They Experienced the Savior.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  (16)  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

Luke 2:15-16 

Explanation:

The shepherd’s response was, “let’s go see.”  They were not commanded to go and see, but they did.  This seems to me a natural response.  Why wouldn’t they go?  The event that they had just experienced was so momentous and incredible that we would hardly blame them for wanting to go see the sign of this good news.

When they came what did they see?  They saw exactly what God had told them.  They saw the baby lying in a manger.

Imagine the response of Mary and Joseph.  Up until this point they knew only what God had told them through Gabriel’s appearance and Joseph’s dream.  We could expect that the shepherds would have related how they heard about the news, and what was said.  One may guess also that Joseph and Mary related to the shepherds what they had experienced as well.  Did they tell the shepherds that this child was virgin born?  Did they relate to them their revelation from God through the angel?  Would they all be confused as to why these mightiest of all created beings would be coming to the lowliest of shepherds, a carpenter and the “handmaiden of the Lord”? 

These angels told these shepherds to find the Savior, the anointed one, the Lord in an animal’s feeding trough.  This experience would have been the high point of the life of everyone involved up until this point, and yet so different from anything anyone would have expected.  That contrast is interesting.  God displayed His glory for the lowliest.  Note these verses in Hebrews:

Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:  (8)  Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.  (9)  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.  (10)  For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 

Hebrews 2:7-10 

Application:

What an incredible thing to experience the Savior.  What an incredible thing to hear the good news, to believe in it, and to act on it!  This was what the shepherds did.  They believed the angel and because they trusted Him, they found what the angel was talking about. They saw the message to be true.  That baby in a manger meant that God was come to get glory and that peace toward men was possible.  This is true for us, too.  We must believe this message from God about who Jesus is and why He came.  When we accept Christ as our Savior God begins to change us.  When we trust Him, we find what is said about Him to be true. He really does forgive our sin.  We can then treat Him as Lord in our lives.  Is Jesus your Savior? Do you see Jesus as Lord?

Response:

What is something that you need to repent of to truly recognize Jesus as Lord and experience His presence today?