[The Words of Advent] JOYSample

The Glory of Joy

We find ourselves in the countryside around Bethlehem, where Ruth and Boaz got married and gave birth to Obed, who gave birth to Jesse, who gave birth to King David.

Bethlehem (the house or the city of bread) is a major connector from the Old Testament to the New Testament. From the Abrahamic covenant through to the Davidic covenant that tells about a forever king through David’s line, it is Bethlehem where David was born and where Christ is about to be born.

In that same countryside, shepherds were out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night. Shepherds were the lowliest of workers. These particular shepherds were even the lowliest of the shepherds, because they were contract laborers. They didn’t even own the sheep. That is why they got to work during the worst watch—the night shift. Their schedule prevented them from going into town to get ceremonially clean in order to step into the temple. They were literally the unclean, the outcast.

These outcasts remind us of Ruth, the Moabite who came into Bethlehem as an outcast yet ultimately became a part of the lineage of Christ.

An angel appeared and gave these shepherds the news of Jesus’ arrival. God chose to extol this incredible news to these outcasts, the lowliest of sheep herders! The glory of God came to the least privileged. Why in the world did God reveal this incredible news to them? Why didn’t He do it to the priests or to the royals? Maybe He did it to show that Christ is available to all humankind.

It is believed that on these fields, these shepherds were keeping watch over the sheep that would eventually be sacrificed in the temple. What a paradox! Jesus, the Lamb of God, would eventually be sacrificed for our sins. And the news of His coming, the news of the Lamb who is also our Good Shepherd, was given to the shepherds who were keeping watch over the sheep who would be sacrificed for the sins of the nation.

For 400 years there had been silence from God, until an angel of the Lord broke that silence. In the fullness of time, the glory of the Lord overwhelmed them. The shepherds were greatly afraid. But they didn’t run or leave. They stayed because with that fear was the beginning of this incredible joy that comes with God’s glory in Christ Jesus. God’s glory returned!

Father, thank You that Your glory came back with Christ Jesus. I want to experience Your glory and Your joy today!