People need a shepherd. Any lengthy reading of Scripture will reveal this. People are prone to wander away from center, following their own little thoughts as they come, chasing after their own dreams, and changing those chases as the dreams change. They go where they want, with little to no regard for what is actually true and right. People are sheep; listen to Isaiah: "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way..." (Isaiah 53:6a) Never mind the myriad passages that tell of God coming to His people as shepherd, often railing against those who are set up as shepherds of the people—the priests and teachers—those who were to lead the people by God's word and keep them focused on Him. People need a shepherd...you, dear sheep, need a shepherd.

So, it is no wonder that the first people to see God incarnate were shepherds. It was to this once-respected position that the angel announced the birth of the Savior. God was confirming to them and through them that He had come to them as Shepherd to His people. God was born in the city of David, a shepherd who became king, and He was born from the line of David, as Shepherd and King.

Jesus, born in the town of Bethlehem, the city of David, is that Shepherd, and even more so, He is the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. They hear His voice and the follow Him; they heed the word of God—they continue in it and are His true disciples. And He lays down His life for the sheep.

Ahh, there it is. He lays down His life for the sheep. Notice that He doesn't claim them in this respect, at least, not all of them. He lays down His life for the sheep, those called by His name and those not. He comes not only to direct and guide, not only to teach and heal, but to act as shepherd to the sheep, and a shepherd is always willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the sheep. The Good Shepherd is no different—He comes to lay down His life for the sheep—to give His life so that they may live. He does this for all the sheep, whether they reject Him or receive Him; and to those who by God-given faith receive Him are given the joyful title of sheep—His sheep, those who reject Him, then, are called goats. But, Jesus is the Good Shepherd of them all!

People need a shepherd, so to shepherds as they watched by night came word from heaven that the Savior was born. It is as if the angels were telling them, "There in the city of David, dear shepherds is your Good Shepherd. There in the cradle that is a manger is the one who will lay down His life for you." But, there is more going here.

Jesus came not only as Shepherd, but as Lamb. He came not only as one to teach and direct and guide; He came not only as one to lay down His life for sheep, but came as the sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. So, His coming as Lamb is announced to ones who are given the responsibility of caring for sheep—for lambs. This sacrifice as Lamb is much more than a shepherd laying down his life for sheep, but as one whose death covers iniquity.

People need a Lamb. Again, any lengthy reading of Scripture reveals this. The sacrifice of a lamb without blemish is prescribed as the sin offering on the yearly Day of Atonement. The lamb's blood would be sprinkled on the people, washing them from all sin, making them whiter than snow, as the Psalmist declares. (cf. Psalm 51:7) Yet, this sacrifice had to be made again and again and again. People need the Lamb (capital L), for, as we have learned, we daily sin much, and the blood of all of those lambs, while cleansing in their own right, were not all-sufficient. But, as the author to the Hebrews lets us know, the blood of the Lamb of God—the very Son of God—cleanses from all sins once for all; no more yearly sacrifices of lambs, for Jesus is the very Lamb of God, the Paschal Lamb that sets us free from and cleanses us from all sin. Jesus is the Lamb of God upon whom our iniquity is laid, most especially the iniquity of our sheepish wandering, as it is written by the prophet, "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him," the Lamb of God, "the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)

It is as if the angel proclaimed to the shepherds that night, "Behold, not only is there one born for you in the city of the shepherd David a Shepherd who will lay down His Life for you, but the very Lamb of God who will take upon Himself your iniquity and shed His blood to cleanse you from all sin, once for all.

So, on this night, dear sheep to apt to stray, we can rejoice that the angels proclaimed to shepherds as they watched their flocks there was in the city of David born a Savior, born the Good Shepherd, born the very Paschal Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. On this night, we rejoice with them and as we continue through this Advent Season, because for you, dear sheep, dear hearers, was born in the city of David a Savior, you Good Shepherd, the Paschal Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and if He takes away the sins of the world, then He has taken away yours sins, too.