Shepherds, Why This Jubilee?
Luke 2:10-11 ESV
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
The shepherds had very real reasons to fear the angels.
Shepherds carried a poor reputation. They were known to abandon their sheep in moments of real danger. And beyond their reputation, they were also—quite literally—some of the smelliest people around. Long nights in the fields, surrounded by sheep, meant dirt, manure, and the unmistakable smell that came with it. Turns out when you hang around sheep all day, you end up smelling like one too.
Thus, they were rarely ceremonially clean, which meant they didn’t regularly participate in temple worship. They lived on the margins—religiously, socially, and culturally.
But instead of encountering a news of judgement from God’s messengers, they encounter one of grace. It is grace that finds these shepherds.
In this season, I pray grace would encounter you. I pray that you would allow grace to step into your circumstance. And I pray we would receive the gift of Jesus in our own lives.
Can I encourage you today? Christmas is our reminder that Jesus has entered into the darkness—our own personal darkness even. Not for those who have it all figured out, but for those willing to say, “I need You.”
Christmas is God coming to us, not our climb up the ladder. And that should cause great joy.
I love this line from one of the most popular Christmas songs:
“Shepherds, why this jubilee?”
There is joy because this is grace—grace that we have been let in on the good news of God’s Kingdom. Grace that the door has been opened, not just to a few, but to all who would believe. I pray our neighbors would catch us singing of His goodness, and that they might even ask, “Sunland neighbor, why this jubilee? Why this joy?”
Let me leave you with this prayer from Darrell Johnson’s Awake, Wonder:
All glory to You, great God, for the gift of Your Son—
light in the darkness and hope of the world—
whom You sent to save us.
With singing angels, let us praise Your name
and tell the earth His story,
that all may believe, rejoice, and bow down,
acknowledging Your love through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
