Luke Chapter 2

vs 11

Well, two promises instantly fulfilled in the prophecy of one verse. First is the saviour that comes from the line of David. Secondly is the Messiah, the Lord. These shepherds get the gospel explained to them in one sentence more clearly than anyone really gets it for another 30 years (mostly because Jesus persists in speaking in the 3rd person so much).

And you can see how easily it would be, even from that statement, to think of a political ruler - the saviour is coming from the line of David, after all, and it wasn't like the Jews to separate politics out of such a ruler (David was as much a spiritual ruler of Israel as a political ruler - feel free to argue with me if you want to be wrong) so they just expect the Messiah to be the same. And of course, it's what they wanted at the time too.

vs 12

Lo and behold, this sounds like it might be the baby next to Brian! Of course, Jesus seems to fit the bill pretty well. The angels didn't give them any address to find, no "Look in the barn at the "Sleep Inn" fellas". So I guess they just went to the nearest manger when they hit Bethlehem?

vs 13

That must have been nice. Or completely brown-trousers terrifying. I think when we think of a bunch of angels singing, we think of a choir. And I'm sure they can sing well. Oddly, though, I think of a bunch of bright white supernatural monsters that appear in the air and start chanting in scary tones. Perhaps that's drawing the bow too far. But I think comparing them with the King's Primary School Boys Castrati is probably going too far the other way.

vs 14

Well, they did say beforehand that it was good news for all men. Now, it turns out, it's only peace on men who God's favour rests on. Limited atonement strikes again!

vs 15

Ok, now this would be understandable if they'd been on some sort of drinking binge, and being shepherds, this isn't out of the ordinary. But Also, I guess, when most people hear voices from heaven, they tend to obey them (or whinge, and then obey them). Jonah proves the rule by being the exception.

vs 16

Perhaps these shepherds should have been super sleuths! They did their job pretty quickly there.

vs 17

Obviously seeing him per se was nothing special (except that he fulfilled the prophecy of the angels, in that he was wrapped in cloth and in a manger). But the fact that they'd seen angels foretelling his birth was probably enough to be worth spreading news about.

vs 18

"You're all drunk, it's disgusting!" may have been said once or twice, but Luke doesn't record that. The thing is, if the guys aren't trying to make money out of it, and they're not trying to stir up trouble for giggles, then why would they go around making this stuff up?

vs 19

I'm sorry, but NIV english scholars, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Treasured up? What the hell does that mean? NASB corrects your silly mistake with simply "treasured all these things". I guess the point of this is that Mary, having heard the story of the shepherds, and having also heard the angel of God before she was preggers and the words of Elizabeth when she was 'treasured up', can now ponder these things, these early answers to the claims of God, and be thankful that they are true.

This sort of statement also points us towards the idea that Luke had Mary as a primary source. I mean. who else could have told him this information?

vs 20

The shepherds returned to wherever they were, and seemed happy to have been involved. It obviously made a difference in their lives. "Awww, look at the baby!" may have been said. But more to the point, the idea that some day that kid might kick the Roman's arse and bring Israel closer to God were also nice thougts.