What Happened On The Day That Jesus Was Born?

Luke records for us what happened on the day that Jesus was born in Luke 2:1-20. Luke was a physician, which meant that he used the scientific approach to investigation of observation and gathering as many of the facts as possible for developing an opinion.

Luke is the writer that gives us so many of the geographic and political details of the events of Jesus' life and ministry as well as of the early church. For example, in the account of the birth of Jesus, Luke tells us it was when Quirinius was governor of Syria and when Ceasar Augustus had made the executive order that the world should be registered from the place of birth. There would also be a tax, of course.

Dr. Luke probably gathered his facts about the birth of Jesus while Paul was in prison in Caesarea. We read that account in Acts 23-26. He was in the palace prison, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea for a coupe of years. If you go to Israel you can visit the ruins of that palace and actually stand in the place where they believe the dungeon was located. I shared a Bible study from Paul's prison letters from that place the last time we took a group to Israel.

As Dr. Luke began his investigations and interviews with the eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus in and around Jerusalem, he no doubt came across some of those who were in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.

He tells us that there were shepherds guarding the sheep in the fields at night. This was unusual. Sheep were taken out to the fields in the day and then brought into sheep pens at night. But there were so many people in Bethlehem because of the census, all of the sheep pens had been rented out. It was a miracle that Joseph and Mary found a place in one of the stable-caves in Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

Shepherds took care of sheep for the owners of the sheep. Owners would sometimes pay shepherds with sheep to keep in their flocks, which would give a personal interest for the flock for the shepherds. But shepherds were responsible with sheep. This was their number one characteristic, along with being poor and smelling like a sheep. When you are with sheep all day you will smell like one.

When the angel of The Lord came with the good news, the shepherds must have wondered why the angel would come to them. But in the Old Testament, God referred to His people as His sheep and the kings of His people as shepherds (Ezekiel 34). The kings were responsible to God for leading His people, caring for their safety and health by following God's Word, and for protecting His people by trusting in God's presence and power. Israel's second King, King David, was a shepherd before he was King and became the standard by which God judged all of the other kings.

Jesus would call Himself the Good Shepherd, and Peter would refer to the servants of the early church as shepherds (1Peter 5). All of this to say that God sending His angel to shepherds to become the first evangelists is right in line with His view of His servants from the very beginning. The shepherds in Luke's gospel were the first pastors/evangelists of God's people, entrusted with the gospel of great joy; Christ The Lord has arrived. He is here, among us, with us. He is one of us! God is now with us!

Part 2, tomorrow.