Links for today’s readings:
Read: Ezra 10 Listen: (6:19)
Read: Revelation 9 Listen: (3:30)
Scripture Focus: Luke 2:8-12
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Reflection: What’s in a Sign? — Joy of Advent
By Jon Polk
It is one of the most familiar parts of the nativity narrative, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy!”
Shepherds shocked. Angels rejoicing. What a scene. As the shepherds attempt to process the stunning news, the angel provides confirmation for them in the form of a sign.
What kind of royal sign do you suppose these frightened shepherds were expecting? Perhaps a regal procession of dignitaries arriving in Bethlehem. That’d be a pretty good sign. How about some sort of supernatural proof, like a fire to light up the night sky! Now that would really be a sign!
Wait. What was that? The sign of this new king is that he’ll be clothed in rags and lying in a cattle trough? What kind of king is that?
It is, after all, a distinctive and remarkable sign, isn’t it? Not only did the news of Jesus’ birth first break to these shepherds, social outcasts of the day, but the sign of his birth was as common as any other baby born to the working-class poor.
But the shepherds understood, didn’t they? Later, they find the baby in a manger exactly as the angel said and when they leave Mary and Joseph, they glorify and praise God for what they have seen and heard.
Is it possible that the shepherds saw that, in his birth, this Savior Jesus was not all that different from them? Could they have somehow recognized the amazing humility of God’s divine condescension?
The eternal, immortal, omnipotent God, creator of the universe, squeezed his divinity and his identity into a tiny helpless infant, born to an average Jewish couple. He was not born as a great general or an emperor or some kind of public hero. Not our God.
Instead, he was born as a poor kid in a sleepy little town on the south side of Jerusalem. Talk about being from the wrong side of the tracks.
Truly God’s ways are not our ways and this unusual sign of his birth—a dingy manger and a ragged hand-me-down onesie—is evidence that God’s ways of ruling and bringing about his kingdom are far from obvious to us and certainly not based on power or coercion.
A king who profoundly identifies with his subjects, even to the point of being born among them? This is indeed a great joy for all people.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; let all flesh bless his holy Name forever and ever. — Psalm 145.22
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more about Humility and Joy — Joy of Advent
Ezra and Mary sought a spirit of humility as they spoke to God. Both were blessed by the hand of God through miraculous protection.
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