“Windows On Christmas” (Part Two)

This week we examine the familiar Christmas story again, but through the eyes of the folks that were there. Yesterday we saw the perspective of the angels (exaltation) and the perspective of Mary (wonder). Today we add two more…

Shepherds (v.20)

• And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The shepherds’ reaction? CELEBRATION- also, fear, amazement, witness, but here, celebration for (1) the Christ child, and (2) the accuracy of the angelic message. Our Christmases are also marked by celebration, but they are often horizontal—at a merely human level. Their celebration, however, was vertical in nature, pointing to the God of heaven.

Joseph (vv.21-24)

• And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (22) And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (23) (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) (24) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

Reaction? OBEDIENCE- Though Joseph is not named by Luke, he was there and he was engaged. In fact, Old Testament law demanded a sacrifice for the birth of a child and for the purification of the mother (Lev.12:6-8). Joseph (preparing the way for Jesus- Matt 5:17) fulfilled the expectations of the law concerning this special birth. In fact, every time Joseph steps into the picture, he is being obedient—to the Word, to angelic messengers, to the Law. His was a heart of obedience.

Tomorrow, we will see two final perspectives of the Christmas story.