December 18, 2025

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT: JOY

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.’” (Luke 2.10)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

In order to understand the words of the Angel of the Lord (Luke 2.10) and the angel chorus who would add their praise (2.13-14), we should remember who the shepherds were that received those words on that “Silent Night, Holy Night.” Bethlehem, the City of Bread, was the ancestral home of David, the son of Jesse. who himself was the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth. That fact is important because it reflects the story of God’s compassion which made the blessing of His will extend to “all people.” The story of Ruth is a story of great joy as well. I would urge you, mighty ones of God, to take the time to read it and find the blessing of it for yourselves. As for this reflection, know that Jesse was the fruit of that labor of adoptive love. By that I mean that Jesse would not have existed if Boaz had not brought Ruth the Moabitess in to be his wife. She had given up the faith of her childhood to adopt the faith of Boaz. She did so because Boaz’s love born out of the faith he had in God covered her with mercy, grace and favor. She became one of “the people of God” and no longer just one of God’s people. (I have made that a theme in these Advent reflections.) This was the legacy passed on from generation to generation as the House of Boaz literally “broke bread” with Ruth. Bethlehem was akin to the buckle of Israel’s “wheat belt.” “Breaking bread” was the sign of fellowship and community extended to all people. It wasn’t just any bread, however, any more than the shepherds were just “any shepherds.”

The shepherds of Bethlehem, because of the legacy of King David who himself was a shepherd of renown, cared for the flocks of sheep used in the Temple worship at Jerusalem. They were sacred flocks set apart for the special duties of the priests who invoked the blessing of God’s favor in mercy and grace. It was the blood of those lambs who were slain that was poured out for the remission and forgiveness of the sins of the nation of Israel. Of course, in a great gathering of flocks, the sheep of Bethlehem would not look different from the others. However, the shepherds of Bethlehem knew the value and importance of keeping their flocks pure and prepared for the service for which they were intended. These shepherds were not in business for profit but for the prophecy of the salvation which was to come. Keeping the nation holy and prepared for the coming of the Messiah was their greatest desire. I might say it was their “pride and joy” as a special service to the God of their salvation in the past, present and future sense.

Not that shepherds across the land of Israel, or in any country, didn’t take their work seriously (and many just did it because it was a job to do that earned a living and they would do anything to make a profit), but the shepherds of Bethlehem were men of integrity bearing the image and reputation of the King, King David, upon their hearts, mind and souls. What a conflict and struggle it must have been to watch the fruit of the labors be reduced to “profit” for the king and priests of their day when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. There had not been a Davidic king of Israel since Hezekiah when Jeremiah was prophet. It was then that Jerusalem was destroyed and Israel fell under Babylonian rule. From that time forward, men from other nations (specifically Greece, Persia and Rome) served as kings keeping Israel under foreign rule in a compromised Jewish way. It might be easier to say they were “mostly Jewish.” King Herod was perhaps the least Jewish of them all in more ways than one. Even the priests, including the Chief High Priest, were corrupt and self-serving. The legacy of David as “priest, shepherd and king” was severely tarnished and nearly beyond hope of ever returning to power. Suffice it to say that the shepherds of Bethlehem had longed to see the day when their ministry would be re-valued instead of devalued. Still, in the midst of tragedy, they kept their vigil. As Luke reports their status on the night when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that cold dark night was more than just a meteorological assessment. Luke’s gospel declaration was a spiritual reality. Then came God!

Jesus taught about being prepared for the coming of the Kingdom of God. His illustration was picked up by the Apostle Paul who warned the Christ followers in Thessalonika to be vigilant as “the return of Christ would come like a thief in the night…when it is least expected.” Never had this been more real than in the experience of the shepherds of Bethlehem. Though they had been in waiting for generations after generations, keeping their “lamps” trimmed and burning as they did their watch fires, even against the cold of night which was the coldest before the dawn, staying prepared in case an enemy came to “steal, kill and destroy,” they were not prepared for what was about to happen to them. They were good and faithful men, and perhaps some women as well, keeping their posts and their purpose intact. Maybe it had finally become just a job, but it was still a job worth doing well because their faith made it so. There in that moment, symbolic of “when they least expected it,” it happened. Some of us may still sing those Christmas hymns interspersed with the modern praise and worship songs. One of those hymns I sing is “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.” I wonder if the shepherds sang such a hymn or song as they gathered close to the fires dotting the hills, plains and valleys around Bethlehem. Maybe they were even humming David’s song we call the “Twenty-third Psalm.” It would have been fitting that night, or rather that early morning on the first day of the week, for them to do so. Read it again yourselves, mighty ones of God, and prepare yourselves for the Christmas joy the shepherds were given as the fulfillment of that prophetic song which David sang a millennium prior. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want….” Then came God! Then came Joy! Then came Jesus, the long-expected One!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.