Very peculiar guests and news too wonderful not to share…
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this [will be] the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!” Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
Luke 2:8-14 & 20 NKJV
News too wonderful not to share: Jesus was born! The long-awaited Messiah was here. The very heart of God in human flesh. When our friend has a baby, she announces it to everyone she knows: she shares the wonderful news on Facebook, she calls her grandmother, she sends out postcards with the newborn’s squished and puffy face gracing the front.
Jesus’s birth, too, was proclaimed with an announcement by an angel. An angelic announcement is just right for a king, but it’s interesting to see who received the first birth proclamation: shepherds in a field! Shepherds not related to Jesus, Joseph, or Mary. Total strangers.
This is the fourth appearance by an angel leading up to Jesus’s birth. First, an angel appeared to Zacharias to tell him about the birth of the prophet John. Then Gabriel went to Mary and later to Joseph to tell them they were about to become the Messiah’s parents. Those angelic appearances make sense. But why would the fourth appearance light up the sky for a bunch of men looking after sheep? Shepherds had the lowliest job in Israel, yet the King’s birth was announced to them.
This Jesus, this Savior, is Lord even of the lowliest. For what man lowly esteems, God honors.
The prophecies about the Messiah said that He would shepherd His people Israel. When Jesus grew up and began His ministry, He would call Himself the Good Shepherd. Jesus came to lead us to safety and abundant life in Christ, as a shepherd leads His sheep.
Humble shepherds rejoiced that night, as we rejoice in Jesus’s birth during this Christmas season.