In a world where we’re encouraged to believe that our dreams will all come true, it’s hard for those for whom that’s all too obviously not the case. In a world where we’re encouraged to follow our hearts, it’s hard for those whose hearts are broken. In a world where we’re all supposed to be awesome, it’s hard for those who know just how ordinary they are.
Which, if we’re honest, is painfully true for us all.
And it’s hard to live in a world where you’re looked down on, considered insignificant, and of very little worth – something that was no less true in New Testament times.
Back then, shepherds were seen in just such a negative light. Economically poor and lacking in education, they were considered the lowest of the low. Often despised, they were thought so unreliable that they were rarely allowed to testify in court.
Yet it was to shepherds that God chose to announce the birth of His Son – the Saviour who had come to save His people from their sins. [Luke 2:10] And in making those held in low regard the first witnesses of the incarnation, God makes plain that salvation is for everyone, irrespective of social standing.
Furthermore He reverses the world’s expectations – something Jesus Himself would teach some thirty years later when He spoke of how, in the Kingdom of God, ‘the last will be first, and the first last.’ [Matthew 20:16]
But Jesus didn’t just say these things – He practiced what He preached. His life of sacrifice embodied His words, as He gave Himself for us.
For despite being the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus came not to be served but to serve – and give His life as a ransom for many. [Mark 10:45]. More than that, being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [Philippians 2:8]
But the one who humbled Himself so completely is the one God has highly exalted, on whom He has bestowed the name that is above every name – so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:9-11]
There is, therefore, real and rock solid hope for us all – if we confess our sins and gladly submit to the one who is above all things. For no matter how far we’ve sunk – or indeed been dragged under – and no matter how lowly our station in life, the God who opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble will surely lift us up too. [James 4:6]
For like Jesus, we too will be raised from the dead.
And so we can look forward with absolute confidence to the day when, having waited for the LORD, we shall renew our strength; we shall mount up with wings like eagles; we shall run and not grow weary; we shall walk and not faint. [Isaiah 40:31]
The day when, just as the shepherds glorified and praised God for all that they had heard and seen, so too will we [Luke 2:20] – for all hope will have been fulfilled, and everything will be just as we’ve been promised.
To read Day 10 from 2023, click here
To read Day 10 from 2024, click here
Some musings 