After the Angel declares the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, the heavenly host in Luke 2:14 praises God and offers peace to those on earth “with whom [God] is well pleased” (Amplified Bible). The phrase “well pleased” appears with two other significant events of Jesus’ life: his baptism and Transfiguration. At each event, God claims Jesus as his son and says “with him I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22; Matthew 17:5). God’s “well pleased” response is reserved for those who seek and obey him, just as Jesus did.
Throughout Luke 2 obedience and finding Jesus are connected. Mary and Joseph show obedience to God by honoring the census decree of an earthly government. As a result, Jesus is born in Bethlehem, in fulfillment of prophecy. In obedience Mary and Joseph left the comforts of home, but the result was others found Jesus.
Next, those last in the social order are the first to hear the Messiah has arrived. While the shepherds find Jesus in an unexpected place, a stable, they leave changed. Luke 2:18 says the shepherds shared the message of Jesus’ arrival, and all who heard the news were “amazed.” Obedience can lead us to find Jesus in unexpected places and through unexpected people.
Eight days after Jesus’ birth, in obedience to the Law, Mary and Joseph present Jesus at the Temple. Obedient God believers, Simeon and Anna, find Jesus in the Temple and praise God for allowing them to see the arrival of the Messiah. Years later Mary and Joseph, who obediently raised their son in accordance with God’s ways, find 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Obedience leads us to finding Jesus in places of formal worship.
As we enter this season of social events, shopping, sentiment, chaos, joy, peace and love, let us live obediently and anticipate finding Christ outside our comfort zones, in unexpected places, through unexpected people, and in places of formal worship.
Kaylene Barbe