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The Earth Trembled and Darkness Fell

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Today is Palm Sunday, the day in the Scriptures when Jesus entered the gates of Jerusalem to the shouts of praise from the people. This praise was short-lived as many of the same people were quick to reject Jesus just a few days later. When Jesus was taken into custody, he declared it was the “hour that darkness reigned.” And in the midst of those darkest moments, Jesus brought the greatest victory. And it’s often in our darkest times of sorrow, grief, loneliness, or broken relationships that God speaks to us of His love and grace – and invites us into that victory. That’s the Jesus we celebrate today!

Where:

26As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?

32Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.

34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

35The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

39One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

40But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

44By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

Getting There:

Each Gospel writer invests a lot of time focused on the week of Jesus’ Passion – the triumphal entry through the gates of Jerusalem, the final teachings, the initiation of Communion, the betrayal, arrest, abandonment, denial, the mock trials and marches through the night to the High Priest and the Temple, then to Pilate, to Herod, and back to Pilate before carrying his own machine of execution, the Cross, to the place of crucifixion.

Our passage begins as Jesus, following a third brutal beating, is weighted down with the beam of his cross to begins the march of toward what was named “the place of the Skull.” He was complete exhaustion from the all-night marches and the punishing treatment and Jesus falls under the weight of the wooden cross beam.

And in the crowds among the onlookers from all over the Mediterranean and mixed in with the women of Jerusalem, the Roman centurion conscripts someone to carry this wooden cross behind Jesus as he progressed toward the place of crucifixion. Two things to know here before we move forward:

  1. The man conscripted is named Simon and he’s from the Libyan city of Cyrene. But we do know his name and his two sons, Rufus and Alexander, from John’s account. And that means he is known by the churches who would read this Gospel – likely a Christian and perhaps even one of the early Christians who show up helping in mission work in the Mediterranean and help found the church in Antioch in Acts.
  2. Jesus was fully deity, but also fully human. And his human body was on the brink of exhaustion.

And today I want to teach on what Jesus had said early on in his own teaching :

  • John writes that Jesus explained about this plan to reconcile us to the Father, John 10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus fully took the mission to completion of going to the Cross for the redemption of a world spinning out of control and restoration of a people who are called by His name.

  • After they finally voiced that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 16:21 that, “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

And today, we focus on the Cross and what it represents to people all over the globe. When Jesus endured the punishment and death of the Cross, he fulfilled the mission of redemption and restoration. And in Luke’s account His words and actions declare what He secures for us from the Cross.

There:

  1. Even in the deepest of hurts, Jesus gives forgiveness.

After being nailed onto the Cross and dropped upright into the ground, the four soldiers who formed the security detail for this execution site threw dice for the seamless robe Jesus wore under his outer clothing. The centurion in charge had watched his squad of four divide up Jesus’s sandals, belt, outer robe and head cover. Now they callously wager for the inner robe, not even aware that what they did was prophesied 1000 years before. This was exactly what the Psalmist would prophesy “They divided my clothes and cast lots for my garment.” Psalm 22.

And with the pain of the nails driven into the wood through his hands and feet by the very guards who gambled before him, Jesus called out to the Father and he gave forgiveness.

The immediate forgiveness was for the centurions before him. And we see this fulfilled when the lead centurion later confesses the Jesus must be the son of God.

But that gift of forgiveness extends through the centuries to all who acknowledge that it was our rebellion, our sin, that led Jesus to the Cross. While we didn’t toss dice for His clothes, we risked our eternity by ignoring God’s offer of forgiveness.

That was the very forgiveness I was offered as a young teen – this free gift of forgiveness for being satisfied separated from the Father who created and loved me, this gift of mercy that wipe my guilt and sin away so I could know God and discover what He created me for.

2. Even from the scandal of the Cross, Jesus reigns.

Illustration: When our kids were growing up, I would take some time with each one and read with them (it made for some long nights.) One of the series of books was from a British author named C.S. Lewis.  If you’ve read his Chronicles of Narnia, you know that the first book is about four young children who travel by way of a magic wardrobe to the land of Narnia, and they become Kings and Queens of this mystical land with the help of the powerful lion, Aslan. More than once, Lewis asserts that Narnia is never quite right unless a human was in charge. As a Christian, Lewis is pointing to two essential truths from Scripture:

  • God has made you and me stewards over His very own creation. We have been given a position of enjoying, taking care of, and stewarding or managing the resources of our world.
    • Genesis reminds us of this in the Creation story. When he first created humankind, he put them in charge of the land and all that lived on it.
    • And in those first few chapters we see examples of how well we manage what God has given us when we are in relationship with Him; and how badly it goes when we go our own way and ignore the call to be His own. Illustration: During those years as our three kids were beginning to own their choices, I would tell them: if you choose wisely and make good choices in line with our values, it will go well with you, and you will have more control in your life.

