The Shepherds Visit Jesus

Luke 2:15–20
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

Your faith ought to get you in trouble at times. If everybody thinks you are nuts, you may be. It’s OK if some think you are. You’re probably in trouble if no one thinks you are. (Swindoll in his book of Illustrations and Quotes, p. 195). … More

Faith

When we think of men of the Bible who walked by faith, we often think of men like Abraham who left his home land to follow God into a new land, of Noah who took many years to build a big boat when he had never seen it rain, and Peter who walked on water. We don’t think about the shepherds who were a great example of a walk of faith. The walk of faith by the shepherds involved:

Risk (v. 15) -
1. Of their jobs. When they returned their master might have replaced them.
2. Of their reputation. No doubt many said they were crazy.
3. Of their life. Faith begins where the familiar ends.
Trust (vv. 16-17) -
1. In what God had told them through the voice of the angels.
2. In where they would find the baby Jesus.
3. In whom they are to share their experience of faith with.
Example (vv. 18-20) -
1. To those who knew nothing about the Lord. “...all they that heard” (v. 18).
2. To those who knew the Lord. “But Mary kept all these things” (v. 19).
3. To those that they worked with. “.. returned glorifying and praising God” (v. 20).

The shepherds rushed to see the infant Christ, and then made known what they had heard concerning the child. Shepherds became the first New Testament evangelists!

Application

Lord, help me to walk by faith! I have spent most of my life walking by sight and not by faith.

Luke 2:15-20 (English Standard Version)

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.

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »