Luke 2:16
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.
So they hurried off
The phrase "hurried off" indicates a sense of urgency and eagerness. The Greek word used here is "σπεύδω" (speudō), which conveys a swift movement or action. This urgency reflects the shepherds' immediate response to the angelic message. In the historical context, shepherds were often seen as lowly and marginalized, yet their quick response highlights their faith and willingness to witness the miraculous event. This eagerness can inspire believers today to respond promptly to God's call, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing spiritual matters.

and found Mary and Joseph
The word "found" comes from the Greek "εὑρίσκω" (heuriskō), meaning to discover or come upon. This suggests that the shepherds actively sought out Mary and Joseph, demonstrating their determination and faith. Mary and Joseph, central figures in the nativity story, represent obedience and humility. Their presence in Bethlehem fulfills the prophecy of the Messiah's birth in the city of David. This encounter underscores the divine orchestration of events and the fulfillment of God's promises, encouraging believers to trust in God's plan.

and the baby, who was lying in the manger
The "baby" refers to Jesus, the incarnate Son of God. The Greek word "βρέφος" (brephos) is used, indicating an infant or newborn. The mention of Jesus "lying in the manger" is significant, as a manger is a feeding trough for animals, symbolizing humility and simplicity. This humble setting contrasts with the majesty of Christ's divine nature, highlighting the theme of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. The manger scene fulfills the angel's sign to the shepherds and serves as a powerful reminder of God's love and grace, calling believers to embrace humility and recognize the profound mystery of the Incarnation.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Shepherds
These were the first people to receive the angelic announcement of Jesus' birth. They represent the humble and lowly, chosen by God to witness the Messiah's arrival.

2. Mary
The mother of Jesus, chosen by God for her faithfulness and obedience. Her presence in this scene highlights her role in God's redemptive plan.

3. Joseph
The earthly father of Jesus, a righteous man who obeyed God's instructions given through dreams and angelic messages.

4. The Baby (Jesus)
The central figure of this passage, Jesus is the promised Messiah, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies.

5. The Manger
A humble feeding trough, symbolizing Jesus' humble beginnings and His identification with the lowly and marginalized.
Teaching Points
The Humility of Christ
Jesus' birth in a manger teaches us about humility. We are called to emulate His humility in our daily lives, serving others selflessly.

God's Revelation to the Humble
The shepherds were the first to hear the good news, showing that God often reveals Himself to those who are humble and open-hearted.

Obedience and Faith
Mary and Joseph's presence in this scene is a testament to their obedience and faith in God's plan. We are encouraged to trust and obey God's guidance in our lives.

The Urgency of the Gospel
The shepherds "hurried off" to see Jesus, illustrating the urgency with which we should seek Christ and share the gospel with others.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the humility of Jesus' birth in a manger challenge our understanding of greatness and success in today's world?

2. In what ways can we, like the shepherds, be more attentive and responsive to God's revelations in our lives?

3. How do Mary and Joseph's actions in this passage inspire us to trust and obey God's plan, even when it seems challenging?

4. What practical steps can we take to emulate the humility of Christ in our interactions with others?

5. How can the urgency demonstrated by the shepherds in seeking Jesus inform our approach to sharing the gospel with those around us?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 9:6
This prophecy speaks of a child born to us, a son given, who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. It connects to the birth of Jesus as the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Micah 5:2
This verse predicts the birthplace of the Messiah in Bethlehem, connecting to the shepherds' journey to find Jesus in the manger.

