Jesus the Savior: Why God Announced Him to Shepherds

Introduction

The preacher begins with an image. He's just back from Germany, where he taught church history at a Bible institute. As a gift, he was given a tour of Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate. Since high school, he'd been struck by the images of the Wall coming down: those young people filling the square, climbing onto the wall, standing on top of the Brandenburg Gate. Standing there in person, the reality is different. There's almost no one around. The Wall no longer exists. All that's left are small colored cobblestones marking where it used to run.

"Sometimes we have an idea of what something will be like, and the reality is very different." That's exactly what's happening in Luke 2. The world of that day (and ours), has a ready-made idea of what a savior should look like. And what the angels announce to the shepherds is a Savior who is radically different: a builder of peace, and of an eternal peace at that.

Sermon outline

1. God announces the Savior to despised shepherds

• The text is Luke 2:8-12. Shepherds are spending the night in the fields, watching over their flock. An angel of the Lord appears to them, the glory of the Lord shines around them, and he announces "good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
• The preacher highlights a scandalous detail: God entrusts this testimony to shepherds. In that culture, shepherds were despised. They weren't even allowed to testify in a court of law. Remember Samuel arriving at Jesse's house to choose the future king: seven sons are presented to him, and none of them is the one. "Don't you have any other sons?" Ah yes, there's one left (David), but he's out watching the sheep. Jewish culture didn't think much of shepherds.
• These particular shepherds weren't just anyone, either. Right next to Bethlehem, close to Jerusalem, they were the ones who kept the sheep destined for temple sacrifices, a kind of "national flock," the elite of shepherds. But they were still shepherds. The elite of the poorest class in society.
• God could have chosen the king. Caesar Augustus, after all, was the one who had just ordered this census, the one who established the Pax Romana, the one the world called "savior of the world." Humanly speaking, that would have made for better publicity. Or why not the priests, right there in Jerusalem? But these are the very priests who, in Matthew 2, turn the child in to Herod, who then goes on to slaughter every boy two years old and under in Bethlehem.
• All that's left is these shepherds. And the message is just as revolutionary as the fact that it's announced to ordinary people. Paul explains the principle in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27: "For you see your calling, brothers, that not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong." God's method is radically different from the world's.

2. A name that says it all: Jesus, "Yahweh saves"

• A few months earlier, another angel had already come, this time to Joseph. Matthew 1:20-21: "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins."
• When Joseph discovers Mary is pregnant, the Holy Spirit is the last thing on his mind. He thinks of something far sadder. The angel arrives, and everything changes. No accident. No betrayal. This is a sovereign act of God, so much so that Joseph doesn't even get to choose the child's name.
• That detail matters. Rabbinic tradition held that the Messiah would be named by God himself. And indeed, it's God who gives the name. Jesus, Yeshua, means "Yahweh saves." Of course, at the time, plenty of boys were named Jesus. It was the hope of an entire people. But this child bears the name because he is what the name says. He is "God from true God, begotten, not made": born, yet existing from all eternity, without beginning or end, eternally God.
• Joseph obeys without protest. He doesn't ask "why my family?", he knows he descends from David's royal line. What should surprise him is this: this Savior will be an extraordinary Savior. The preacher quotes Charles Spurgeon: "He saves us from the penalty and guilt of sin, and then from its effect: the evil power of sin."
• This isn't a political salvation. It isn't a military salvation. It's a salvation for all eternity. It's a victory over an enemy stronger than Rome, an enemy that held Rome itself as a puppet: death, sin, the devil. "Jesus saves his people from their sins." That's why he doesn't arrive in broad daylight. That's why he must stay hidden for a while, growing up and living among the very people he came to save.