Illustration: In the same way, as Narnia goes well when humans are in charge, our world goes well when we represent the Father as we manage the creation He has made.

  • But a second truth, and even more important is this. While we are in charge, we also are our best when we live and work in relationship to our Creator. When the Father is in charge of our lives, when we are in covenant with Him and live in relationship to Him, we work best.
    • We are empowered
    • We are creative
    • We are liberated – we find freedom to succeed.
  • You and I are our best when we place our lives in a relationship of surrender and obedience to the Father. When we do, we manage life well and fulfill what He has created us to pursue.

This is what is restored to you and to me because Jesus chose to go to the Cross. And as the crowd scoffed and ridiculed Jesus as he hung on the Cross, as they derided him and mocked him, he never quit being who He is: “King”.

In fact, the last nails that were driven into the cross were the ones that secured the sign that declared who was from the top of the Cross.

If an onlooker stumbled into this place of crucifixion:

  • First, his eyes were riveted to the brutally beaten and wounded body of Jesus.
  • But as quickly as possible, his eyes would escape the horror to discover who might deserve such brutality. And they would see this epigraphae or titulus as it was called.
  • It was likely drawn in big black letters over a white graphite smeared background so people could see it from the crowd.
  • Each Gospel writer gives what the eyewitnesses saw during the traumatizing and horrendous experience.  
  • Above the thorn-crowned head of Jesus declared to the crowds and through the ages, This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

Even in his most painful moment, when he was on the Cross, he still reigned.

3. Even in the darkest of moments, Jesus calls us.

One of the most frequently used words in the New Testament that relates to our relationship to Jesus is the word “called.” The Apostle Paul says “we are called to one hope when we are called.” Peter writes that we are “called out of darkness into the wonderful new light.”

All four Gospel accounts record that Jesus was crucified between two robbers, the greater humiliation that He was surrounded by sinners and hung on the very cross that Barabbas the leader of the band of thieves would have died on.  But only Luke records that one thief recognized Jesus for who He was – the sinless Savior.

  • What kind of faith this man must have had? Jesus was on a Cross and not a throne. He was not in a visible place to give or grant anything.
  • “Remember me, King Jesus” he says, “when you come into your Kingdom.” If anyone could be King, it would be you.
  • And this repentant thief received the call. “Today you’ll be there.” What you missed out in your life apart from me, you’ll experience.
  • And from the Cross, when darkness ruled, Jesus extended a call to this thief who rightly was being punished. And as his strength ebbed in his own body on his own place of execution, this former thief with a destiny for eternity apart from the Father and all things good, stepped into the beauty of the fulness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Because Jesus called him.

Now Where:

Why has the Cross become such a symbol of hope for us? For the Roman soldiers and rulers, it was a scandal to even mention a crucifixion at a gathering it was so low and reserved for the worst of society. For the Jews, to have a religious leader, much less a Savior, die on a cross was a scandal that declared unworthiness. But for you and for me, the Cross represents the historical act of Jesus that changed our lives.

  • He forgave. Scripture says that each of us has revolted in our lives. We have taken our lives for ourselves and left Jesus out of our plans. And we return by declaring no more – I belong to Jesus now. And he forgives.
  • He took our shame. Jesus’ death on the Cross was the world’s attempt to humiliate the Son of God. But he took the Cross and made it the place of deliverance and restoration. He called us. He saw our need and knew our name. And by saying yes to this gift of forgiveness and wholeness, we say yes to His calling. To fulfill what he created us to be as a people, as a church, and the gifted and called person you are. But it has to begin at the Cross.
  • When Jesus surrendered his Spirit and died, the Gospels say that the earth tremble and darkness, physical darkness fell over the city. And the curtain that kept people from God’s presence in the Temple was split from top to bottom In Jesus’ death, we are invited into His presence to experience His wholeness and forgiveness, and step into His call on our lives.
  • And it begins at the cross.

