God works in mysterious ways
And the shepherds made it known
It was a harsh time.
It was a time of rule through force and subjection and brutality.
But on that night, some 2,000-plus years ago, a new way was brought forth with the birth of a Savior.
The Christmas Story — the birth of Christ — is read in many households during this time of year.
It is read at Christmas pageants by school children and in church groups. It is the basis of Christmas television shows, plays, movies, and music.
It is one of the cornerstones for Christians worldwide because without the birth there can be no resurrection. Without the birth of Christ, there can be no forgiveness.
Without the birth of Christ, there can be no Sermon on the Mount.
On that night, some 2,000-plus years ago, a new pact was offered by God.
You would think that God would have made more fanfare, would have brought forth … Something more far reaching and extravagant than an angel telling shepherds that a child was born in Bethlehem and the child was Christ the Lord.
But the Lord works in mysterious ways.
The shepherds went to see the child, wrapped in swaddling and lying in a manger. An inconspicuous and as humble of a beginning as could ever be.
And the shepherds spread the word.
But that was only the beginning, wasn’t it?
Luke and Matthew both wrote about the birth of Jesus. Both documented it.
But it was the shepherds who first spread, “This thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us.”
There are so many little details that are shared by Matthew and Luke in their accounts of the birth of Christ that are overlooked when you are only looking at the whole picture.
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the lack of proper, decent lodging.
There is one verse in the Book of Luke that has always touched me.
I couldn’t begin to tell you why, but it always makes me think a little harder than I want to: It is the reaction of Mary.
After the angels have come, after the shepherds have seen the child in the manger, and after they have left to share what they have seen, there is the mother with her first-born son.
“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19
And I can’t help but ask myself: What was she going through? What was she thinking? Did she know what would become of her first-born son? What he would establish? What he would mean to the world? What he would endure?
Did she have a foreshadowing of the events that would come to be?
When I read Luke 2: 1-20, this is the verse that somehow saddens me.
And as these words are read from the Book of Luke in households during this time, by children in Christmas pageants and church groups, when they are repeated, or are the basis of Christmas television shows, plays, movies, and music … Then the shepherds have spread the word.
God has worked in a mysterious way.
It is the Christmas story.