Humble beginning

Luke 2:1-20 NASB

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.  This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.  Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,  in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.  While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
  In the same region there were  some  shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;  for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  "This  will be  a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
  When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds  began  saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."  So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.  When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.  And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.  The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

My thoughts -

God became man. In the form of Jesus the Lord our God became a human. Not only a human but a baby. That which is immortal and invulnerable became one of us mortals in our most vulnerable state. This never ceases to amaze me.

God didn't come down in the form of a handsome, muscled warrior/king. God didn't come down in glory and become us at our supposed best. He came down as a baby born out of wedlock into a manger because no one had room for his family in a place that humans were supposed to live.

When our Lord came he came humbly. But not only that, look at to whom the good news was given first. Angels weren't sent to the wealthy. They didn't go to rulers or important people. They didn't seek an audience with kings. They went to the shepherds. Jesus was born humbly and his good news was given humbly. Our Gospel has some humble origins.

Again we see an angel appear and the first thing that happens is the people who see the angel are gripped with fear. I wonder where our pop culture idea of angels comes from. Say what you will about Kevin Smith but his depiction of angels in Dogma, while being sacrilegious, is also about the most Biblical depiction you will see in pop culture.

So the angel appears to the shepherds and they are gripped with fear. So the angel tells them nit to be afraid and gives them the good news about Jesus.

Maybe seeing a heavenly being on earth awakened them to God's plan and purpose, but I think the shepherds had about the best response you can have when you hear about Jesus. They went to see for themselves. They were given the good news and they dropped everything to go see. And they celebrated, rejoiced, and praised God.

These were not wealthy men. What wealth they had was their flocks. And they left them. They left everything. Because seeing Jesus for themselves was more important than all the wealth they had in this world.

How do we respond to Jesus? Do we drop everything to respond to him, like these shepherds did? As we go through Luke we will see this response to Jesus time and time again. I'm beginning to think that this is the only appropriate way to respond.