Victory in the Darkness

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I want to begin today with our first few verses of our passage this morning in Luke 22:

52Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? 53Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.” 54So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 

We are at the beginning of Passion Weekend when Jesus faced betrayal, abandonment, arrest, torture, trial, conviction, and the Cross. Jesus here calls the weekend of his suffering “the time when the power of darkness reigns.” It’s the moment in history when the earth literally shook, and the Kingdom of God invaded and changed our world for eternity.  It’s the time in all of history that settles salvation for those who choose to follow Jesus as He secures victory in the midst of the darkness. Jesus is our victorious King who accomplished the greatest act of compassion when darkness ruled. He’s worthy of our worship today.

Join me again in Luke 22 and I’ll pick up our passage at the end of v. 53 and we will read through v. 71. I’m in the NLT today in case you want to follow along in our live event on YouVersion.

Where:

 53Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.

54So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. 55The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there. 56A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally, she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!”

57But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!”

58After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!”

“No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted.

59About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.”

60But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

61At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 62And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.

63The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?” 65And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at him.

66At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council, 67and they said, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”

But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. 68And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. 69But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand.”

70They all shouted, “So, are you claiming to be the Son of God?”

And he replied, “You say that I am.”

71“Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard him say it.”

Getting There:

Today’s passage and our message on Victory in the Darkness looks into some of the most personal moments and some of the most painful experiences in the Gospels. The brutality of Jesus arrest is contrasted with a most intimately personal wordless exchange between Jesus and his disciple Simon Peter.

And right before the verses we read this morning, Judas leads the arresting gang to Jesus in the privacy of his place of prayer. The council of religious leaders had access. Judas, one of Jesus’ best friends, had turned on him to protect his bank.

  • Judas, as one of the Twelve, walked right in without a challenge – and he was closely followed by the ruffians and guards with clubs and blades.
  • If we expand the scene, you can see hiding behind the mob the religious leaders – cowards and afraid of Jesus, of the crowds, and of truth – keeping a safe distance to make sure they didn’t get caught in a skirmish and didn’t get their robes dirty.
  • And Judas, in typical Middle Eastern fashion, said hello to Jesus with a kiss.

And at that very moment, the power of darkness gained the upper hand.

In these verses, one betrays Jesus, one tried to take things into his own hands by breaking out the two swords they had, all would abandon the scene, and one would even deny ever knowing Jesus.

And the power of darkness ruled.

But it had to. And over the next three days darkness like a covering of chaos and hate fell over the city of Jerusalem and beyond. And in the midst of the darkness, God’s greatest victory was won.

There:

  1. When the Darkness Fell, the Hate Increased. When Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, the door opened for darkness to pour in. The Guards and ruffians and the religious hierarchy stepped into the darkness and took Jesus into custody. Look how it happened:

The apprehension – earlier, the disciples bragged that they had two swords at their ready. When the guards took Jesus, one disciple took the sword and slice the ear from a guard. All four Gospel accounts include this and John names Peter as the sword bearer and Malchus as the casualty. 1) For the most, when a person is named, it is because that person is known to the believers. He very well could have become a Christ-follower. 2) That Jesus heals his ear on the spot is evidence that darkness, even the darkness of violence, can’t contain the Victory Jesus brings.

The march – Luke only records the march to the high priest’s house and back to the temple for trial. The other Gospel writers record the march from the trial to Pilate, to Herod, and back to Pilate, followed by the scourging and the final march up the hill to the Cross.

Though it’s a brief verse, the words here and the further account in the Gospels are that they violently arrested him. Even though he submitted to this, they took him violently and force marched him from site to site. Hands bound likely behind his back, pushed step-by-step off balanced to be tried illegally at night – the decision is handed down in the dark by Annas, and his son-in-law and high priest, Caiaphas.

Then he was marched to the temple so the verdict could be ratified, and rubber stamped by their supporters on the Jewish council at first crack of dawn to give the appearance of legality. They declared Jesus a heretic with hopes that the Romans would grant a swift execution. As many as 22 laws were broken in a single verdict so they could keep power. And darkness ruled.

  • The beatings – Luke records the first of at least four specific times and each place of physical beatings Jesus endured within the span of nine hours on the way to the Cross.

