Come And See
“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” – Luke 2: 15-18
As I read this portion of the Christmas story, I always have two questions:
1) What did the Shepherds do with the sheep? The sheep were their responsibility, and they would lose their jobs if they simply abandoned them. Yet, we recognize that they must have figured something out, whether they brought them all with them into Bethlehem or took turns to go see the Christ child for themselves. They found a way to make it work, and they were so glad that they did.
2) Why didn’t the people who heard the good news from the shepherds not go and see for themselves? The shepherds were announcing the birth of the Messiah, the promised Savior the Jewish people had been waiting centuries for. This was great news, and you would think curiosity alone would compel them to see if what the shepherds said was true. Yet, while they wondered at what the shepherds told them, we don’t see anyone else coming to see the Christ child and share in the joy of this event. Perhaps they thought the shepherds were weird and were to be disregarded; perhaps they were upset at being awakened, and just wanted to go back to sleep. Whatever the case, they all found an excuse not to, and in so doing they missed out on being a part of what, to that point, was the most significant event in world history.
While these events happened over 2000 years ago, the response to Jesus remains the same. There are a few who, upon hearing of the good news of Jesus Christ, determine to seek Him out for themselves, and upon finding Him their lives are forever changed. Sadly, there are many more who instead, for whatever reason, choose not to see for themselves, and in so doing miss out on a life and destiny changing encounter.
This Christmas, if you are not one of the few, but one of the many, I welcome you to discover the Christ of Christmas for yourself; you will be glad you did.
On behalf of all the members of Redemption Baptist Church, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Scott Holloway
Pastor, Redemption Baptist Church
