Thank you. When angels first announced the arrival of the Messiah, why was their audience a group of lowly shepherds?

For such a momentous event in history, you'd expect God to send his heavenly messengers

to the distinguished politicians or religious leaders of the day.

Alistair Begg explores the answer to that question today on Truth for Life.

Well, before we turn to the Bible, we turn to God who gave us the Bible.

Lord, gracious God of heaven who has spoken and your word has come to be.

Grant now that by the Holy Spirit you will speak into our lives, granting to us clarity and understanding and faith.

So that like those who rejoiced at the discovery of this good and great news, we might do likewise.

For we humbly pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

While the words to which I should like to call your attention, begin in the eighth verse of Luke chapter 2, Luke chapter 2 and verse 8, and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field,

keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke has now recorded for us in verse 7, the event

of the birth of the Lord Jesus. And now in verse 8, he tells us of the announcement of this birth that has been

made by the angels and to the shepherds. Let's begin where we left off last time by reminding one

another and doing so very purposefully of the fact that we're dealing here with real historical events.

The work of Luke, as we saw in his introduction last time, that's the opening four verses of

his gospel, the work of Luke is not to tell stories, but to record history. And the narrative that he gives us is essentially

interpreted history. It is history, condensed, because they couldn't write it all down,

and not only condensed, but also explain so that we have not only the events as they have unfolded,

but we have also the explanation as to the nature of these events. And as I say to you,

it's very important that we keep that in mind. We realized last time that Luke, who was not

himself an eyewitness of that, which he describes,

nevertheless, had deferred two eyewitnesses.

...