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The Shepherd’s Story: 1st Meditation
Verse 8 from Luke 2:8-20 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. They were not well thought of, these shepherds. Sheep were the basis of the national economy. Milk, cheese, mutton, wool – a man and his family could live off of a few sheep and the Temple’s sacrifices depended on a never-ending supply. The smaller flocks were looked after the owner and his sons, but the larger flocks were looked after by hired shepherds. And these hired shepherds weren’t like the Christmas cards. It was the hired shepherds people couldn’t stand. Dirty and smelly from spending months in…
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The Battle Cry of Christmas
The first day of Advent… and a battle cry. Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. (Zeph. 2:3a) This verse comes in the middle of Zephaniah’s terrible prophecies against early kingdoms: Cush, Moab, Ashkelon, Nineveh — and Jerusalem (Zeph. 1-2). The only people who will survive were the holy remnant, the humble people who served the Lord and no other gods. The ones who did what God commanded. Not sweet enough for you this Christmas season? Christmas wasn’t sweet! Christmas was a revolution, a battle cry, the turning tide in the war. It still is. How will you respond this Advent season?
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Wise Men and Shepherds
Luke 2:8-20 Some of Israel’s great heroes were shepherds — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. And God is called the Good Shepherd throughout the Bible. When the family were the shepherds – the father or sons – then it was fine. They were the sheeps’ owners and could be trusted to watch out for them. But hired shepherds had a much worse reputation for running away, stealing sheep, and being generally bad news. Philo, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher of Alexandria (25 BC – 45 AD), wrote about looking after sheep and goats, “Such pursuits are held mean and inglorious.” Whatever these particular shepherds did, they were with the sheep that…