There are many days that I feel extremely ordinary, or better said, unnoticed. I do my best when it comes to keeping my house neat and tidy, folding laundry, and toting my kiddos around. On an average night, my meals consist of mac & cheese, tacos, or spaghetti (which doesn’t measure up to the Magnolia Table or Food & Wine). In my family, I’m renown for my epic Pinterest fails. I live in a quiet neighborhood in an upbeat town. Let’s just say–I’m your every day, next door kinda girl.
For that reason…I adore that the birth of Jesus was first announced to shepherds. Ya know…the guys who live outside with the smelly, dumb sheep day-in-and-day-out. They weren’t exactly extraordinary. Instead, they were everything “un” in my mind — “uneventful”, “uninfluential”, and “unimpressive”.
God uses ordinary people
God could have come first to the religious leaders. The Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were well known for their rule-keeping and impeccable lifestyles. Legalists. Goody-two-shoes. Nearly perfect. Oh, and of course, socialites. But they didn’t fit the description for the kind of person God was wanting to tell.
Of course, the royalty could have been at the top of the list. The leadership of the day. The kings and the queens and the royal guard. But nope, God had a different way.
Read Luke 2:1-21. I love that God chose the shepherds first! He chose the lowly and humble, overlooking power and pride. He knew the shepherds would stand in utter awe and amazement, and be fully cognizant of the honor bestowed on them.
In our day, it would be like receiving a personal invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth. However, this illustration falls dreadfully short. Jesus is the greatest person that ever lived on this earth–the King of Kings of all mankind. Diety who became man.
The Shepherds Make God’s Name Known
But God knew the shepherds would be overcome with excitement and go and tell what they saw. They didn’t waste any time.
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 this child. Luke 2:16-17
They made His name known. Their enthusiasm could not be contained…for they had a personal encounter with God in the flesh. Imagine it! And that’s why they went forth proclaiming the Good News. Great Joy. A Savior…who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).
The shepherds were the ones most intimately involved in the industry of sacrificing lambs in the jewish tradition. Literally thousands of innocent lambs were slaughtered in a system (annually)that only temporarily covered sin for a season, and needed constant repeating. So Jesus chose to reveal the new covenant to them first. Imagine, a sin sacrifice ONCE-FOR-ALL that was eternal! Instead of a covering for sin, man’s total sin was put on Jesus, and his Holy Spirit of righteousness was imputed into the sinner! WOW!
Great insight!