Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them . . . (and) said to them, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good tidings of great joy that will be for all people. . . . You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-9a, 10, 12b

Yesterday we were reminded that we don’t have to see Jesus to believe. Today we are reminded of the awe and amazement on the first Christmas morning for those who did see!

Can you imagine what it would have been like to be out on the hillside with the shepherds? The lights of Bethlehem would not have been bright, but there might have been a flicker here and there from a lamp or a fire. As a person moved about, he’d have been a little assured that someone was nearby, that he was not entirely alone. But it was dark. Really dark!

And out on the hillside, there was no sign of light, unless the shepherds built a fire to ward off the predators or to warm their bodies. Not only would it have been dark, but I imagine it would have been very quiet. Sheep are pretty quiet creatures unless some sound or unfamiliar person or predator disturbs them. Then music, the supernatural sound of angel wings, and light as they had never seen before greeted the shepherds! Some might say they were in awe of what they saw. I imagine their being terrified! Simple people, totally unaccustomed to spectacular occurrences, and suddenly supernatural light and beings filled everything all around them.

We read the story with such familiarity, without putting the drama of the occasion into our voices as we read, and we make it much less amazing than it was. Their hearts must have been beating so fast! I picture their being frozen in their tracks. Did the sheep run here and there bleating in terror, or were they too mesmerized by the light and the sound of wings and singing?

As they stood frozen and speechless – one of the beings said quietly, “Don’t be afraid!” His next words sound so unspectacular in the translation, but what these Jewish shepherds heard was this: “There’s a newborn baby in the city nearby, and he is the promised Messiah!”

The way the text reads and is often read aloud, it appears that the shepherds calmly got up and went to Bethlehem to see, until we read in verse 15 that they “hurried” off to discover if what they had seen and heard was accurate! For all their lives they’d heard of a coming Messiah. They’d just been told he was here! No wonder they hurried. They must have run, even in the darkness, to find their king!

We’ve been reading for the past three weeks about this baby not in a manger but in high priestly robes, standing before God on our behalf. I wonder if our response to that picture is not somewhat like that of the shepherds on the hillside. Don’t we stand back a little in awe, somewhat speechless, hearts beating a bit fast, and wonder at the enormity of the mind of God that he planned such an intricate way to reveal himself to the world?

A baby born in a manger to a couple of Jewish peasants – though born themselves into a royal line of kings – who was destined to become our High Priest, Lord, Perfect Sacrifice, and Savior? I imagine that as this Christmas day begins and we think seriously about the One whose birthday we celebrate, there is an angel standing somewhere nearby saying, “Don’t be afraid! I’ve got some really good news for you! This One whose birthday you celebrate is actually your Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”

Prayer: Father, sometimes we fail to understand what you are saying to us because we don’t read your word. Sometimes we fail because we are too familiar with the text and miss the little nuances that would change us. You have said that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Help us to read with perception, so that what you have promised – faith – can become actual in greater and greater dimension as we accept it for ourselves! Amen.

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

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