Luke 2:8-20 Keeping Watch Over the Flock
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 17, 2018 Luke 1:8-20
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “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. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
(Understanding the Text) Why these particular men? Why shepherds? Maybe they were the only ones who were open to the message and watching at the time that God needed someone to witness the Son’s birth. These shepherds were near to Bethlehem, and it was night time. The SDA commentary points out that they were keeping watch over their sheep on the very hills where David used to take care of his sheep. How many shepherds? It doesn’t say, just that there was more than one. The SDA commentary has an interesting point about who they might have been, or rather, the significance of the sheep they watched. It says that near Bethlehem was the tower of Edar which means the tower of the flock. “Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder” (Gen 35:21). “And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem” (Mic 4:8). “According to tradition, it was here that flocks destined for sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem were gathered. It may be that the shepherds to whom the angels appeared were ‘keeping watch’ over flocks already set apart for this purpose.” If this is so, maybe the reason for their choice was not simply their faithful hearts and desire to see the Messiah, but also that it was their job to watch over the lamb sacrifices, and thus, the Father gave them the job of watching over the Lamb that would replace their lambs. It took the wise men about a year to reach the baby (based on Herod’s age cut-off for killing babies), so the shepherds were the first to be told of the amazing miracle.
According to the SDA commentary, the timing of Jesus’ birth is suggested by the fact that the shepherds were outside watching their sheep at night. This indicates that the timing was sometime after April and before November. The commentary indicates that based on the timing of other events that Jesus was probably born in the fall. Thus, Jesus may have been born in September or October.
It is sad that so many times when God would bless us, Satan turns that blessing into a curse. Bethlehem was blessed to be the location on earth where God entered this world as a human baby, yet that blessing would turn into the curse of the babies of Bethlehem born in that year dying at the hands of Herod’s soldiers. Bethlehem’s hope on this night would turn to grief within a year (approximately).
The religious leaders had to have heard the rumors of the baby Messiah that the shepherds repeated. Bethlehem is not that far from Jerusalem. They could have gone to Bethlehem to check it out for themselves, but they ignored the information, probably because it came from a source that they were prejudiced against and maybe also because they were satisfied with the way things were. It is interesting that about a year later (based on the age of babies killed by Herod) when the wise men came inquiring about the birth, Herod knew nothing of what was happening and where the Messiah was to be born, but the religious leaders knew. They knew, but they did not go to Bethlehem to check out the rumors of the Messiah.
The shepherds were afraid because the angel appeared with glory shining all around the shepherds. Of course, the angel’s first words were “Don’t be afraid.” It must be standard vocabulary for every angel. The angel was bringing news to the shepherds. The promise is that the joy will be for all people, not just for the Jews.
(Revelation of God) The angel gives Jesus three titles: Savior, Christ/Messiah, the Lord. Jesus came to save all humankind from death. He accomplished that goal first through living a sinless life and then paying the debt of sin on the cross. Jesus was the promised one–the Messiah. The promises include salvation from death, but there is more. The Messiah was the restorer and high priest and king also. The Jews thought that the Messiah would restore Jerusalem to prominence and be the king/priest of that temporal kingdom. Their view of the kingdom of heaven had become too narrow, and they wanted to settle for a temporary fix. Maybe, it would be more appropriate to say that their view of a kingdom had not widened to include heaven as it would have if they had continued to advance spiritually. They were looking back at the mythical good old days instead of forward to the hope of heaven. They expected the Messiah to take them back when He came rather than to push them forward. An earthly kingdom with an earthly king had never been God’s plan for them. David’s reign had been an accommodation rather than a goal. They were longing for something that had never been good instead of looking forward to a time when they would be living with their God in heaven. In many ways, their expectations did not include God, except as a distant outside force with little relevance to their lives. When they thought of the Messiah as Lord, they did not think in terms of how they would need to relate to their own Lord.
(Understanding the Text) Why mention swaddling clothes as a sign? I think this was to show the age of the baby. Only an infant would be wrapped in swaddling clothes, so the shepherds were not to look for an older baby. This indicates that the shepherds were told of the birth soon afterwards. Maybe within the hour. Joseph and Mary were still in the stable at the inn when the shepherds came to visit.
(Revelation of God) This is the only time that the Bible speaks of many heavenly beings gathering and praising God here on earth. I think Revelation speaks of something like that in heaven. Were they just unable to stay away, and the Father gave them permission to do something out in the country where few could see?
The angels say “Glory to God in the highest.” They weren’t just repeating an empty formula said to appease God or as a routine exclamation. The angels were really awed and mystified by what God had done. Their infinite God had become a baby with no omni-powers. Their God had humbled himself for his creations in order to save them. They were seeing their God in a clearer light, and it overwhelmed them with the need to say that God was worthy of the highest praise possible. The angels also say “on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” where they are telling the world that Jesus came to bring peace–peace between humans and peace between God and man.
(Understanding the Text) The angels appeared and did their light and music performance. The shepherds watched in awe-struck silence. After the angels disappeared and the normal night sounds returned, the shepherds looked at each other in disbelief and stunned silence. It took a while to process what had just happened. Then, they started speaking of what they heard and what it meant. Suddenly, one of them said, “The Messiah has been born. He’s here in Bethlehem. Let’s go see him!” and they left their sheep alone in the field and rushed into Bethlehem. They did not bother waking up people to ask where to look. They were shepherds and knew about stables. They just checked out all the stables that had mangers for feeding animals. How many did they check out before finding the right one? What did Mary and Joseph think when a group of dirty shepherds looked in to the stable? As soon as they told the story, Mary would have seen God’s hand at work, but at first, she may have been worried.
(Application) The shepherds praised God for what they had experienced that night. They would have told the story again and again over the years. After a while, people would have ignored them. There seems to be a pattern here. God gives lots of signs and announcements ahead of time and then there is quiet for a while and people forget or lose interest. Even though we cannot see activity happening it still is. Before Jesus’ birth, after His birth, and during the ceremony in the temple, God provided signs of who Jesus was, but then Jesus disappeared from people’s sight–first going to Egypt and then to Nazareth. During that time the people who had seen the signs grew old and some died. People forgot until Jesus began His public ministry. Instead of preparing themselves for the coming of the Messiah, they slept. I think we do that today. We were given signs 150 years ago of the coming of the Messiah for the second time, and we were to prepare ourselves for the end times of terror that would precede the joy of the second coming. What did we do? We looked to the skies at first, but then we started squabbling about “tithing cumin” instead of preparing ourselves to be the people that Jesus could display as His witnesses to the world. We whine about how long it has been when we should be thankful for the time to progress in knowledge and experience to know Jesus and be prepared to experience the trials that will happen in the end. I think we are finally advancing, but it took us so long, and even today, so few are understanding the need to wake up.
(Prayer) I want to be ready for Your coming, but I get distracted and discouraged and exhausted and unfocused. I want to know You better and better so that when You come for us, I will recognize You immediately as my old Friend and Companion.