EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/3/2026
9:21 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1
“The Proclamation of the Good News”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
2:8-10a
Message of the verses: “In the same region there were some shepherds
staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were
terribly frightened. But the angel said
to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
(2:8-10a).
I think that as we look at who were
the first group of people to receive the good news of the birth of Christ it
may surprise us a bit. I know that many
people have heard this story of the birth of Christ and perhaps it does not
mean as much to us as when we first heard of it, but maybe we all need a
revival so that when we look at this great miracle with eyes and hearts that
have been revived by the Holy Spirit then we will perhaps look at it in a new
and refreshing way.
As we have been looking at the
things that happened in order for God to get done what He has promised in the
Old Testaments there is one miracle after another and this was all done because
of the great love that God has for His people.
It started out with the miracle conception of Zacharias and Elisabeth being
great in age but now they are about to have a baby. They were past the age of conception and it
was a miracle for this conception to happen.
Next we saw the angel come to Mary and tell her that she was going to conceive
and have a baby, but this baby would not have an earthly father, but would be
the Holy Spirit. Now we have been
looking at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Child who is the God/man
child. Now we are looking at the call to
the shepherds by an angel to give them the good news of the birth of
Christ. Shepherds were pretty much at or
near the bottom of the social ladder, but God chose to allow them in on this
miracle birth of His Son through an angel.
Let’s talk about the life of a shepherd
during this time when Jesus was born.
Many shepherds were dishonest, unreliable, unsavory characters, so much
so that they were not allowed to testify in court. Because sheep required care seven days a
week, shepherds were unable to fully comply with the man-made Sabbath
regulations developed by the Pharisees.
As a result, they were viewed as being in continual violation of the
religious laws, and hence ceremonially unclean.
When I think about shepherds I think about David who also was a shepherd
and we know that God used David in great ways, even being in the blood line of
Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd.
John MacArthur writes “That is not
to say, however, that being a shepherd was an illegitimate or disreputable
occupation. Two of the greatest figures
in Israel’s history, Moses (Ex. 3:1) and David (1 Samuel 16:11-13), were
shepherds at some point in their lives. Moreover,
the Old Testament refers metaphorically to God as the ‘Shepherd of Israel’ (Psalm
80:1; cf. 23:1; Isa. 40:11), while Jesus described Himself as the ‘good
shepherd’ (John 10:11, 14, cf. Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:4). Shepherds were, however, lowly, humble
people; they certainly were not the ones who would be expected to receive the
most significant announcement in history.
That they were singled out to receive this great honor suggests that
these shepherds were devout men, who believed in the true and living God. Such people were later described as those who
were ‘looking for the consolation of Israel’ (2:25) and the ‘redemption
of Jerusalem (2:38).
“God’s choice of shepherds to
receive the announcement of His Son’s birth is in keeping with Old Testament
prophecy concerning Messiah’s ministry.
Isaiah 61:1 prophetically put these words in the mouth of the
Messiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord God
is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the
afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
captives and freedom to prisoners.’ After
reading that passage in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus declared, ‘Today
this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’ (Luke 4:21). The Messiah’s
ministry would not be to the self-righteous (Luke 5:32)—especially the
religious leaders (John 7:48), or the self-sufficient wealthy (Luke
18:24). Instead, He would seek out the
poor, the lowly, the afflicted, the outcasts of society (cf. Luke 1:52; 1 Cor.
1:26). Throughout His ministry Jesus
attracted such people (cf. Matt. 9:10-13; 11:19; Luke 15:1-2), who were broken
over their sin and humbled themselves in repentance (cf. Luke 7:37-38;
18:13-14).
“These particular shepherds were
watching their sheep in the region around Bethlehem, about six miles
south of Jerusalem. They were staying
out in the fields with their flocks, something typically done in Israel
from April to November. That does not
mean, however, that Jesus could not have been born in the winter, since winters
in Israel are often mild. Further, as
Leon Morris notes, the rabbinic writings speak of sheep being pastured between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem in February (The Gospel According to St. Luke, The
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975], 84). According to rabbinic law, sheep were to be
kept in the wilderness, and any animal found between Jerusalem and the vicinity
of Bethlehem was subject to being used as a sacrifice in the temple. It may be, then, that the sheep these
shepherds were caring for were destined for that very purpose.
“Sheep were kept out in the fields
during the day. In the evening they were
moved into sheepfolds, where the shepherds could take turns keeping watch
over their flock during the night.
Inside the fold the sheep could more easily be guarded from predators
and thieves.
“But the tranquil normalcy of the
shepherds’ nightly routine was abruptly shattered in a most amazing, dramatic,
unexpected way. While they were doing
what they normally did during the long hours spent watching their flock an
angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them.
The angel is not identified, but in light of his earlier appearances
to Zacharias and Mary, it may have been Gabriel. Adding immeasurably to the shepherds’ shock and
terror at the angel’s unexpected appearance, the glory of the Lord blazed
forth out of the darkness and shone around them.”
4/3/2026
10:06 PM
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