The following guest post is by Jase Hammock. It is the manuscript of his sermon that he preached yesterday morning. I trust that you will also be blessed by his exposition and proclamation of God’s Word as you read it. You can read more from Jase at his blog here.

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Last week, we read that the author of Hebrews described Jesus as the Great Shepherd of the Sheep. Many people contrast the Old Testament and the New Testament by saying Jesus is completely different from the God of the Old Testament. The past two years, we have spent half of those years in Exodus, which is sometimes called “the narrative heart of the Old Testament.” We saw a showdown of the gods. We learned of how the Lord defeated the gods and idols of Egypt by delivering His people from Egypt and the hand of slavery by leading His people through the Red Sea on dry ground and then destroying the Egyptian soldiers in the Red Sea. We saw how the Lord graciously and tenderly guided His people through the wilderness. Dane Ortlund says it well when he writes, “when we see Christ unveil his deepest heart as gentle and lowly, he is continuing on the natural trajectory of what God had already been revealing about himself throughout the Old Testament. Jesus provides new sharpness to who God is, but not fundamentally new content” (p. 135, Gentle and Lowly).

Let us read our text, pray to the Father for grace, and then hear what is declared for us today.

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keep watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby  wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is please!’ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning the child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

“…in the same region…”

Before we answer our questions, let us notice the context. In the same region of what? Where the birth of Jesus took place, which is recorded in the previous passage. If we look at the beginning of this chapter, we read, “In those days, a decree went out…” Remember the purpose of why Luke is writing: so his readers ”may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬). The Christian faith is not a blind faith. The Christian faith “is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬). One of the reasons for that is because our faith is rooted in real, historical events. We are reminded of this at the beginning of each month when we recite, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;” Having this understanding tethers us, anchors us, and protects us from new and strange teachings that have the appearance of Christianity but are only cultish and don’t align with historical, biblical Christianity. Luke is also helping his readers understand this story is not some myth, legend, or ancient epic, but real events that have real ramifications and require real responses.

These shepherds were not only in the same region as where Jesus was born but also the same region where Caesar Augustus reigned and had recently decreed that “all the world should be registered,” should bow to him and go to him. Listen to G. Campbell Morgan’s explanation about Caesar Augustus:

Caesar Augustus was the first Roman emperor. His real name was Gaius Octavious… When this man became Imperator, and the matter was under discussion as to what title he should assume, he declined to be called Dictator, which suggested a temporary office. He declined also to be called King, as it did not signify enough. In consultation with the Roman Senate, this name was created for him, Augustus, derivable from the word Augur; and consequently, indicating a religious sanction.

R. Kent Hughes lets us know that “up to that time the title was reserved exclusively for the gods.” That is why Morgan goes on to write, “He was moving towards that which happened subsequently, the claim of deity on the part of the supreme ruler of the Roman Empire. Gradually, the power of the government had been taken from the people… and at last this man… gained supreme power” (Morgan, p. 34). When looking at Luke 2:1-7, we can notice Luke writing in a deescalating style by going from Caesar Augustus to Quirinius, a governor under Caesar, to Joseph, a carpenter and an ordinary man, to Mary, a woman, and then, finally, to a baby. He is wanting his readers to notice the stark contrast of the significance of characters in the story. Is this not similar to the narrative in Exodus: Moses and Aaron and all the Israelites, who were slaves in Egypt, going up against Pharaoh, a mortal man, who was exalted as a deity? It’s in this context that angels appear to shepherds in the middle of the night in the middle of their mundane work.

“…there were shepherds out in the field, keep watch over their flock by night…”

Let us also take note that the way the first exodus began was by an angel of the Lord appearing in a burning bush, a form of light, to whom? Moses. Who was doing what? “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law…” (Exodus 3:1). The Lord has a habit of meeting people in the messiness of their mundane work. Maybe the most significant, ground-breaking news isn’t always on the front page of the morning news, considering that the arrival of the King of Glory, the God of the universe, as a baby was announced to lowly shepherds in the middle of the night.

It is here that “an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,” and how did the shepherds respond? “…and they were filled with great fear.” Let this be a reminder that, as much as we often say, “Man, I wish God would just directly tell me,” being spoken to audibly and directly by an angel or the Lord Himself might not be exactly what we want. It’s a terrifying experience every time in the Bible. The shepherds practice the kind of people the Lord says in Isaiah 66:2 that He desires, “he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Now that the shepherds have been humbled and have come to see themselves rightly, their hearts and minds are fertile soil to receive the seeds of the angel’s message, but before we jump to that announcement, let us ask, “Why shepherds?

R. Kent Hughes explains that “shepherds were despised by the ‘good,’ respectable people of that day. According to the Mishnah, shepherds were under a ban. They were regarded as thieves. The only people lower than shepherds at that particular time in Jewish history were lepers” (Hughes, p. 89). Shepherds were also uneducated people. The shepherds represent all of humanity: lowly, ordinary humans who share in flesh and blood in need of a savior. They represent all of us who are working and are heavy laden that Jesus invites to “Come to me.. and take my yoke upon you.” The shepherds remind us that the Lord is close to those “who are poor in spirit” and know their need for a savior, but more than that, the people God chooses and reveals Himself to often says more about Himself and less about the people.