3. The Prince of Peace, not Caesar

• Back to Luke 2:13-14: "Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.'" He came to bring peace, because he is the Prince of Peace.
• The preacher raises a question we hear often: "If God is really God, why doesn't he step in decisively to stop all the evil in the world?" Good question. He's already come that way once before, at the flood, where he saved only one family. He stopped all the violence in a single stroke. The trouble with that question is that it's really calling for God's judgment. And whoever asks it would find themselves under that very judgment.
• It's a bit like someone standing in front of a police officer, mocking him, and asking, "Why aren't you doing anything?" If God chose to stop all evil today, that would mean judgment for you too. He will return one day to judge the earth. But because he is generous, because he loves the world, God took the judgment upon himself. That's the cross of Christ. He took all of humanity's shame, all that injustice, all that violence, all that selfishness, onto his own shoulders, so that whoever puts their faith in him can be delivered from judgment, filled with his Spirit, adopted into his family forever.
• Jesus gives himself. He is the sacrifice. Here is a Savior unlike any other. The world is full of heroes. But there is no Savior like Jesus.
• The peace Jesus brings will never win a Nobel Prize. That kind of prize is awarded by a committee of men who decide and grant the honor. Jesus didn't ask for a committee, he saves even those who would sit on such a committee, from their own sins. He follows the Father's orders. "Glory to God in the highest", this is the glory of a God who forgives the worst of humanity, the glory of a resurrection that transforms lives, the glory of an eternal peace.
• The preacher closes with an image: someone walking the streets of Paris in winter, when it's cold, when the wind cuts through the streets, when the buildings and the roads are gray, when the trees have no leaves left. He looks up, and sees the sunset, light in red, in orange, in pink, right above his head. "The Savior comes like his salvation": by pure divine initiative, in beauty, humble, eternal, in peace.

Key takeaways

• God chose despised shepherds (the elite of the poorest class), to announce the Savior's birth. His method is radically different from the world's: he confounds the wise through the weak, and the powerful through the small.
• The name Jesus isn't just any name. It comes from God himself and means "Yahweh saves." It says what the child is: God incarnate, come to save his people from their sins.
• This salvation isn't political or military. It targets an enemy stronger than Rome (death, sin, the devil), and it is eternal.
• If God stepped in today to stop all evil, that would mean judgment. Because he loves the world, he took the judgment upon himself at the cross. That's what a true Savior looks like.
• The peace of Jesus isn't awarded by a committee. It comes from above, freely, for whoever puts their faith in him.

Personal application

1. What ready-made idea do you carry about what God "should" be doing in your life? Are you willing to let the real God be different from what you expect?
2. God regularly chooses the "weak" to carry his message. Where do you see yourself as too small, too unqualified to be used by him, when that might be exactly where he wants to entrust you with something?
3. What do you actually expect from Jesus? A political savior, a wellness coach, an occasional fixer, or the Savior who takes your sin upon himself?
4. What kind of peace are you looking for? What price are you willing to pay to get it? Can that peace truly satisfy your soul and give you life?
5. Do you know, personally, today, the eternal peace that Jesus came to bring? If not, what's keeping you from receiving it?

Scripture cited

• Luke 2:8-14 · The shepherds, the angels, the announcement of the Savior, and the praise "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men."
• Matthew 1:20-21 · "You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins."
• 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 · "God chose the foolish things of the world... the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong."
• 1 Samuel 16:1-13 · Samuel at Jesse's house: the youngest son, David, is out watching the sheep while God chooses him as king.
• Matthew 2:16-18 · Herod slaughters the children of Bethlehem two years old and under.
• Ezekiel 34:11-16 · God presents himself as the shepherd of Israel.
• Philippians 2:5-8 · "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant."
• Isaiah 9:6-7 · "His name will be called... Prince of Peace."

Frequently asked questions

Why did God announce Jesus's birth to shepherds instead of kings or priests?

Because this is his method, and it's a bold theological choice. Shepherds were so despised in Jewish society that they weren't even allowed to testify in court. By choosing them, God is saying his kingdom doesn't work like the world's. Paul explains it in 1 Corinthians 1: God chooses the foolish things to put the wise to shame. And the symbolism runs deep: these shepherds, right by Bethlehem, kept the sheep destined for temple sacrifices. The Lamb of God is announced to those who keep the lambs.

What does the name "Jesus" actually mean?

Jesus, or Yeshua in Hebrew, means "Yahweh saves." Joseph doesn't choose it, God himself does, through the angel's voice. Many boys carried this name at the time, because it was the hope of an entire people. But this child doesn't just bear the name, he fulfills it. He is God come in the flesh to save his people from their sins.

If God is good, why doesn't he stop all the evil in the world right now?

The preacher takes the question seriously and gives an answer that unsettles. God has already intervened this way once (at the flood), and he saved only one family. If God stopped all evil today, that would mean judgment, and you would be caught up in it too. If he hasn't done it yet, it's out of generosity and love. At the cross, he chose to take the judgment upon himself, so that whoever puts their faith in Jesus can be delivered. Judgment is coming, but in the meantime, he holds the door of salvation wide open.