And there were shepherds living out
in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at
night. An angel of the Lord appeard to them and the glory of
the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the
angel said to them, "Do not be afraid...."
Luke 2:8-10
The
Bible not only records this encouraging message to not fear given to
the shepherds by the angel announcing Jesus birth, but it also tells us
that a little more than a year earlier the Angel Gabriel told Zechariah
who was John the Baptist's father and Mary's kinsman not
to fear.
Six months later when he announced to Mary that she would give birth to
the Son of God he told her, "Fear
not".
Furthermore Joseph was told in a dream to not
be afraid
to take Mary as his wife, and in the prophecy found in Luke 1:68-79
Zechariah said that Jesus came "...to enable us to serve him without
fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days."
(verse 74)
And how did Jesus come -- with 10,000 times 10,000 angels escorting Him
on a huge golden carriage surrounded by trumpeting heralds and the
armies of heaven? No, he came as a baby. Who is
afraid of a baby? No one, unless perhaps it would be a baby
born into wealth, power or prestige. But who is afraid of a
baby born into humble circumstances in a stable surrounded by the
sounds and smells of animals? No one.
The reason God came to us the way He did was to say by that manner of
coming, "Fear not, I did not come to condemn, but to save."
Jesus came to reveal God's love to us. In essence he was
saying, I love you and I came to love you to life! Come to me
that you may live in that love and have eternal life. I want
to give that to you. Through me the power of death and it's
sting are thwarted.
We can, as Christians, live confidently -- without fear -- through
death and on into eternal life. That's the Good News of the
birth of Jesus. Unto you has come a Savior, and He is Christ
the Lord!
Let us rejoice in Him! |
