It is interesting to ponder the fact that God had an infinite amount of time to plan the details of Christmas.
Several things happened that took hundreds of years to develop.
The creation of the Roman Empire. This allowed Jesus to escape to Egypt after his birth. Jesus could travel without boundaries and in relative safety.
The magi came from the East. This is the country where Daniel lived and prophesized. They traveled as a result of studying texts of Daniel.
God arranged that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was stated that Jesus was to be a ruler, and it was organized a long time ago. Both of these were fulfilling the prophecy of Micah 5:2, “Bethlehem, Ephrathah, you are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Isreal whose origins are in the distant past will come from you on My behalf.” Micah said these words about 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
Isaiah, also, prophesied about 700 years before the birth of Jesus. He stated in Isaiah 9:6,” For a child is born to us, a son is given. The government will rest upon His shoulders.”
What was part of human life from the beginning - even with Cain and Abel - was the practice of sacrifices.
Lambs and sheep were scarified for centuries to atone for the sin in this broken relation between God and people.
Jesus was born to reconnect this broken relationship. This amount of love God has for us is unfathomable.
What is also an amazing display of God’s love is God planned from the beginning that an angel would appear to nearby shepherds. This is the first announcement of the birth of Jesus. Luke 2: 8 says “An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone all around them. They were much afraid. The angel said, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news of great joy which will be to every people. A savior is being born for you!”
God gave the least likely people- in eyes of the establishment- the honor to be the first to receive this glorious announcement.
William Barclay says “Shepards were despised by the orthodox good people of the day. They were quite unable to keep the details of the ceremonial law; they could not observe all the meticulous hand washings and all of the rules and regulations. Their flocks made far too constant demands on them; and so the orthodox looked down on them. It was to the simple men of the fields that God’s message first came. It is a lovely thought that the shepherds who looked after the Temple lambs were the first to see the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. There is speculation that these shepherds may have taken care of the sheep that were used for sacrifice in the temple. We know how in the temple an unblemished lamb was offered as a sacrifice. To see that perfect offerings were always available, the Temple authorities had their own private flocks. We know these flocks were pastured near Bethlehem.”
What is certain is that shepherds were treated as second class citizens because they were always in the field and could not participate in the ceremonial washing. They were considered disreputable and unclean. They were outcasts. In fact, these shepherds were the lowest because they were charged with the night watch.
These are the first people God chose to tell that the savior was being born. It is not accidental or insignificant that angels appeared to them. God loves and wants to make Himself available to everyone He created- even those shunned by society.
We celebrate Christmas because Luke 2:8 applies as much to us. That love is just as available to all of us today.
God planned Christmas because He loves us. God planned our eternity because He
loves us.
What a reason for a Merry Christmas!
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