil.hoh; ~['h'
~h,yle[] Hg:n" rAa tw<m'l.c; #r<a,B.
hä`äm hahölkîm BaHöºšek rä´û ´ôr Gädôl yöšbê
Bü´eºrec calmäºwet ´ôr nägah `álêhem
Oh,
you don’t speak Hebrew? Excuse me my Gentile friends! Let me translate into your strange tongue: “The people who walked in
darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of
death, upon them a light has shined.” Do you now recognize the words of the great
prophet, Isaiah? 7 centuries before the Master’s birth He spoke of the coming
of the Light of the World! Did the prophet know that the Light would be both
the Shepherd of Israel and the Lamb of God?
Yes,
for centuries shepherds had been at the heart of Israel’s faith... The fathers were shepherds were they not? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… Moses himself tended
sheep—ahh, 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... The blood
meant life in that home instead of death...
I am a just 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 name of our town means
“House of Bread,” “Bethlehem” you call it... a small place but with a great
history... Our father David was from
this same village, he too tended sheep you know, on these very hills... Ahh, the
town 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 Rescuer, we were looking
and waiting for the Hope of Israel. Ahhh… there was so much we did not
understand…
It was a quiet
and cold night 3 score and ten years ago… can it be that long, 70 years? It
seems like yesterday… We were in the
fields taking care of the sheep. I was with my father and a few other
hardworking, humble shepherds. It was a
clear night… how I love such nights, the Heavens truly declare the glory of
God! Oh, so many stars! I tried to count
them more than once but I always ran out of numbers long before I ran out of
stars! (I wasn’t the brightest candle in the Menorah!). 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, somehow, 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).
Christ the Lord… 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 even then, God promised a Seed, a Rescuer who
would crush the Serpent’s head… And God
gave them skins for a covering… Think of it… the Author of life, God himself,
killed one of his creatures, shedding its blood, to provide a covering for the
man and the 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,
“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. Like 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. 6We 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… (Isa 53:2-7).
Like a sheep…
He, the Messiah, the King, the Good Shepherd, He was also the Lamb… The Servant, the sacrifices, another strand
of our hope was the promise made to David. He was promised a Son, an ideal
Son, who would have an eternal reign and who would be called the Son of God… Yet…
who also would be a rejected, righteous sufferer. This cord of three strands, the Lamb, the
Servant, the promised and rejected King was woven through the fabric of the
Scriptures… How could they come
together? When would the promised One
arrive? The Angel announced that day,
to us, 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
true? Today? 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 did the angel say? Could it be true? “Unto YOU has been born
a Savior…” To us? Humble
shepherds like us were included in God’s plan? We were not the pious ones, the tsaddaqim!
We were not the religious elite! We were
not aristocracy or royalty; we were certainly not powerful or influential. Could it be he came for the meek? Could
it be he had come 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 speculated, “Why
did the angel bring this news to us?” Why not the priests, or the Scribes? Only years later did it dawn on us… we were
in those fields caring for the sheep, animals 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 lambs? Get down to Bethlehem! 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—the blood of bulls and goats or the ashes of a heifer could not sanctify
those who were unclean… 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 grasp… “This will be a sign for
you… You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
Where? In a manger? The Messiah? No, it can’t be! Our King and Savior? The
Great I AM, now incarnate, sheltered in a humble stable, his first bed, 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, even to be his messengers…
We hurried
to town, and we found them… exactly as the Angel had said: Emmanuel…
A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger… Have you held a newborn
baby? So weak, so fragile. Think of
it-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: Jesus, Yeshua, the Savior.
This was Good News! Too good to keep to
ourselves. We shouted to whoever would listen that Messiah had been born. The Rescuer
was here, the Lord had come, let earth receive her King! But, many had shouted
that before—who would listen to a handful of shepherds?
We were the
first, but not the only ones that received a revelation that the Messiah had
come. Sometime after His birth the Magi came from the East to see the new
born king, they worshipped Him, and offered gifts, then left by 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 stormed 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. We later learned that Mary and Joseph had escaped with the
Son to Egypt. Only after Herod died did they return to his family’s home in
Nazareth.
You know the rest of the story… He grew up as did I, and for years, we
heard almost nothing more about him.
It was only 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
must be Him!” He healed the
sick, fed the hungry, cured lepers, cast out demons, he gave sight to the
blind, he even raised the dead! When I heard his name, Jesus, there was no doubt.
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, could not imagine
what the Lamb had to do.
He
entered Jerusalem that last week… At first to cheers, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the
Lord. The King of Israel!” Such rejoicing! A week is such a short time… the
days pass quickly… Then it happened. Betrayal. Denial. Scourging. A crown of
thorns pushed down onto His holy brow. The cross. Darkness. How could they do it? Why did he let them?
We should
have known: “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! Our sorrow was turned to joy - The tomb was empty! He
appeared, first 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, and touched him, they even ate with Him—He
is alive! He is the resurrection and the life… the Way, the Truth and the
Life!
For forty days he appeared to His
disciples and taught them about the kingdom. The time came for him to return to
heaven… The disciples then asked Him: “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 after all, 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 Comforter to come, the
Spirit who would empower them, then they would be His witnesses starting in
Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth!
When He finished speaking, before their very eyes, He ascended into
Heaven! As they stood,
gazing heavenward, 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 a 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 (Titus 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…
Yeshua, Jesus, there is no other
name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved! Are you looking
for the Blessed Hope, the glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus
Christ? As surely as he came the first
time, in fulfillment of Scripture, he will come again, according to his
promise. Are you waiting? Is He your
Blessed Hope? Good. 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… and, …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? Have you
received the true gift of Christmas? Will you follow Him? During these days of
celebration, tell someone you know and love about the Gift of Christmas… the
gift the Father offers to all who will believe!
Baruch ha shem
Adonai, Yeshua, ha Meshiach! Blessed be the Name of the
Lord! Jesus, the Christ. Shalom! Peace!
Go, tell your people, tell all who will listen, what the Lord has done for you!
Amen.
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