Wednesday, December 22, 2021
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And so the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:9-11
Good News For All People
That dark night long ago, when the shepherds were in the field watching their flocks, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared bringing good news of great joy. This good news of great joy literally means that this angel preached the gospel to these shepherds. This angel was bringing the gospel – for all people. These outcasts had received the most inviting and wonderful news that anyone could ever receive.
Angels are messengers of God, and their primary function is delivering the message of God. The message they brought that night was good news for everyone! It was good news for the outcast, the poor, the uninvited, the socially awkward, the lonely, the unpopular, the imperfect, the sinner.
Jesus came for all people, from every spectrum and society, every level of learning, every level of living, and of degree of wealth. No one is outside of the range of people for whom Jesus came; Jesus came for everybody from the shepherds to the kings. The message from God that a Savior is born, was carried past the city of Jerusalem, past the Temple, past the scribes, past the priests, and delivered into the hands of the forgotten ones…the shepherds. In this picture, we are reminded that Jesus came for people like the shepherds – people like us. Not the religious elite, the politically savvy, or the rulers of the people. The shepherds are the metaphor for the kind of people Jesus came to save.
And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds… And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. Luke 2:16-18
The shepherds knew they were sinners in need of a Savior. They had received the good news of the gospel, seen the baby Jesus, and now they had a mission. They heard the story, but then they had an encounter. The ones who watch the lambs in the fields, the Temple lambs, were the first to see the Lamb of God, the One who takes away the sin of the world. They had good news to tell so they went and told others about this baby and His gospel message. Those they told marveled at all they said. We have a responsibility to tell this message to others as well.
What's The Good News?
She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 The word “save” means to “snatch others by force from serious peril.” Jesus came to snatch us away from sin. We need to be rescued from sin itself and we must be saving others! And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Jude 1:22-23
The best news of Christmas is that Jesus came for all people – to save all people. We are never too unworthy and too far gone. He came and opened the gates of heaven for all. This is the good news we need to share with others and just like the shepherds who were glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them, we need to glorify and praise Him because we know this to be true as well. We know the good news of the gospel is true because we have seen it played out over and over in our lives in all the ways God is faithful.
Share the good news of great joy which will be for all people this season.
