Spread The Word

“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.” Luke 2:15-18

Notice the progression of this beloved Christmas passage.  God makes known to the shepherds that Messiah has come, the shepherds go with haste to adore this new born king, and upon seeing him they go and tell others.  I like the NIV’s translation of verse 17 as it says “they spread the word.”  Upon hearing this glorious message from the Lord and being witnesses to the baby’s birth, their immediate and unhindered response was to spread the word.  These lowly shepherds knew what they heard and saw was something to be proclaimed.

Too often this passage is read at Christmas time simply for nostalgic purposes.  We think of Linus’s rendition in a Charlie Brown Christmas and say, “Oh what sweet memories; what a nice story.”  But this is more than just a nice story to be read at Christmas for the whole of the universe rests in this truth.  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  This is not merely a story.  This is the story.  Apart from the Word becoming flesh there is nothing.

If God has become flesh and we are witnesses to it, we must proclaim it.  What a blessing it is to have been born in a context where we, like those shepherds, have had the word made known to us.  Just as they did on that night thousands of years ago, we must spread the word to those who have yet to hear.

 
In Christ,
Nathan