Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

The season of advent celebrates the arrival of Christ. It is a season of expectation, both for the peace of Christ, but also expectation of Messianic hope that sees salvation made incarnate and known. Therefore, this passage in Luke 2 sets the stage for an angelic experience with the most unlikely of characters. It shows the announcement of the Christ child to shepherds, people who were not the expected cast of people, but instead, were people of an ordinary and humble background.

The story opens by laying historical mile markers to help give reference to the time and period. It is in the “days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus” (v.1) and was the  “the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.” (v.2)  This would inevitably date the account and root it in a historical frame of reference. As Craig Evans observes, “The primary purpose of this first paragraph is to set the stage for the angelic anthem (vv13-14) and the visit of the shepherds (vv.15-20). Another purpose, however, is to place the birth of Jesus in the context of Rome’s greatest emperor, Caesar Augustus.”[1] The next few verses (vv.4-7) lay out the rising action, that Joseph must go back to Bethlehem to register for the census, and that upon their arrival, there was no room for them in the inn or guest house. Thus they find themselves in the stable, with Jesus born and placed in the manger, or as many have noted, was probably more of a feeding trough for the livestock. Barclay notes the impact of Christ’s birth being unkempt, in a manger, to unprepared parent, and he notes, “All through these readings we must have been thinking of the rough simplicity of the birth of the Son of God… It is the great thought of the Christian faith that we have a God who knows the life we live because he too lived it and claimed no special advantage over ordinary people.”[2]

The story then transitions to the main brunt of this passage; the shepherds and their angelic encounter. One of the intriguing elements of this story is the fact that it is the shepherds that receive the announcement. The shepherds signify a connection between David and Jesus, the true shepherd of Israel. This is a common scriptural allusion used in relation to God, that God is the good shepherd, and that the coming savior will be affiliated to David who was a shepherd, who would later allude to in several Psalms (23:1; 28:9; 100:3) that God is a shepherd and God’s people are like his flock, which is also hinted at in Ezekiel (34.23), as well as other prophetic texts that allude to God being Israel’s shepherd.[3]

Another significant element of the shepherds’ role in the story is the fact that they were people of low esteem on the social hierarchy. They were often of low education, they were rough around the edges, they were seen as people on the fringe. Therefore this announcement was a way of acknowledging that the people on the margins, the lowly, would be considered highly enough to be some of the first to know of Christ’s birth. This is a theme present throughout the gospels, which is to say, that God looks out for the forgotten and marginalized, and that this salvation is for all people.

Therefore, through the shepherds, David Neale observes a strong contrast in his commentary, stating, “The sacred geography of heaven invades the shepherds’ field. The advent of the Messiah transforms the ordinary… This juxtaposition of the extraordinary and the ordinary has been a thread throughout the story: an ordinary priest and his wife, a humble maiden, and now common shepherds - all are visited by extraordinary cosmic beings. The repetition of the theme of the inclusion of ‘all people’ (1:48, 2:10. 31; 3:6) further highlights the broad reach of this advent to common people.”[4] Therefore, the shepherds themselves are a significant focal point of the story, because by all cultural accounts they should have been discounted or forgotten. However, the shepherds are a reminder that the message of Jesus is for all people.

It’s also worth mentioning that the angels approach the shepherds and begin their announcement by sharing that they bring “good news” of “great joy” to share. They bear the news that people have been waiting for, that the Savior and Messiah was here. This good news is that the Messiah has been born, that the waiting was over, and that the reconciliation was available. This explains the significance the angels proclamation, because they use such powerful and important terms for Jesus, such as Lord, Messiah, and Savior as a way of announcing the ushering in of Israel’s deliverance, which would be different than they imagined, as it comes in the most unlikely package of a young child.[5]

Another aspect of this story worth noting comes later, in vv.15-20. It says that once the angels had left, the shepherds asked, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” (v.15) They left to see for themselves what they had heard about the Christ child. And after seeing the child, it says, “When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them,” (vv.17-18) The shepherds were witnesses to moment that would not only change them, but would shape history, and be a catalyst for salvation and reconciliation, not only for the people of Israel, but for all people throughout history. And it’s striking that after this experience their first inclination is not to horde the memories, but to share them and spread the word.

It can be argued that the shepherds were the first evangelists of the gospel, because the root of evangelism is the word evangelion, meaning good news. Therefore, like the angels had done for them, they sought to share the good news of great joy, to spread the word that salvation was here. The same reality exists for us, When we experience something that changes our lives, we can’t help but share it with others. This is what the shepherds did with the news of Jesus’ birth. They experienced the good news, the were witnesses of salvation and reconciliation in the incarnation, and they immediately sought to share their story and experience. In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Luke-Acts), Tremper Longman and David Garland note, “The shepherds of Luke 2 may, therefore, symbolize all the ordinary people who have joyfully received the gospel and have become in various ways pastors to others.”[6]

Therefore, Luke 2:1-20 shares a story of unlikely evangelists, receiving the gospel, experiencing it for themselves, and then seek to share that story with others. The story of the shepherds, is a story of a new king, the hope of deliverance, and the power of Good news for all people, even the shepherds. NT Wright observes “the point that Luke is making is clear. The birth of this little boy is the beginning of a confrontation between the kingdom of God - inn all its apparent weakness, insignificance and vulnerability - and the kingdoms of the word… When you look at the manger… It is pointing to the explosive truth that the baby lying there is already being spoken of as the true kind of the world.”[7] Therefore, this Advent season we are reminded that it’s a season where we celebrate the arrival of good news for everyone, that the Christ is here, and with him comes the restorative foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

[1] Craig A. Evans, New International Biblical Commentary: Luke (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), 35.

[2] William Barclay and Alister E. McGrath, The Gospel of Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2019), 28.

[3] Evans, 36.

[4] David A. Neale, Luke 1-9: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2011), 77.

[5] Evans, 37.

[6] Tremper Longman and David E. Garland, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke-Acts, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 78.

[7] N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: SPCK, 2004), 23-24.