C H Spurgeon
Why was the birth of the King of the Jews made known to these foreigners and not to those nearer home? Why did the Lord select those who lived so many hundreds of miles away, while the children of the kingdom, in whose very midst the Saviour was brought forth, were yet strangely ignorant of His presence?
See here again another instance of the sovereignty of God. Both in shepherds and in wise men from the East gathering around the young Child, I see God dispensing His favours as He wills; and, as I see it, I exclaim, “Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight”. As of old, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elias the prophet, yet he was sent unto none of them but unto the woman of Sarepta, a city of Sidon, so there were many among the Jews who were called wise men, but unto none of them did the star appear; but it shone on Gentile eyes and led a chosen company from the ends of the earth to bow at Emanuel’s feet.
1An extract from Spurgeon’s “Good Tidings of Great Joy”: Christ’s Incarnation the Foundation of Christianity.
In these cases, sovereignty clothed itself in robes of mercy. It was great mercy that regarded the low estate of the shepherds, and it was far-reaching mercy which gathered a company of men, made wise unto salvation, from lands which live in darkness. Mercy, wearing her resplendent jewels, was present with God’s sovereignty in the lowly abode of Bethlehem. Is it not a delightful thought that, around the cradle of the Saviour, as well as around His throne in heaven, these two attributes of mercy and sovereignty meet? He makes Himself known – and here is mercy. But He makes Himself known to those whom He has chosen – and here He shows that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom He will have compassion.