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The First Christmas First-Look

A first-look is an exclusive opportunity or agreement that allows a person, company, or organization the chance to view or consider something before anyone else.

In the world of weddings, it’s the moment a couple sees each other for the first time in their wedding attire.  It is supposed to be a moment marked by great anticipation and excitement.

As we think of Christmas and the baby Jesus, who got the first-look at the long anticipated Savior, other than his mother and father?

It could be that it was a bunch of animals.  After all, Jesus was placed in a manger (feeding trough) after His birth because there was no room for them in the inn.

But if we want to consider who it might have been, as in people, that got that first-look, then we should take a look at what Luke recorded in his Gospel.  And from that account, that exclusive opportunity to view the baby Jesus before anyone else was given to a bunch of shepherds.  Come see:

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”  When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  (Luke 2:8-16)

While we don’t know all the reasons that God chose those shepherds to be the ones to get that first-look, we do know that they responded well to the privilege:

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. (Luke 2:17-18)

May your look at Christmas this year be a type of “first-look” for you, one filled with anticipation and excitement.  And may your heart respond in the same way as the shepherds did! 


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