FOR YOU

FOR YOU

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10–11

According to the angels, Christ was born for the shepherds. Somehow, I think He was born for far more than the shepherds. He was born for the shepherds all right, He was also born for shepherds from every country and every age of our world. Actually, He was born for accountants and grocers, watch makers and ballerinas, housewives and tribal leaders. The point the angels were making is that He was born for you. This is where faith comes in. Faith is more than believing something, faith is tasting the reality of the unseen. Faith perceives things as real, faith perceives things as personal. Faith realizes that Christ was born for you. Luther was used by The Lord to reintroduce the message of salvation by faith to our world. Here is how he saw the birth of Christ.

“No matter where you’re reading in the Bible, faith is the first mystery you should recognize. Faith is not believing that the story you’re reading is true as written. That does nothing for anyone. Even unbelievers can believe that this Bible story about Jesus’ birth is true. Faith is not a natural work apart from God’s grace, as the Scripture clearly teaches. Rather, the right kind of faith, the kind that flows from grace and that God’s Word demands, is firmly believing that Christ was born for you. His birth is yours and occurred for your benefit. For the gospel teaches that Christ was born for our benefit and that everything he did and suffered was for us. As the angel says here, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.” With these words, you can clearly see that he was born for all of us.”

After that night the angels sang for the shepherds their lives could not return to normal. They entered into a new normal defined by what they saw at the manger that night. It wasn’t the angel’s song that changed the life of the shepherds, it was the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths. They were witnesses of the birth of the Son of God. All of history rotates around that great night, the night the Word became flesh, the night the creator entered into His creation. Luke probably interviewed these men (the ones still alive) almost 50 years later. I can imagine the faces of these old men as they retold their story to Luke. The angels’ song was amazing but what changed their lives was the child. The king of glory was there in an animal feeding trough, even in these unusual circumstances the glory was unmistakeable. The glory wasn’t noticed by everyone, only those whose hearts had been opened by faith.