In Psalm 77:20, we read, “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Then, in Psalm 78 the psalmist gives this picture of the Lord, “He led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won. He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.” If the Lord is a Shepherd, what was He leading them to all throughout the Old Testament? To the birth of a specific offspring. Ever since the sin of Adam and Eve, every passing generation has wondered and hoped that each baby might be the One. 

The Announcement: Why a baby? 

…Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

After going to and finding Adam and Eve in their shame and brokenness, the Lord pronounces judgment upon the snake and makes a promise in the same breath, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15 ESV). Adam and Eve find out in their sons that this restoration and a promised child conquering over the one who deceived them would not happen quickly. After many generations of increased waiting, wondering, watching, death, and being thrust into thick darkness, the Israelites received the well-known promise from the prophet Isaiah, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;” (Isaiah 9:6a). After waiting about 700 more years, an angel appears and declares to shepherds that the long-awaited offspring who will make the dark things light and the wrong things right has arrived. The angels are declaring and confirming that the Lord God has been faithful. He has kept His promises. Yet, there’s more than just the Lord wanting shepherds to know He has been faithful to keep His word.

Notice the paradox in Luke 2:11-12 and Isaiah 9:6. The angel announces that “born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” and then follows by explaining that the sign will be “a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying a manger.” The angel says not only a Savior is born but Christ the Lord. That is referring to divine nature yet is a baby. If we consider the Isaiah 9:6 prophecy, we can also see this paradox. Isaiah declares first that a child is born… a son is given, and then follows with “the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Here, in the announcement to the shepherds we learn the heart of Christmas: the Mighty One meeting His people in their messiness as the Meek One. Pause for a moment, though, and notice a repetition in this passage.

Verse nine: “and the glory of the Lord shone around them…” Verse 14: the angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest…” Finally, verse 20: “the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God…” Repetition means pay attention. Anytime something is repeated three times, like the characteristic “holy” in Isaiah 6, it is being used as a superlative. So, Isaiah 6, we are to learn that God is holy above all else. He is holy to the highest and most supreme degree. That is who He is. Here in Luke 2, Luke is not accidental in this thrice repetition. Luke, who was an intelligent trained Greek student, is communicating clearly that Jesus, the Savior, Christ, Lord, who was born in Bethlehem in the time of Caesar Augustus, is the Glorious One and is deserving of all glory. Unlike Caesar, who was a man that tried to exalt himself to savior and deity level, Jesus was God who became man. R. Kent Hughes writes of this mystery by saying, “The baby Mary carried was not a Caesar, a man who would become a god, but a far greater wonder–the true God who had become a man!” This is the glory and the whole wonder of Christmas. John Piper writes of this mystery in this way, “What is distinctly stunning–indeed self-authenticating–about the Christian God (and His Scriptures) is that He wins the praise of His majesty not by amassing slave labor to serve Him”–or decreeing all work their way to Him to be taxed– “but by becoming a servant to free the slaves of sin” (Piper, p. 217, A Peculiar Glory).

Piper’s words align with what the prophet Isaiah declares in Isaiah 64:4, “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.” There is none like our God. In becoming a baby, God was fulfilling the requirements needed for the perfect sacrifice. As we learned in Hebrews 2, “…since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery… He had to be make like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” We are those humans who share in flesh and blood. The shepherds were messy, outcast, ordinary humans who share in flesh and blood. Without the birth of Jesus, the propitiation of sins and the once and for all sacrificial atonement would not be possible. But what are shepherds without a messy trough? Let us come full circle and remind ourselves of Pastor Cole’s words at the beginning of this year.

One of his first sermons was from Proverbs 14:4, where we read, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” In giving application for this Scripture, Pastor Cole explained, “[Jesus’] birth was only the beginning of His humiliation into our mess… Jesus endured the cross “for the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). He embraced the messy manger and the bloody cross for the abundant crop that could only come through His divine yet human strength.” Here, Pastor Cole reminds us that Jesus did not stay in that Bethlehem nativity. The innocence and birth of a baby always makes us feel good, but just as Jesus’ earthly life began with the humiliation of being laid in a manger, his earthly life ended with the humiliation of laying down His life for His sheep and becoming a curse by being hung on a cross. This good news of great joy demands a response of new habits.

The Response

Proclaim

With no explanation, Luke shows us that the shepherds believe the message of the angels. Their belief drives them to do what? Go and see. Go and tell. One of the best parts of Christmas is that it doesn’t stop. The celebration can continue all year as we go and tell about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. The shepherds’ model for us a fundamental element of the Christian faith: once humbled and captivated by God’s grace and glory, the only natural response is to “go and tell.” To reiterate what we learned in Hebrews 13:15-19, do we have lips that proclaim the praises of the Lord? Are we people who declare, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” Are we people who “commend [His] works to another, and declare [His] mighty acts”? If not, then have you really believed in the gospel of Jesus? If not, then we may be letting ourselves be conformed to the ways of this world instead of meditating “on the glorious splendor of His majesty and on His wondrous works” (‭‭Psalm ‭145‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬). 

