39 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
39 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Luke 2:8–21"
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date = "2022-10-23"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Lk2.8-21)
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When shepherds are out with the flock at night, there's usually one reason: to
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be midwives to the ewes. Lambing season is in the spring, so it's beautifully
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poetic that the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world would be born
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at the same time. It also upends the tradition of Christmas being in December,
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but the 25<sup>th</sup> is as good a date as any for celebrating.
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Despite caring for the animals used in temple sacrifices, shepherds were not
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regarded highly by the rest of the people. Often ceremonially unclean from
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handling dead animals, and traveling about with the flocks kept them from being
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in a stable community with everyone else. And yet these men are the first to
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receive an invitation from God to see Jesus.
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If seeing one angel is often enough to make someone faint, I can't imagine what
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it would be like to see an entire army of them at once. And it is an army;
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that's what "host" means in the Scriptures. Get out of your mind the image of a
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glowing, white-robed, winged blond person. While angels may show up that way
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elsewhere (minus the wings), these angels are arrayed for battle. That makes it
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even more amazing that their message is of peace on the earth with God.
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Following the instructions of the first angel, the shepherds are able to find
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Mary and Joseph. That's still kind of amazing, because while Bethlehem isn't a
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large town, it was full to overflowing. A newborn baby in a manger is also not
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something you'd find everyday, but how would you go about searching for him?
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Luke likely got this story from Mary, who "treasured up all these things,
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pondering them in her heart." (_v. 19_)
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* * *
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You raise up the humble, and Your priorities are perfect. Your ways are higher
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than our ways.
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