A Tiny Babe in My Arms
By Curtis Peter van Gorder
My friend’s wife gave birth to a darling little girl. When we visited them, I had the chance to hold the sweet baby in my arms. She was only a few weeks old and her head fit snugly in the palm of my hand while the other hand held her tiny body. I was overcome with emotion, that here in my hand was a new soul recently created by God to live among us.
I couldn’t help but think of the wonder of Christ coming to earth some 2,000 years ago. Imagine the God of the entire cosmos coming down and inhabiting our tiny planet and becoming a weak, helpless babe entirely reliant on others to take care of Him, just like this tiny infant lying in my arms. The little baby girl smiled in her sleep as though she were romping in a field of fragrant wildflowers chasing butterflies. I smiled, too.
My thoughts turned to the shepherds who visited Jesus lying in the manger. I wondered if they were given the chance to hold the baby. I imagine that they would have liked to. I wondered why God chose these humble folk to receive the angelic announcement rather than the revered religious leaders of His day. Randy Alcorn, a best-selling author and pastor, writes that in Jesus’ day “shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers.” Even though they cared for the sheep that were used as sin-cleansing sacrifices, they were forbidden to enter the gates of the temple because their dirty work made them ceremonially unclean.
I found it remarkable that, despite the fact that the esteemed religious scribes and rabbis knew that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), it seems that none of them bothered to accompany the wise men to visit the long-awaited Messiah. Good thing, too! Imagine if they had come along and Herod had found out the babe’s location. It shows once again that God is in control! Instead, the lowly shepherds were the ones chosen to find their way to Christ’s crib.
In relating to the nativity story of the shepherds, it is good to remember that we are all shepherds of some sort, whether it be in guiding our own children, managing our coworkers, or influencing others in some way. Shepherds and the sheep that they watch over hold a special place in God’s affections and symbolize His interactions with us. Throughout the Bible there are so many allusions to them.1 In John 10, Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd who protects and cares for the special needs of His flock. So, there is a lot that the Lord wants us to learn from these shepherds of yore, who were some of the first visitors to Jesus’ birth. There is much that we can apply in our lives.
A shepherd’s life is committed, and he sacrificially puts the needs of the sheep before his own comfort. There is a shepherd living near us, and I am amazed at his fortitude and stick-to-itiveness to care for his flock through all kinds of rainy and cold weather. We too should be wholeheartedly devoted to helping those we are responsible for.
These shepherds on that first Christmas saw an angelic revelation that gave them the message. They were obedient to the heavenly vision. God may not speak to us in a choir of heavenly hosts, but rather in a still small voice, saying, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). Not only did they go and see Christ, but they were so impressed that they shared the good news with everybody they met. Sharing our faith is best received when we tell others what happened to us when we met Jesus, just as these shepherds did. One of them might have recounted the story like this:
Shepherds like me don’t get lots of excitement out in the pastures, but I tell you, that night was a humdinger! A bright glorious angel appeared out of nowhere to a few of us! You are probably thinking the hot sun and the freezing nights tending sheep must have addled my brain, and maybe there’s some truth to that. But there was no denying what we saw! You can ask the others that were with me and they’ll tell you the same thing!
The angel said … what was it exactly? The angel started off with: “Don’t be afraid.” And I was like: Afraid? No, I’m not afraid, I’m plumb terrified... And then the messenger said, “I have good news of a great joy that shall be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord.” And then he said, “He is wrapped in cloth; go find him.” If that weren’t enough, a whole choir of angels appeared as backup singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!”
So after the show, we’re all sitting around stunned trying to process the whole event and asking each other: “Why us?” Then one of the shepherds asks, “Hey, what are we doing just sitting around here gabbing? Let’s go to Bethlehem and check it out! Maybe we can find the baby lying in a manger. There couldn’t be that many babies in a feeding trough, right?” So, we split, and sure enough, it didn’t take us that long to find that beautiful baby of promise.
I tell you, I was a different man after that. God chose me, and no one had ever chosen me for anything. I’ll never forget what the angel said to us: “I bring good news to all people.” And since I am one of those people, that includes me. And hey, it includes you, too. So that’s the good news. The Messiah is here at last and has come to save us! (See Luke 2:8–14.)
If the simple shepherds could share their faith, so can we. Let’s share the ecstatic wonder of Christ’s coming to live with us! All the angels in heaven rejoice when a soul repents and receives Him and enters into everlasting glory (Luke 15:10, John 3:16). This is the greatest joy of Christmas!
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