The Gospels of Matthew and Luke bring a striking contrast. Matthew brings royal counsellors into the narrative, and Luke brings shepherds.
What a wonderful complimentary story! What a wonderful picture.
Shepherds invited to the celebration
The shepherds who watched their flocks by night were visited by angels to the birthplace of the Messiah to symbolise the Great Shepherd who was birthed in that period.
The Great Shepherd who also was the Great Warrior, a mixture of Moses and David. How much we need the Moses, and David, leading us out of bondage, and defeating our enemies.
Its the same every year in this Christmas season in that the world presents the empty humanistic celebration, where food and drink and the giving of presents 🎁 is the central theme, a fictitious Santa Claus that seems to substitute the Messiah. The bondage of materialism, humanism are those our Messiah Moses must deliver us from.
The enemies that lie ahead on the journey come to infiltrate our way of relating to God bringing in foreign practices.
The shepherds speak to humility, care and direction. They, I believe share in a divine invitation to the Great Shepherds, privileged to hear that through His Name goodwill between people may exist again.
Uncertain were the times then as they are now we need the Moses to lead to our promise, and David to lead us to victory and dominion. Hence the reason why the Christmas story is told by two different authors, from different perspectives.
The guiding light of the story is guided via dreams, angels and the Holy Spirit. And via a Star to bring Counsellors from afar. In our pursuit of a New Advent and seeing it birthed we can shortly count upon these guiding expressions of the Divine. As much as God the Father protected the Messiah from certain danger how much more now.
It can be a time when we expect danger in this uncertain hour with motivations of those who speak well yet lack true foundation and true actions, that God will guide us away.
The shepherds in responding to angels saw a great choir in celestial light surely convinced of a great thing God was doing. How much more we need “shepherds” to recognise birthing of a great King, priest and prophet. We need leaders who show great humility and the gift to direct God’s people to the places where God is doing new things.
Jesus in confronting Peter in John 21 surely restored the awareness of true love and true pastoring. The sheep follow the shepherds knowing that they are led into pastures that will nurture and prosper. Here is the Great Shepherd calling to another to be a Shepherd of God’s Church.
Just as the Christmas story is regal and glorious it also paints it’s care, humility and direction. May we embrace both Matthew and Luke in their painting of this wonderful story of Christmas! The coming of the new Moses and New David to bring the leadership and guidance we all need!!!
Maranatha!!!
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