Walking in to the living room I announced to my parents, "Albert and I are getting married!" Without even looking up from their newspapers my Mom said, "Isn't he a little old?" and my dad said, "What does that matter, two of them married men their ages and are already broken up." "That's true" my Mom said and they continued reading. Long ago I was told this was a similar reaction to all the good news given to them, but it's hard to believe they wouldn't generate some enthusiasm.
I remember many years ago, the Queen drove through Windsor, ON and people poured into the streets to get a glimpse of her as she drove by. Signs were made, flags were waved, cameras were deployed. Children waited eagerly to see the only sovereign they've ever personally seen. People stuck at home tuned in to local news to see the event unfold. What excitement was generated over this brief visit to our area.
2000ish years ago an angel appeared to some shepherds tending their flocks in the night (Lk. 2:8,9). He brought amazing news "a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" has been born and here are the directions to find him. Suddenly, a multitude of angels giving glory to God appear to the shepherds (v.13,14) Of course the shepherds go and find the baby just as the angel said they would. Of course they can't keep this astounding news to themselves, after all, they (the Jews) have been waiting for their Savior for centuries!
And seeing, they publicly told about the word spoken to them concerning this Child. And all those who heard marveled about the things spoken to them by the shepherds. Lk. 2:17,18
So the response from the exciting news the shepherds shared was greeted with enthusiastic Wow's as the people went on with their lives. (There is no Biblical account of anyone else visiting the babe except the wise men later in his life.) You'd think the people would have swarmed to see the baby who would be Savior. You'd think they would have begged for directions to go see him. At the very least you'd think there would have been more excitement in the townsfolk. They heard and understood what the Shepherds were saying, yet they were content to just wonder at what happened but not do anything about it.
Was it that they didn't believe the shepherds saw and heard what they did, or did the people think they had lost their minds? Perhaps they just thought the shepherds misunderstood the message from the angel. Any way you look at it, they just didn't respond to the marvelous news about the Savior. So there were no signs, no line ups of people, no excitement over the coming of the Savior they'd been waiting for so long.
This morning as I read the non-reaction of the towns people to the news I thought how very similar it is to our enthusiasm for the Lord today. We don't run around sharing the good news publicly nor do we respond to the good news with enthusiasm or run to 'see' the Lord. In fact, we mostly continue on with our lives as if nothing has changed and just marvel at the things written in the Book. Do we really believe the words in the Bible especially concerning Jesus Christ? Because if we truly believe it will change our lives and we will want to tell everyone and 'go' to worship the Savior.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; Ps. 19:7,8 all ESV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2Cor. 5:17
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Col. 3:10
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2Cor. 5:17
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Col. 3:10