Each Christmas, a church that I used to work at had displays of nativity scenes. There were scores of them, all different sizes and styles. Some were fairly simple, others were incredibly ornate. But all of them had the same basic elements: baby Jesus and his parents, wise men, some animals, and shepherds. These parts of the nativity are so common that we rarely think twice about them. Of course there would be donkeys, sheep, and shepherd figurines, they were part of the story!
It’s only when you move from the simple repetition of the story to actually pondering what happened that you realize how astounding the scene really is. The first witnesses to the birth of the savior of the world were some of the lowest of the low. They weren’t dignitaries, or influential religious or government leaders. They were the guys stuck on the night shift, tending sheep.
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. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. Luke 2:8-18
The thing that always struck me as funny about the account of the shepherds was this multitude of angels, thousands of heavenly beings lighting up the night sky and probably terrorizing the poor sheep, proclaiming the peace of God to the shepherds. I don’t know about you, but that scene seems all but peaceful! So if the angels weren’t telling the shepherds to calm down and have peace, what were they saying?
They were proclaiming the gospel!
They were giving God glory because the Prince of Peace had arrived to bring the peace of salvation to earth.
Peter said to the Gentiles, “As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),” (Acts 10:36)
And from Paul:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1
“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” Ephesians 2:17
“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” Colossians 1:20
The shepherds, who were filled with great fear and not at all at peace, got to hear from God’s angelic messengers that the Son of God had arrived, bringing peace that comes with a relationship with God. He reconciled the world to himself through His work on the cross. Glory to God!
