“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
My favorite Christmas narrative is in Luke 2, where angels appear to shepherds and announce the birth of the Savior. You probably know the story as well as I. What I want to concentrate on in this post is the message that the angel gave to the shepherds. It is rich in meaning and was probably a great comfort to the shepherds, and should be for us as well. What was his message? It was a message about fear. I know that the angel was telling the shepherds not to be afraid of him, because he was bringing them good news. But the message “fear not” has a wider meaning for us as well. All of us have to deal with fear of some kind at some time or other. For example, I fear for the future for the sake of my children and grandchildren. I’m sure that my parents and grandparents experienced the same thing when I was growing up. But when I read “fear not” it says to me that I do not have to fear the future, because the God, who is at work now in Christ, will be at work in the future. Okay, I’ll use the old cliché: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” There, I wrote it, and I’m glad because it is eternally true. It was a message about good news. Specifically, the angel said: “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings…” A more modern translation of that is: “I bring you good news.” In other words, the angel was announcing the gospel to the shepherds, for the word “gospel” means “good news.” A lot of the news that we hear today is bad news. As Jesus predicted, there are “wars and rumors of wars” all over the world. What was the good news that the angel had for the shepherds, and us? Here it is: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Can you imagine what it meant for these Jewish shepherds to hear this message? For centuries, prophets had predicted that God would send a Messiah to deliver His people, and these simple shepherds were hearing about it before anyone else. The message of the angel is still good news today, because “Christ the Lord” is still alive and still saves those who come to Him by faith. The message of the angel is our message too. It is a message about Jesus. Like the angel, we are supposed to share that gospel good news with the world. It was a message about joy and hope: “Fear not, for behold, I brings you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” It was an announcement about eternal joy coming into the world. I return again and again to John 15:11 for my own comfort and in talking and writing to others. In this verse Jesus said: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” If you read my posts frequently, you will already be familiar with this verse – and you will see it again. The “good tidings of great joy” were for “all people.” The message of the angel made it clear to these Jewish shepherds that the good news was not just for them but for all people. Do you remember the little tune: “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” The only difference I would make here is that Jesus also loves all of the adults in the world too. This is a message that still resonates around the world. I know that it seems like the world is ignoring that message today, but that doesn’t make it any less true! The joy of the gospel does not depend on opinion polls. If it did, Jesus’ disciples would have never gotten the good news out of Jerusalem. It is a message of joy and hope for you as well. This is the message of the angel. I hope and pray that you will read it and believe it. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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