Praise

You may already have connected the dots that response one (proclaiming) and response three (praising) feed off one another and are basically the same. When we proclaim the gospel and what the Lord has done for us, we are also praising and glorifying Him. When are joining in the “triumph of the skies/with angelic host” proclaiming that Christ is the Glorious One. And someday soon, ”The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬). But notice, in the meantime, what is sandwiched between proclaiming and praising: ”But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬).

Pondering in her heart

Despite what many critics say about the song “Mary Did You Know,” I think Mary didn’t fully know or understand. Throughout Luke, we see him emphasizing “Mary pondering all these things in her heart.” Think about this: she’s a teenage girl, she had an angel come to her and tell her she would give birth to the Messiah, yet she’s a virgin. Then, after giving birth, she has random shepherds arrive and report all that they heard and saw. Now, I am sure all the mothers here can attest to this: postpartum stress, confusion and depression can be a reality for most, if not all, mothers. Even as the man involved, I can remember having stress and confusion after the birth of all three of our children, but especially after the birth of Noah. For y’all who don’t know, Noah was born in our van as I was driving 80-100 mph to the Ada hospital in the early hours of the morning with dense fog. Then, after arriving at the hospital, the doctors sent Madison into surgery where they put her to sleep. That was Madison’s first time having general anaesthesia. We were unsure what to expect. 

I think we can easily over spiritualize and sanitize what we read in the Bible and forget that there’s still physical, earthly realities and that Mary and Joseph were still humans. Yes, Mary does exemplify for us a strong, holy faith in how she responds to all her encounters leading up to the birth of Jesus. However, Mary didn’t have all knowledge. She didn’t yet see “the mighty brought down from their thrones” (Luke 1:52) and “did not yet see everything in subjection to [Jesus]” (Hebrews 2:8). As Elizabeth Eliot once said, “Faith does not eliminate our questions. But faith knows where to take them.” And where does Mary take them? Quietly to the Lord. 

What we see here in Luke 2 can be similar to the hustle and bustle of life and the Christmas season. The shepherds are excited and reporting about their angelic encounter. People are glorifying and praising God, possibly expecting the reestablishment of Israel as a nation and the overthrow of Rome. Yet, amongst the chaos, Mary, in the background, is quietly pondering all things in her heart. This conforms with how Jesus describes the kingdom of God, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33, ESV). 

What we see in that parable and in Mary is a way of life that is often hidden and that progresses slowly and patiently. We live in a world where “Everything is important all the time, and we must hurry to keep up” (Noble, p. 23). Not only that, we have a rhythm and momentum that keeps us constantly engaged and entertained, leaning forward to the next task, the next movie, the next holiday tradition, or the next gathering and party (Much of this observation flows from Alan Noble’s book Disruptive Witness: Speaking truth in a Distracted Age and other books like it that assess, diagnose, and explain the current condition of our culture). It’s as if the world is full of people who are sheep without a shepherd.

Our habits and routines become who we are, and our Great Shepherd leads us beside peaceful waters and makes us lie down in green pastures through formative habits. Mary’s treasuring and pondering was rooted in Scripture. We can see in Luke 1, in Mary’s song of praise with Elizabeth, that Mary has a rich knowledge of Scripture. She had an understanding of the Lord and what He had done in the past. I don’t think it’s a coincidence either that Luke uses the words that can be translated to “treasure,” “ponder,” or “meditate.” Psalm 1 teaches us, “Blessed is the” person who “delights in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.”

May we be people who patiently treasure and ponder what is happening in our lives in light of God’s good and true Words. Along with reading and meditating on Scripture, there are many other habits that can help awaken us to the reality of God and His redemptive work. Commit daily to read, study, and memorize God’s Word. Use apps like FighterVerse or write out Scripture daily. There’s a connection between our hand and our brain. Commit to regularly gather in a safe place with other believers to discuss our questions and God’s Word (aka Community Groups). Keep a daily or weekly journal where you write out summaries of your day, questions you may have, and your prayers. This pondering is definitely not absent of prayer. These are the hidden ingredients–proclaiming, praising, pondering, prayer–that the Lord uses to grow His kingdom even within tension of the already-but-not-yet and among chaos and darkness. Another vital habit–or liturgy–that shapes our understanding of reality and directs our attention is the Lord’s Supper.

As we come to the Table of the King, let us see Christmas in a new light. Let us understand that Christmas is not so much about a sweet and silent night that is meant to make us feel all warm and cozy. Let us understand that it was a messy night. It was the Serpent-Crusher quietly showing up to enemy territory. It was a night of the Holy One starting His humiliating earthly pilgrimage to the cross. Let us join in–as we take the Bread and the Cup–with the heavenly host and praise our Savior, Christ the Lord, that He is Infinite yet once an infant. That He is both Mighty and Majestic yet merciful and meek. As we practice habits that shape our affections and direct our attention to our Great Shepherd, we can steadfastly and patiently wait for His return knowing that He has gone before us and that He is always with us, until the end of the age.