The Gospel for the Lowly | Luke 2:1-20 | Candlelight Meditation 2025
Sometimes we know the story of Christmas too well, and we miss just how radical it truly is. If a prince were born today, the news would be shared in palaces and centers of influence. But when the Lord Jesus Christ took on human flesh, the message went to men who didn't even own the land they were standing on.
The Kingdom of God vs. The Kingdom of Man The announcement to the shepherds was an "opening statement" for Jesus' ministry. By choosing those whom society viewed with suspicion and ritual uncleanness, God signaled that His Kingdom operates by grace, not by social status.
No Ladder to Climb Like the shepherds, we often feel the weight of our own sin and feel we have nothing to offer God. The beauty of this story is that the shepherds didn't wait to "straighten their lives out" before going to see the Messiah—they simply responded to the call.
We invite you to watch the meditation below and be reminded that the Savior in the manger is for you.
📖 Click to Show the Transcript of this Sermon
In the time when Jesus was born, power was measured by palaces and by armies. But really, that's the case in any era of history. Influence is measured by how much power or money you have, and the people on the fringes don't really matter. When a child is born to a ruler or someone of influence, the news goes out to those in the highest positions, and then eventually it would trickle down to the masses. If a prince was born who would one day be king, you wouldn't leave the room where he was born and ignore the people in the palace and all the people in the main center of influence of the city and go into the slums and tell the people there. That's not what you do. It just isn't what's done. You would make that announcement to the powerful, to the influential. You don't give it to people who are struggling to get by.
If you would have asked people in the first century, "Hey, when the Messiah is born, what do you think it will look like?" They likely would have guessed that it was going to be announced in the temple or that maybe a notice was going to go out to the Roman authorities in Jerusalem: "Your time is almost up because once the Messiah is old enough to kick you out, you're done". Or maybe they would have thought that the message of the Messiah being born would go to the high priest or to the Sanhedrin. They never would have guessed that the first to receive the news of the Messiah would be uncertain poor shepherds. But that's where the message went when the Lord Jesus Christ took on human flesh. The glory of the Lord shone around men who didn't even own the land they were standing on.
In fact, in the first century, shepherds were often viewed with suspicion. Their profession made them ceremonially and ritually unclean by the purity laws. As a result, they had the lowest of social status. So why did the message go to shepherds? It wasn't an accident. Instead, going to the shepherds was an opening statement. It was a statement signaling of what type of Messiah Jesus was going to be. It was signaling that the Kingdom of God operates in a different way than the Kingdom of Man. It was letting us know that the message of salvation would come to all people, even unclean, lowly shepherds.
One of the most amazing parts of this story is the contrast we find in it. Sometimes I think we know this story too well; we've heard it too many times, and so we miss just how amazing it is. Think about it. Angels appear, and the dark becomes like day. This is the highest reality of glory being made manifest and visible for these shepherds, bringing this message to uncertain poor shepherds who know their place in the dirt on a hillside in Judea. And think about the message that is brought to their ears: "Unto you is born this day". These angelic messengers didn't come to tell the shepherds that Jesus was born for the elites of their society. He was born for weary, dirty shepherds that the rest of the world was suspicious of and would rather forget. This story makes it abundantly clear that the world was on notice, that no one was too low and no one was too unclean for the grace that was coming through the Messiah.
As great as this message is and as awesome of a spectacle as it was, the shepherds were afraid when it was as if the sky was torn open. But still, even though they were afraid, they responded to the good news. They said, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened". They didn't run home and shower. They didn't wait until they got their lives straightened out so that they could feel worthy of the message and seeing the Messiah. They went. These shepherds went and found the Lamb of God in a feeding trough. These men, who may have spent their lives raising lambs for the sacrifices in Jerusalem, were the first to see the Lamb of God who would put an end to those sacrifices.
The truth of that is the beauty of the story, because that message is for us, too. Because in our sin, we are all like the shepherds. We are unclean, we are children of the dirt. Dead in our sin, there is no ladder for us to climb to make our way to God. We need someone to come to us, and that is what the message of Christmas is about. In His mercy, God comes to us with a proclamation that He has come near to us in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the glory of the light of this gospel shines all around. Hear and believe like the shepherds. Hear the call and go and see Christ.
As we light our candles tonight, may that light that you hold in front of you be your reminder that the light of Christ first fell on a dark hillside and lit up the light of those ordinary shepherds. If you are in Christ, if you have received His mercy, His light now shines on you. Know that that gospel is for the lowly. That gospel is for the unclean. That Savior that is in the manger is for you. Amen.
Continue the Journey
The message of the Gospel is that God does not wait for us to climb a ladder to Him; in His mercy, He comes down to meet us exactly where we are. Whether you are feeling the weight of your own sin or are simply weary from the cares of this life, know that the Savior in the manger is for you.
We invite you to continue digging into God's Word with us as we trust the Holy Spirit to continue His work of sanctification in our lives.
