Sacrifice for the new Messiah

As I said in my last post, I'm following a chronological Bible reading plan. Right now, I'm going through the birth of Jesus. Today's bit that stuck out to me was the response of the Shepherds when they heard the good news.

"When the angels had left them, and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'" Luke 2:15

Now, the shepherds were out in the fields, tending their flocks. That they decided to go into Bethlehem meant one of two sacrifices were going to be made. Either one of them was going to have to stay behind, tending to a now gigantic flock until his friends returned, or they were going to leave their flocks untended until their return.

Either case presents a sacrifice made on behalf of the Messiah. In the first case, if one of the shepherds stays behind, he can be fairly sure that he'll miss seeing God's Messiah. The Messiah he had been waiting for all his life. The Messiah prophesied in his religion for the last thousand years. The promised one of God, the one his grandfather's grandfather had been hoping to see. The Messiah was promised to Abraham. The Messiah was promised to David. The Messiah was delivered to the Shepherds, and if this poor fellow stays behind, he does so knowing that he'll miss it. This shepherd stays behind to ensure that the flocks are safe, that he and his friends have a livelihood to return to, to ensure that they can all eat tomorrow. Personally, I think that no one stayed behind with the sheep. Certainly it's possible that one of them wasn't as impressed with the chorus of heavenly Angels, certainly it's possible that one of them loved his stomach, or his friends more than he wanted to see God's Provision. But I doubt it. I think that they all went.

If all the shepherds went to see Jesus, then they left their sheep untended. Sheep need tending. A lot of tending. Sheep have no defenses against predators. Sheep have little homing or herd instinct. The very reason for the shepherds being in the fields with their flocks was that the sheep couldn't be trusted to take care of themselves. The shepherds left their flocks knowing that the flocks might not be there upon their return. They left their flocks untended, at the mercy of predators, unguided in unfamiliar fields, at night. They made this sacrifice, because they wanted to see Jesus. They made this sacrifice because they wanted to see the promise fulfilled. They made this sacrifice, not knowing that in 33 years, Jesus would make a bigger sacrifice for them in return.

As I'm trying to live out my walk with God, as I'm trying to live, knowing that God paid a high price for me, I'm trying in large part to be the shepherd who leaves his flock, because God told me that something cool is happening in Bethlehem. I'm not always succeeding in loving God more than I love my security, more than I love my own stomach, but I'm trying.