Philippians 2:7
This passage describes Jesus' humility, taking the form of a servant, which is exemplified by His birth in a manger.
Was, Is, is to ComeAlexander MaclarenLuke 2:16
The Savior's Birth and Type Angel's SermonR.M. Edgar Luke 2:1-20
Birthday ContrastsBishop H. C. Potter.Luke 2:16-18
Christmas WorkC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 2:16-18
Holy Work for ChristmasC. H. Spurgeon. Luke 2:16-18
Many Ways of Serving GodC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 2:16-18
Second Christmas DayJ. A. Seiss, D. D.Luke 2:16-18
The Gospel a Source of WonderC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 2:16-18
People
Anna, Aser, Asher, Augustus, Cyrenius, David, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Phanuel, Simeon
Places
Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, Nazareth, Rome, Syria
Topics
Babe, Baby, Cattle, Child, Feeding, Haste, Hasted, Hurry, Joseph, Lay, Lying, Manger, Mary, Quickly, Trough
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 2:16

     1450   signs, kinds of
     2036   Christ, humility
     4672   manger

Luke 2:1-20

     2515   Christ, birth of

Luke 2:1-40

     5652   babies

Luke 2:4-16

     5099   Mary, mother of Christ

Luke 2:8-18

     5433   occupations

Luke 2:8-20

     4112   angels, messengers

Luke 2:15-16

     2312   Christ, as king

Luke 2:16-17

     8496   witnessing, importance

Luke 2:16-18

     6650   finding

Luke 2:16-19

     5745   women

Library
December 25. "I Bring You Glad Tidings" (Luke ii. 10).
"I bring you glad tidings" (Luke ii. 10). A Christmas spirit should be a spirit of humanity. Beside that beautiful object lesson on the Manger, the Cradle, and the lowly little child, what Christian heart can ever wish to be proud? It is a spirit of joy. It is right that these should be glad tidings, for, "Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." It is a spirit of love. It should be the joy that comes from giving joy to others. The central fact of Christmas is
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Was, Is, is to Come
'... The babe lying in a manger...'--LUKE ii. 16. '... While He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven...'--LUKE xxiv. 51. 'This same Jesus... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go...'--ACTS I. 11. These three fragments, which I have ventured to isolate and bring together, are all found in one author's writings. Luke's biography of Jesus stretches from the cradle in Bethlehem to the Ascension from Olivet. He narrates the Ascension twice, because it has two
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Boy in the Temple
'And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me! wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?' --LUKE ii. 49. A number of spurious gospels have come down to us, which are full of stories, most of them absurd and some of them worse, about the infancy of Jesus Christ. Their puerilities bring out more distinctly the simplicity, the nobleness, the worthiness of this one solitary incident of His early days, which has been preserved for us. How has it been preserved? If you will look over
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Simeon's Swan-Song
'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: 30. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.'--LUKE ii. 29,30. That scene, when the old man took the Infant in his withered arms, is one of the most picturesque and striking in the Gospel narrative. Simeon's whole life appears, in its later years, to have been under the immediate direction of the Spirit of God. It is very remarkable to notice how, in the course of three consecutive verses, the operation of that divine Spirit
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Shepherds and Angels
'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Angel's Message and Song
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD . And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

December the Nineteenth the Sun of Righteousness
"A light to lighten the Gentiles." --LUKE ii. 25-40. That was the wonder of wonders. Hitherto the light had been supposed to be for Israel alone; and now a heavenly splendour was to fall upon the Gentiles. Hitherto the light had been thought of as a lamp, illuming a single place; now it was to be a sun, shedding its glory upon a world. The "people that sat in darkness" are now to see "a great light." New regions are to be occupied; there is to be daybreak everywhere! "The Sun of Righteousness
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

