The Shepherd and Dr. Luke
“Hello Hello! Thank you for making the time to meet with me!” said the host as he opened the door.
“Of course! I will almost always say yes to a free dinner.” the old man replied, his eyes smiling as he took a deep breath. “And it smells delicious, my friend! But why would you go to all this bother for me? I have nothing to offer you… not that I want you to turn me away now. My stomach would never forgive me.”
“It’s just a small sign of my appreciation for being able to hear your story directly from you. I’ll just say that our mutual friend, Eleazar, was quite insistent that I add your story to the account I’ve been writing. He is literally a different person because of you.”
“Doctor, you…”
“Please, call me Luke.”
“Yes. Luke. Thank you. Please promise me this first: If I share my story, do not use my name. I’ll give you names of other shepherds who were there that night, but I’m just an unworthy servant. It is only important that the One Who has written my name in the Book of Life knows what I’ve done, both the good and bad, and has still chosen me to tell others like yourself about what our God has done.”
“Are you sure, B…”
“I’m quite sure. Please.”
“Of course.” Luke said, inviting his guest to sit down. “While I would like to name you personally, I would rather honor your wishes. Did you know that Eleazar showed me the letter you wrote? It’s amazing and yet so much like our God. He is so patient with each of us. You know I spoke with John, and he’s given me permission to use his name, although like you, he didn’t think it necessary to do so. Did you know I also had the opportunity to speak with Mary? She was truly an amazing woman!”
“I agree! It was her own story that inspired me to write to Eleazar. But Luke, if you’ve seen the letter, why meet with me? I don’t know what else I could add. I’m an old man, and all my memories fade daily. Unfortunately, that includes the wonderful night outside of Bethlehem.”
“Well, if there are no new facts that I can include in my account, I would still like to know how you felt at the time. How did you know it was an angel? What did the other shepherds say about their encounter with the heavenly beings?”
“How do you think we felt? You know from the Scriptures that encountering a single angel is both magnificent and terrifying! Several shepherds fell to ground as if dead, recovering in time to see the multitude as they proclaimed: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’ Curiously, the multitude of angels was less intimidating than the first angel. I think the shock and terror changed to pure joy in the reassurance that all these majestic beings served our God. It was both fear-inspiring and affirming to both see and hear these majestic beings proclaim peace and good will!”
“I can only imagine! But, still, how did you even know these were angels?”
“That is a good question. I cannot say how we knew except that we all understood upon seeing the first angel what an angel was and that this was an angel. It was as intuitive as looking at the sky and recognizing it as the sky.”
“That is truly amazing! But I’m wondering, these many years later after having time to reflect, what do you believe the Angels’ proclamation means? Why did God speak of peace? Are we at war with God?”
“I think you know the answer to that, doctor.”
“I have my own thoughts, for sure, but I wanted to hear your perspective.”
“Very well. We can look at the Scriptures and see that from the time of Adam, mankind has rebelled against God’s authority. I am no different than any man. You know from my letter to Eleazar, that I have struggled with God and tried to make sense of the world from my perspective instead of trying to understand His perspective. Since meeting Mary and John, I’ve come to understand so much more by reading what was always there in the Scriptures. My excuse for not reading before was that I was only a shepherd and that it’s the Rabbi’s job to explain Scripture, so I was unfamiliar with Daniel’s prophecy that the Messiah would bring an end to mankind’s rebellion, to stop sin, to forgive wrongs, and to usher in everlasting righteousness. I didn’t understand that Isaiah foretold that He would be rejected by His own people. By us. By me.”
“I think I understand your meaning, and it is very insightful of you. To be sure I don’t misunderstand, would you be willing to be explicit: how do these prophecies apply to the message of the angels?”
“I will try: Man rebelled, yet God proclaimed that He wanted peace, and He sent His Son to broker that peace.”
“So you are saying that Jesus is God’s Son?”
“That is who Jesus claimed to be, is it not? He demonstrated it throughout His life with miraculous event followed by miraculous event. His resurrection was the final proof. He is alive, the Lord has risen indeed, seen by many witnesses.”
“So if He was God’s Son, why would God allow Him to be born in such poor conditions? To be born in a filthy barn and laid in a feeding trough instead of a cradle?”
“That, my friend, is a question I plan to ask God someday! Like you, I have asked that question many times. Perhaps it was symbolic that He would feed many or a foreshadowing of Jesus’ claims to be the Bread of Life, or possibly it’s tied to the Communion we share regularly. And maybe it was simply the humble start of a life that was lived in sacrifice and humility. As Isaiah wrote:
‘He was wounded for our rebellious acts.
He was crushed for our sins.
He was punished so that we could have peace,
and we received healing from his wounds.’”
