I bring you good news!
We are not used to good news. So much so that back in 1993 the BBC newsreader Martin Lewis complained that there was not enough good news being reported.
I understand that the BBC responded by setting up a team dedicated to solution focussed news - whatever that means!
Good news is what of course the angel tells the shepherds in verse 10 and verse 11 of Luke chapter 2 about the birth of Jesus.
But maybe Luke’s account would have been recommended by this BBC team because the report was not just about what took place but why. It’s an unusual account because deliberately more words are given to the announcement than the actual birth. Luke wants us to be sure about the meaning behind the announcement. In BBC-speak the solution focus was the coming of Jesus the saviour of the world.
The problem though, as the BBC has been painfully reminded by - of all people - President Trump, is that you can’t really rely upon all the news we read or hear about But Luke’s account wants us to know that the news of Jesus birth is not fake news.
It’s an historical detailed account. Full of real people in real places in real history.
So – to whom do you make this announcement of the birth of the most important birth ever? A global press conference or proclamation in the Jerusalem city square?
No. It was a very ordinary evening when this good news was announced. And very ordinary people - Shepherds were the first recipients of the good news and became eye witnesses and became broadcasters of this good news to others.
God could have chosen more special people to receive and broadcast the news. However, the focus on the shepherds reminds Luke’s readers and us that if God is for lowly shepherds he is for all the people of Israel.
Shepherds are not the kind of people that deserve Gods love. Like you and me. God and his good news of the birth of Jesus Christ is for all of us.
Jesus Christ may be the promised King of Kings, the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace, but this message of good news came first not to the rich and powerful.
The shepherds were going to be eyewitnesses to not just a special birth but a special purpose for this special child Jesus:
V 11 – “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
The Shepherds were then told by the angel about the birth of a Saviour:
V12 - “This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger”.
What a Sign of the all-knowing all-seeing all-powerful and all-glorious Son of God! If God had employed a spin doctor, they would not advise the best news ever to be of a baby wrapped in cloths in an an animal's lunch box! But this was a sign of the reality of Jesus’ life and mission - being humbled and rejected throughout his life, the suffering servant foretold by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier - obedient to death on the cross.
We should be like the shepherds who when they had seen Jesus, just as the angel said, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. They did not get lost in the trappings of Christmas.
They did not go around and saying - hey we had an amazing experience out in those fields with angels and there was this lovely sweet baby born in a manger. No. The good news they were spreading which we can as well as we head to Christmas - was all about this child – “A Saviour has been born to you! He is the Messiah, the Lord.”
David Burrowes
Former MP for Enfield Southgate
Co-Director of Conservative Christian Fellowship