After the pretrial verdict from the high priest, the guards in charge unleashed their fury on Jesus. Here Luke uses the word for roughing Him up by pushing, punching, and beating him. And he writes that this is just a sampling of what they did to Jesus.

But the other gospels fill in the experience – as they spent their hatred and everything about life that had built cruelty into their sinews – they slapped him with open hands and punched him with closed fists, they spit on him, they beat him in ways that flayed back his skin, they threw him around violently, and beat him with rods. Then, they blindfolded him so they could mock him with anonymity. The darkness ruled.

  • The darkness – Church, in this darkest of nights, when hate flowed freely, God’s victory was secured. In the midst of the violence and hate, Love wins.

I Cor 13 tells us that, “we know in part” and we see as with a dimly focused mirror the depth of God’s love and the beauty of His presence. But because of the Father’s love through Jesus not just enduring the darkness, but winning the victory, we will see Him face-to-face.  

2. In the Darkest Moment, Compassion is Unveiled. And right in the middle of the account of Jesus’ arrest, Luke and all the other Gospel writers recount the Peter’s conversations disowning Jesus.

First, to the servant girl who was the door keeper, he denied being one of Jesus followers.

Second, to another servant, most likely the same girl who was off duty and around the fire, he denied being with “one of them” with Jesus. Peter knows he is “One of them.” Guilt by association, if Jesus is a rebel, then Peter is one of the rebels he was leading.

Third, restless and milling around the fire, Peter is feeling the darkness and chaos of the night, and he is watching for Jesus. But Peter never was good staying under the radar. A little later as the pre-trial with the high priest came to a close, the servants crowded around the fire confronted him again, including one who knew the man whose ear was cut off, and Peter not only denies Jesus, but disowns him with a curse.

And in a most personal and intimate way, Jesus communicates with Peter through a look, perhaps as he is leaving the high priest’s house. Face-to-face, and heart-to-heart, Peter knows that look because he’d seen in before – a look of sadness perhaps, mingled with compassion, forgiveness, and hope. He knew his sin and denial, but he knew Jesus’ mercy. In his darkest moment, Jesus’ love and mercy conquer his heart.

The verse says he fled “toward the dawn”. He ran into the light. He wept painful, stinging, tears and cried loud and long. Mark says he threw his cloak hood over his face, perhaps to hide his shame. But the cloak came off and who he was came into the light. The best place for screw ups and failures is to come into the light. What comes into the light can be forgiven. Perhaps the mystery behind all that happened, really happened to Judas in his heart and in his final moments is because he avoided the light. But here we have the full display of both what Peter did and how he responded in repentance.

3. In the Midst of the Darkness, The Kingdom Wins.  In His plans, the Father sent His only Son in the flesh to suffer and die, to face the enemy in the darkness moments in history, so that He could bring the Good News of the Kingdom. We can try to fully understand it, but we keep returning to the depth of this mystery called redemption.

What did the early Christians say? “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” Jesus in this mystery of grace and compassion stepped from eternity into our history, died and went to the grave, for the express purpose to conquer death and initiate a Kingdom of heaven take over, one person at a time, one neighborhood at a time, one nation at a time. He brought the gift of salvation and a fresh relationship with the Father through his mercy. So, you and I could enjoy that relationship for eternity, and so you could live as representatives of the King here.

The earliest creed we find in the Bible is this: Jesus is Lord. We belong to Jesus and we are the redeemed so we can give hope to our world around us – that the one who knows us best, loves us and had offered us life abundant and eternal.

In Luke 10 when the disciples and the extended group of followers return from a ministry trip and they can hardly contain their excitement over how the Kingdom of God impacted lives, Jesus declares this: I was watching Satan fall like a flash of lightning to the earth. When the Kingdom invaded earth through the presence of Jesus, the fall of the enemy was both swift and cataclysmic to the Kingdom of darkness.

And as Jesus followers live out the Kingdom values and bring His message of salvation and forgiveness and love others unconditionally and pray for His presence to bring life and healing and hope, Jesus said when his disciples returned from their ministry trip that he saw the progression of the enemy’s demise quick and complete. And we are a part of bringing the enemy’s demise in lives one prayer, one story, one act of compassion, one saved and delivered and heal person at a time. The Kingdom wins.

