Advent2025_Dec17
Let Us Go and See
Luke 2:15–20
Faith responds to God’s Word with urgency, humility, and joy.
When the angels return to heaven and the night sky settles again, the shepherds are left staring at one another—hearts pounding, minds racing, faces glowing from the glory they’ve just seen. And then comes the remarkable part: they believe.
They don’t form a committee. They don’t appoint a sub-team to evaluate whether the bright light in the sky was, in fact, credible. They don’t sit down to draft a strategic plan. No, they simply say: “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
In other words: “God has spoken. What are we waiting for?”
So they go . . . immediately, urgently, without hesitation. They hurry, Luke says. These rough-handed men, accustomed to long nights and slow movement, suddenly find speed. And when they arrive, everything is exactly as the Lord had said. They find Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger, the very sign the angel had given them.
Their response describes two things every Christian should notice. First, they tell everyone.
Luke says they “made known the saying” that had been told to them. They don’t embellish. They don’t dramatize. They simply repeat what God has said. This is evangelism in its simplest, purest form: ordinary people declaring extraordinary news.
Second, they worship. They return “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.” The gospel has a way of turning bystanders into worshipers. The shepherds began the night keeping watch over their flocks. They end the night rejoicing over their Savior.
Mary’s response is different but no less beautiful. She treasures these things. She ponders them. She hides them in her heart. While the shepherds shout the news from the Judean hillsides, Mary quietly turns it over in her soul, letting the truth settle deeper and deeper.
Both responses are right. Both are needed. Both are marks of genuine faith. And that leaves us with a question worth asking: When God speaks, how do we respond? With hesitation or with haste? With indifference or with joy? With silence or with praise?
The shepherds show us the simplicity of faith: God has spoken; let us go and see.
___
For Young Ones: What did the shepherds do when they heard the good news? How did they respond when they found Jesus?
For Older Ones: Which part of the shepherds’ response challenges you most, and how might that shape the way you respond to Christ this week in front of others?
Pray: Lord, give us hearts like the shepherds—quick to believe Your Word, eager to seek Christ, and ready to praise You for what we have seen and heard.
Family Practice: Take a moment tonight to “go and see” by reading Luke 2:15–20 aloud. Then share one thing that leads you to praise God.
Luke 2:15–20
Faith responds to God’s Word with urgency, humility, and joy.
When the angels return to heaven and the night sky settles again, the shepherds are left staring at one another—hearts pounding, minds racing, faces glowing from the glory they’ve just seen. And then comes the remarkable part: they believe.
They don’t form a committee. They don’t appoint a sub-team to evaluate whether the bright light in the sky was, in fact, credible. They don’t sit down to draft a strategic plan. No, they simply say: “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
In other words: “God has spoken. What are we waiting for?”
So they go . . . immediately, urgently, without hesitation. They hurry, Luke says. These rough-handed men, accustomed to long nights and slow movement, suddenly find speed. And when they arrive, everything is exactly as the Lord had said. They find Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger, the very sign the angel had given them.
Their response describes two things every Christian should notice. First, they tell everyone.
Luke says they “made known the saying” that had been told to them. They don’t embellish. They don’t dramatize. They simply repeat what God has said. This is evangelism in its simplest, purest form: ordinary people declaring extraordinary news.
Second, they worship. They return “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.” The gospel has a way of turning bystanders into worshipers. The shepherds began the night keeping watch over their flocks. They end the night rejoicing over their Savior.
Mary’s response is different but no less beautiful. She treasures these things. She ponders them. She hides them in her heart. While the shepherds shout the news from the Judean hillsides, Mary quietly turns it over in her soul, letting the truth settle deeper and deeper.
Both responses are right. Both are needed. Both are marks of genuine faith. And that leaves us with a question worth asking: When God speaks, how do we respond? With hesitation or with haste? With indifference or with joy? With silence or with praise?
The shepherds show us the simplicity of faith: God has spoken; let us go and see.
___
For Young Ones: What did the shepherds do when they heard the good news? How did they respond when they found Jesus?
For Older Ones: Which part of the shepherds’ response challenges you most, and how might that shape the way you respond to Christ this week in front of others?
Pray: Lord, give us hearts like the shepherds—quick to believe Your Word, eager to seek Christ, and ready to praise You for what we have seen and heard.
Family Practice: Take a moment tonight to “go and see” by reading Luke 2:15–20 aloud. Then share one thing that leads you to praise God.
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