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Transcript 002A — Why Did the Angels Appear to Shepherds Only?
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Hello, Mr. Camping. I'd like to ask you a question about, the other night you were talking about the manger and Christ and the Christmas story, and why He came in a manger. And I was wondering why the angels appeared only to the shepherds and not to anyone else. Why didn't they come to the chief priests and the rabbis or all the princes of the day?
HC: Yes, that's a very curious question, isn't it? We read that there were a few shepherds abiding on the hills, who were keeping watch over their flocks by night. And these shepherds were certainly not very great. These shepherds had no standing. The big people, the high priests and the king and all the others, wouldn't have been out there as shepherds. Why would God come only to these shepherds to announce the birth of the Lord Jesus?
We read about this in Luke 2:8: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. 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 has 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 this saying, which was told them concerning this child."
Now notice that in this statement the angel declares this, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior." These shepherds, who were very lowly people, were actually a type or figure or representation of all that Christ had come to seek and to save. Jesus came for the lost of the world. And the lost are those who are the off-scouring of the nations, those who have no standing in the nations. They're just people for whom Christ came to pay their sins. And when we become saved, of course, then we in turn become a shepherd. We, as ambassadors of Christ, are given the task of sending forth the Gospel into the world. We care for the sheep of the world, if you will.
It's very significant that after they had seen the Christ child they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And that's a picture of all of us. When we come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we want to use our time and energy and money, etc., in order that the Gospel might go into the world because this is the dynamic task that God has assigned to us.
These shepherds, therefore, were a dramatic picture of all who would believe on Him, all for whom Christ had come to die. And they were the only ones that Jesus told about His birth at this particular time, or that the angels told about His birth at this particular time. And they typified all of us who have become shepherds to the world.
CALLER: Thank you.
HC: Thank you for calling. Good night.