Here's Your Sign

Luke 2:12–15 “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,          “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” CONSIDER THIS I love the seven words that kick off our text for today: “This will be a sign to you.” Let’s be honest. We all need a good flashing neon sign in our lives, don’t we? That’s one of the many things I love about this Christmas story. There are signs and wonders all over it. Zechariah and Mary got an angel; not just any angel, they got the one with a name, Gabriel. The Magi got a star; not just any star, a moving star that led them to where they were supposed to go! Today, the shepherds get the same gift. The sign that they are looking for is a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. We’ll look at the significance of “swaddling cloths” found in the gospel text (Luke 2:12 ESV). Let’s go back to the shepherds “living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night” (v. 8). It’s what you would assume shepherds would do, correct? But there’s something special in relationship to these shepherds. Make no mistake, these were no ordinary shepherds. Sure, they did what ordinary shepherds would have done—watching over their flock, keeping them from harm, and helping to deliver the newborn lambs as they came into the world. So why were they special? Three words give us the clue: location, location, location. The shepherds were watching their flock out in the fields near Bethlehem, which is about five miles from Jerusalem. Given the proximity to where these shepherds were located, these shepherds were most likely priestly shepherds, meaning they both cared for the flock as well as provided the sacrificial lambs for the temple in Jerusalem. For a lamb to be worthy of sacrifice in the temple, there were certain conditions that had to be met. The lamb had to be spotless and unblemished. The shepherds would do two things with the newborns: they would inspect the lambs born out in the field meticulously, making sure they were flawless and without fault, and they would wrap the lambs in swaddling clothes, certifying their birth was a “holy birth” deemed as an acceptable sacrifice. Imagine the moment these shepherds heard the angels proclaim the Savior had come into the world, and he would be found wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. To the shepherds, they would have understood the announcement in a way most of us might have missed. It was the announcement of a holy birth, a baby, the Messiah, unblemished and without fault, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. When one angel announced the birth to the shepherds, it didn’t take long for all of heaven to join them as they sang out their first Christmas carol, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (v. 14). Then, the lights went out. Moments before, the Bethlehem hillside was illuminated by the glory of the angels singing and praising together. In an instant, darkness fell back over the hillside. I imagine the shepherds stood there momentarily, looking at one another and blinking their eyes. Then, suddenly in the stillness and the darkness of the night, one of the shepherds spoke up and said, “Perhaps we should go check this out.” And off they ran. THE PRAYER  God of wonder, as the angels joined their voices together in the heavenly chorus, “Glory to God in the highest,” may we join our voices and hearts in the same song today. Like the shepherds, may we move toward this same good news the angels pointed them to. Amen. THE QUESTIONS Looking at the text again for today, what was the response of the angels to the good news of great joy for all people, and what was the response of the shepherds? What would our world be like had they kept quiet? What should our response be today?