Women of
Courage – Anna, Feb. 15, 2014
We began with the shepherds that knew that Jesus was the Christ at his birth.
We read Luke 2:8-20 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign
unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them
into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto
Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made
known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had
seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this
child.
18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which
were told them by the shepherds.19 But Mary kept all these
things, and pondered them in her heart.20 And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard
and seen, as it was told unto them.
Shepherds were hard working, common
folk, unremarkable people. They are not named; they were the everyday working
people. The function of the shepherd as a symbol or metaphor of what God is
like. Shepherds have been mentioned throughout the Bible, from the beginning in
Genesis, Abel was a shepherd. Then many
of the main people that followed God were shepherds or shepherdesses.
Sheep supply a great deal: clothing,
food, milk, fertilizer. They were an important product for the people. Shepherds were the caretakers of this
important commodity. Kings, because of
their caring for their people, were often referred to as the shepherds of their
nation.
These shepherds were anticipating
the coming of the Messiah. God sent his message to those that he knew were full
of faith and looking to God.
The other words that really pop out are about the Glory of God. It was a glory that had not been seen before in this way.
Isaiah 6:2-3 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
This is a picture of the Angels and their recognition of God. These angels knew the glory of God and praised God through it. This was not a quite event, many knew and proclaimed it to many others and the words spread.
Psalm 72:18-20 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
These people are recognizing from the birth of Jesus that he is the promised Messiah. He is the fulfillment of all the prophecy.
Simeon would be the next one to recognize the Christ. Luke 2:25-33. It says specifically that he was filled with God’s spirit. He had seen other babies, but he knew that this was the one. The Holy Spirit was revealing it to him. Anna came at the very moment that this was happening and shared in this moment of joy.
The wisemen became proclaimers of God’s gift as well. They praised and worshiped God. We read Matthew 2:1-23