“Hmm… very interesting, my friend. I am looking forward to writing all this down for others to read. There is so much we all need to know about the Holy Scriptures. Like you, my eyes have been opened by taking the time to read them, asking for God’s Holy Spirit to open my eyes to the truths He has prepared for me.”
“Well said, Luke! I believe great things will come from what you are about to write!”
“Thank you. Now, let us eat!”
“Of course! I will almost always say yes to a free dinner.” the old man replied, his eyes smiling as he took a deep breath. “And it smells delicious, my friend! But why would you go to all this bother for me? I have nothing to offer you… not that I want you to turn me away now. My stomach would never forgive me.”
“It’s just a small sign of my appreciation for being able to hear your story directly from you. I’ll just say that our mutual friend, Eleazar, was quite insistent that I add your story to the account I’ve been writing. He is literally a different person because of you.”
“Doctor, you…”
“Please, call me Luke.”
“Yes. Luke. Thank you. Please promise me this first: If I share my story, do not use my name. I’ll give you names of other shepherds who were there that night, but I’m just an unworthy servant. It is only important that the One Who has written my name in the Book of Life knows what I’ve done, both the good and bad, and has still chosen me to tell others like yourself about what our God has done.”
“Are you sure, B…”
“I’m quite sure. Please.”
“I agree! It was her own story that inspired me to write to Eleazar. But Luke, if you’ve seen the letter, why meet with me? I don’t know what else I could add. I’m an old man, and all my memories fade daily. Unfortunately, that includes the wonderful night outside of Bethlehem.”
“Well, if there are no new facts that I can include in my account, I would still like to know how you felt at the time. How did you know it was an angel? What did the other shepherds say about their encounter with the heavenly beings?”
“How do you think we felt? You know from the Scriptures that encountering a single angel is both magnificent and terrifying! Several shepherds fell to ground as if dead, recovering in time to see the multitude as they proclaimed: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’ Curiously, the multitude of angels was less intimidating than the first angel. I think the shock and terror changed to pure joy in the reassurance that all these majestic beings served our God. It was both fear-inspiring and affirming to both see and hear these majestic beings proclaim peace and good will!”
“I can only imagine! But, still, how did you even know these were angels?”
“That is a good question. I cannot say how we knew except that we all understood upon seeing the first angel what an angel was and that this was an angel. It was as intuitive as looking at the sky and recognizing it as the sky.”
“That is truly amazing! But I’m wondering, these many years later after having time to reflect, what do you believe the Angels’ proclamation means? Why did God speak of peace? Are we at war with God?”
“I think you know the answer to that, doctor.”
“I have my own thoughts, for sure, but I wanted to hear your perspective.”
“Very well. We can look at the Scriptures and see that from the time of Adam, mankind has rebelled against God’s authority. I am no different than any man. You know from my letter to Eleazar, that I have struggled with God and tried to make sense of the world from my perspective instead of trying to understand His perspective. Since meeting Mary and John, I’ve come to understand so much more by reading what was always there in the Scriptures. My excuse for not reading before was that I was only a shepherd and that it’s the Rabbi’s job to explain Scripture, so I was unfamiliar with Daniel’s prophecy that the Messiah would bring an end to mankind’s rebellion, to stop sin, to forgive wrongs, and to usher in everlasting righteousness. I didn’t understand that Isaiah foretold that He would be rejected by His own people. By us. By me.”
“I think I understand your meaning, and it is very insightful of you. To be sure I don’t misunderstand, would you be willing to be explicit: how do these prophecies apply to the message of the angels?”
“I will try: Man rebelled, yet God proclaimed that He wanted peace, and He sent His Son to broker that peace.”
“So you are saying that Jesus is God’s Son?”
“That is who Jesus claimed to be, is it not? He demonstrated it throughout His life with miraculous event followed by miraculous event. His resurrection was the final proof. He is alive, the Lord has risen indeed, seen by many witnesses.”
“So if He was God’s Son, why would God allow Him to be born in such poor conditions? To be born in a filthy barn and laid in a feeding trough instead of a cradle?”
“That, my friend, is a question I plan to ask God someday! Like you, I have asked that question many times. Perhaps it was symbolic that He would feed many or a foreshadowing of Jesus’ claims to be the Bread of Life, or possibly it’s tied to the Communion we share regularly. And maybe it was simply the humble start of a life that was lived in sacrifice and humility. As Isaiah wrote:
‘He was wounded for our rebellious acts.
He was crushed for our sins.
He was punished so that we could have peace,
and we received healing from his wounds.’”
“Hmm… very interesting, my friend. I am looking forward to writing all this down for others to read. There is so much we all need to know about the Holy Scriptures. Like you, my eyes have been opened by taking the time to read them, asking for God’s Holy Spirit to open my eyes to the truths He has prepared for me.”
“Well said, Luke! I believe great things will come from what you are about to write!”
“Thank you. Now, let us eat!”