December the Twenty-Fifth Christmas Cheer
"Good will toward men!" --LUKE ii. 8-20. The heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the corner to catch me at the fall. That "eye," placed in the sky of many a picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a chilling fear. That God was
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Religious Joy.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."--Luke ii. 10, 11. There are two principal lessons which we are taught on the great Festival which we this day celebrate, lowliness and joy. This surely is a day, of all others, in which is set before us the heavenly excellence and the acceptableness in God's sight of that state which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Wilderness: Temptation. Matthew 4:1-11. Mark 1:12, 13. Luke 4:1-13.
The University of Arabia: Jesus' naturalness--the Spirit's presence--intensity, Luke 2:45-51.--a true perspective--- the temptation's path--sin's path--John's grouping, 1 John 2:16.--the Spirit's plan--why--the devil's weakness--the Spirit's leading--a wilderness for every God-used man, Moses, Elijah, Paul. Earth's Ugliest, Deepest Scar: Jesus the only one led up to be tempted--the wilderness--its history, Genesis 13:10-13. 18:16-19:38.--Jesus really tempted--no wrong here in inner response--every
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Joy Born at Bethlehem
In our text we have before us the sermon of the first evangelist under the gospel dispensation. The preacher was an angel, and it was meet it should be so, for the grandest and last of all evangels will be proclaimed by an angel when he shall sound the trumpet of the resurrection, and the children of the regeneration shall rise into the fullness of their joy. The key-note of this angelic gospel is joy--"I bring unto you good tidings of great joy." Nature fears in the presence of God--the shepherds
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Christ About his Father's Business
But now I shall invite your attention, first, to the spirit of the Saviour, as breathed in these words, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" and then, secondly, I shall exhort the children of God, with all the earnestness which I can command, with all the intensity of power which I can summon to the point, to labour after the same spirit, that they too may unfeignedly say, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? " I. First, then note THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. It was
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

The First Christmas Carol
Let us turn aside, having just thought of angels for a moment, to think rather of this song, than of the angels themselves. Their song was brief, but as Kitto excellently remarks, it was "well worthy of angels expressing the greatest and most blessed truths, in words so few, that they become to an acute apprehension, almost oppressive by the pregnant fulness of their meaning"--"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." We shall, hoping to be assisted by the Holy Spirit,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Christ's Boyhood
LUKE ii. 52. And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour both with God and man. I do not pretend to understand these words. I preach on them because the Church has appointed them for this day. And most fitly. At Christmas we think of our Lord's birth. What more reasonable, than that we should go on to think of our Lord's boyhood? To think of this aright, even if we do not altogether understand it, ought to help us to understand rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Christ Child (Christmas Day. )
LUKE ii. 7. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapt him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. Mother and child.--Think of it, my friends, on Christmas day. What more beautiful sight is there in the world? What more beautiful sight, and what more wonderful sight? What more beautiful? That man must be very far from the kingdom of God--he is not worthy to be called a man at all--whose heart has not been touched by the sight of his first child in its mother's bosom. The greatest
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Music (Christmas Day. )
LUKE ii. 13, 14. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. You have been just singing Christmas hymns; and my text speaks of the first Christmas hymn. Now what the words of that hymn meant; what Peace on earth and good-will towards man meant, I have often told you. To-day I want you, for once, to think of this--that it was a hymn; that these angels were singing, even as
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Of Having Confidence in God when Evil Words are Cast at Us
"My Son, stand fast and believe in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air, but they bruise no stone. If thou are guilty, think how thou wouldst gladly amend thyself; if thou knowest nothing against thyself, consider that thou wilt gladly bear this for God's sake. It is little enough that thou sometimes hast to bear hard words, for thou art not yet able to bear hard blows. And wherefore do such trivial matters go to thine heart, except that thou art yet carnal, and regardest
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Birth of Jesus.
(at Bethlehem of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke II. 1-7. ^c 1 Now it came to pass in those days [the days of the birth of John the Baptist], there went out a decree [a law] from Cæsar Augustus [Octavius, or Augustus, Cæsar was the nephew of and successor to Julius Cæsar. He took the name Augustus in compliment to his own greatness; and our month August is named for him; its old name being Sextilis], that all the world should be enrolled. [This enrollment or census was the first step
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
(the Temple at Jerusalem, b.c. 4) ^C Luke II. 21-39. ^c 21 And when eight days [Gen. xvii. 12] were fulfilled for circumcising him [The rite was doubtless performed by Joseph. By this rite Jesus was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 16, 17); that is, he became a member of the covenant nation, and became a debtor to the law--Gal. v. 3] , his name was called JESUS [see Luke i. 59], which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Luke i. 31.] 22 And when the days of their
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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