Luke 2:8-20
This section of Scripture has always fascinated me. Jesus, God's only Son, who had been in Heaven in eternity, set the foundations of the earth, and built everything on it, was now born in a forgotten, lowly stable. What were the angels thinking on this very night? The Christ had always been with them; they knew no differently. They saw Him create the earth, create man, destroy with a flood, and now He was a man just like everyone else (in a sense). For nine months, He was inside Mary, His earthly body forming within her, and suddenly he was thrust upon this earth, and alas, there wasn't even room in the inn! Were God and the angels so excited and thrilled that they could no longer contain themselves? Is that why, in an almost empty pasture, close by Bethlehem, on a cool dark night, the angels, who were bursting at the seams, suddenly manifested themselves to some shepherds? Wait, shepherds? The Prince of Peace, the King of kings, omnipotent, was just born a man to take away the sin of the world, and the first people to know of it are shepherds? Like I said, this is one of the most fascinating Scriptures! (But I digress.)
So these poor (literally), lonely shepherds were out in the fields, living the life as they had been raised; the only life they knew. Suddenly, without warning, something happened for the very first time ever. Angels appeared out of nowhere, and declared, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!" (vs. 11), followed by a whole Angelic chorus praising God. Now if this isn't the quintessential "growing and going," because, as if that weren't remarkable enough, these shepherds actually got up and left their sheep (something I am sure they were taught never to do). They then went into town to see, with their own eyes, this miracle of miracles, and not only that, but afterwards, they went out and spread the message around town (something I am positive they were not told by the angels to do). But how could you not tell everyone? How could you hold it inside of you?
For the angels and the shepherds, this was an unprecedented event. Never before or after, in all of eternity, has it been, or will it ever be, duplicated. And yet, isn't it easy for us to be lazy, and just sit around? After all, it happened about two thousand years ago—this is all we know; we were brought up this way. Isn't that more reason to go out and spread the Gospel around? To be ready, in season and out of season, to give an answer for the hope that lies within us? Do we—do I— really believe this happened? Do I really believe that Jesus is the Son of God? So why would I not go out and tell everyone?
~ Jason A. Frantz
