In many places in the Old Testament we find “types” of Jesus, literally, other Bible characters whose lives reflect all or part of the life of Jesus and His ministry. As we learn from our reading today, David the son of Jesse was anointed to take the Throne of Israel at a young age. Jesus was destined to take the Throne of David, which was to be an everlasting Throne (Psalm 93:2 “Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.”)
It was many years before David was actually installed on Israel’s Throne to rule and lead the nation. Saul, the King at the time had lost favor with the Lord, and God sent the Prophet Samuel to anoint David in Saul’s place. David was anointed to be King while he was a lad tending his father’s sheep. If this sounds familiar, it should, for Jesus has been tending the flocks of His Father for centuries, and it is still a yet future date when Jesus will take the Throne of His earthly ancestor David, in Jerusalem.
In today’s main text, we learn of the shepherds tending their flocks by night outside of Bethlehem. The Angel of the Lord appears to them and told them of tidings of great joy. The shepherds headed in from the fields and found this infant-King, just as the Angel had told them, laying in a manger, and wrapped in swaddling clothes.
For Jesus, like David, it would be many years before He began His public ministry, and at the age of 30, He began to choose His Apostles, and they followed Him as He traveled throughout Israel teaching people the words of His Father, the way they were meant to be taught, learned, and lived.
And it was three years later that Jesus directs Peter to feed His lambs, feed His sheep, and again, feed His sheep.
Jesus is our eternal shepherd, and we are the flocks of His pasture!
“And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Today's Audio Message: "Finding Our Shepherd-King" - Luke 2:1-24
The birth of Jesus - God steps in to redeem mankind.
There was no pretense in the arrival of the Son of God. Rather, Jesus made His appearance in the lowliest of circumstances. His humble birth conveys an amazing message to us, that God chose to humble himself greatly for our sake. The Son of God would clothe Himself in humanity, to offer Himself as the pure sacrificial lamb for our sin, paying the penalty of judgment for those who would believe. The King of kings came humbly, and His first bed was a manger. It was quite a contrast to the birth of John the Baptist whose birth was announced everywhere in the city, and at the temple.
Jesus arrival was virtually unknown to the world, yet His birth would draw an angelic host, and shepherds who were privileged to share in what would be the most fantastic event in history, they would see God’s sign in the heavens, they would become witnesses of Jesus birth, and they would bear the testimony of God’s work and share the wondrous news of the birth Christ, they would also be praising God for all they had seen and heard.
The birth of Jesus is set apart from all other births in history, for this is the arrival of God’s Son, the promise of God’s Word being fulfilled, His plan at work. They break out in praise to God because they are witnesses to the fulfillment of scripture. They are praising God for sending the Messiah. They are praising God because the Savior has come. They are praising God, for the realization of truth. They are praising God for the glorious hope they have seen with their own eyes.
Jesus is our Shepherd-King. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the one who will sit on the throne of David forever. He is The Son of David, the expected One, and He comes to set His people free from their yoke of bondage. He is the One with authority over us, yet He is a gentle and never forces His way into our lives. He is the One Who told the believers in Revelation 3:20 that He stands at the door, knocking and waiting for them to open the doors of their hearts and let Him come in and fellowship with them.
