Thursday, December 28, 2006
Fourth Christmas Day
Luke 2:17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.
SPREADING THE WORD
The shepherds saw an amazing display from heaven in their fields on Christmas night. The sky was filled with a host of angels and the brightness of glory. When they hurried to Bethlehem, however, they did not find the same scene. The sign there was a baby wrapped in cheap cloth and lying where animals fed.
There wasn't much to see at Jesus' birthplace -- No angel chorus, plain, ordinary surroundings, a young couple looking like they could be any young couple, a family who couldn't find room anywhere else, just like many others that night no doubt had difficulty locating shelter.
So the shepherds didn't talk about what they saw. What was so great about that? They talked about "what had been told them about this child." And there was a lot that was great about that! They spread the word that this Baby was the Savior, Christ the Lord. This was the Child who had come to open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf. This was the Child who would cause the lame to leap like the deer and He would take away the sins of the people. This was the Messiah to deliver them even from death.
We weren't there to see Jesus' birth. We didn't see the manger and the strips of cloth with our own eyes, but we have heard the word concerning this Child, just as the shepherds heard. This is what we proclaim. This is the message that is scattered to the four winds -- to the north, south, east, and west. "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:11).