Illustration: You and I have been in dark places before. Grief. Guilt. Confusion. Depression. Loneliness. And it is in that darkness we experience that we cry out for mercy, and God makes his presence known. When I sat on the back seat in a church in the midst of bad choices, I cried out to God for His mercy, and His Kingdom presence came and conquered my heart. When I waited alone in the waiting room of the hospital after six hours of a surgery on Susan that should take only an hour or so, I asked God to meet me, and He did.

Pray: Do you have a dark place? Jesus brings victory in the darkness.

Surprised by an Angel… and the Call to Tell the Story!

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Nearly everyone loves to hear a good story. Movies, novels, poems, and digital versions of it all, invite us to become a part of the action or the suspense, or the romance, or the journey. Most stories we read or watch or listen to come and go. They may touch us or speak a bit; but they are easily filed away somewhere dusty and hard to find. Some stories are grab our hearts and our imagination. We identify with the people or the crisis they face and how they survive.

Then, there is the story that comes along once in a lifetime. Not only does it capture our imagination – it changes our lives. We look back on this rare story, the characters and what they experienced, and we realize that what happened meets us right where we live, it changes how we see life, and that story redefines who and, more importantly, why we are.

That’s the story the sheepherders found themselves a part of over 2000 years ago on the hillside overlooking the town of Bethlehem. Luke 2:1-20 are the verses that, surprisingly, make up an assignment my high school teacher at NMBHS way back when had me memorize and recite (yes, that was another day.)

It’s the story of Joseph and his betrothed wife Mary, their trek to Bethlehem, the birth of God’s one and only son, Jesus, and a bunch of unwary sheepherders who became a part of the Story of stories.

1At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2(This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

This baby, who is both King and Savior, was born in perhaps the most available and approachable place in the town – in a stable around the corner from a hostel, just shouting distance from the streets of the town. God chose to send His Son, fully human and fully God, to be born where word would get out. And this prepared the town for what happened next. And, this is when the sheepherders are invited into the story.

8That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. 

The Good New story met the sheepherders right where they lived. And it began with the herders who drew the night watch. While their partners caught up on sleep, an angel appeared right in the middle of their conversations. And this angel had just come from the presence of the Father to bring the news about the Son. And the glory of God remained.

And they were terrified. They were used to fighting off wild animals or climbing down the cliffs to rescue a lamb. But, an angel! How many times in the Bible did God show up through His presence, through a vision, or through an angel’s visit – They were scared beyond words. And the answer: Don’t be scared! God met these sheepherders right where they lived.

  11 “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

If the angel’s visit was at first terrifying, the message that he brought was liberating. As good Jewish sheepherders, they heard this message through all they knew about Lord God of Israel.

  • Good news means freedom.
  • Messiah and Lord means salvation.
  • And if you throw in King David, they understood they would be God’s people again, under the rule of His King.

The message from the throne room of God through this single angel literally changed who they were. Sure, they remained sheepherders. But this Good News brought the promise of…

  • Peace that comes with freedom from the oppression of the enemy.
  • Hope that comes with the promised Messiah.
  • Celebrative Joy that comes with being together as God’s people ruled by His King.

And whether in response to the Good News being proclaimed on the hillside or in response to the faith and joy of the shepherds, the worship of the heavens broke through into the physical realm, and…

13Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

This was more than the sheepherders could contain and, by now they were all together on the hillside echoing the same rejoicing. They had to see it for themselves.

15When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

There in a stable for animals, the greatest expression of God’s love slept. The message propelled the shepherds to check it out for themselves and discover if the Good News was really the Good News. And it was. And it changed both who and why they were. They had to tell others and fanned out through the streets of the town telling anyone they saw that Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord and King was born – in a stable, just around the corner, right where anyone could find Him.

The Good News met the shepherd right where they lived, and the truth of the message of Christmas transformed who they were and became the reason for why they lived. God’s great Story intersected their story and surprised them and transformed them.

  • This Christmas – surprise you with His peace, His love, His joy, His hope. He is God near to us.
  • His Good news meets us where we do life.
  • He invites you to approach Him, come to him – with fears, with broken plans and promised, with empty and dead spots in our lives.
  • And he speaks to you right now – no fear except the awe of a Savior with unchangeable love, no loneliness or emptiness because he fills us and comes close, no dead spots because he brings life and mercy.

Welcome again to the Story. Praying it intersects your story frequently in 2020!