An Unexpected Announcement...

This week we are looking at the Christmas story from an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Yesterday, we discovered that Jesus entry into humanity was a most unexpected way for the Messiah to enter into His story. And if that was not unexpected enough, there was an encounter that was about to occur in the Christmas story that would be most unusual and unexpected. Let’s look together at what happens next:

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

You think? Of course they were frightened. Wouldn’t you be frightened? It’s not every day that the angel of the Lord, who was God’s personal servant, named Gabriel, just shows up. And if that was not frightening enough, Luke tells us that the glory of the Lord shown around them.

When Luke refers to the glory of the Lord, he is referring to the awesome presence, splendor and radiance of God displayed for others to see. This is God in His greatness revealed. Throughout the Bible, when we read about the glory of the Lord, we usually discover two things. First, we discover that humans usually cannot handle being in the presence of the glory of the Lord. Usually, people respond to being in the presence of the glory of the Lord by falling on their face or fleeing.

Second, when we read about the glory of the Lord, we usually read about God’s glory being revealed either in the tabernacle or the temple in Jerusalem, which was the only church in Mary and Joseph’s day. The glory of the Lord did not just show up in a field in the middle of nowhere. And the glory of the Lord did not show up around shepherds. The glory of the Lord may have been revealed to kings or priests, or to really religious people; but not to shepherds.

Shepherds were blue collar, lower class people who earned their living taking care of flocks of sheep. Shepherds were peasants who were located on the bottom of the scale of power and privilege. So of course the shepherds were frightened; this was most unexpected and frightening; “what’s going to happen to us now” was what they probably were thinking. Luke tells us what happens next:

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid;

To which the shepherds probably thought “easy for you to say”…

for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

The angel says “I have good news for you, which is for you to tell all the people. Down the road from you has been born the savior; you know the promised one that you have heard about since you were a child that is coming to rescue you and your people from your selfish rebellion and sin. You know the Christ, the Messiah. And this Savior, Christ, that has been born, oh by the way, He is God. Now go and check it out for yourself. This is how you will know; Your God, your Savior, your Messiah, He’s in the cave on the edge of town, where He is wrapped up in clothes in a feeding trough”.

Now imagine yourself as a shepherd. What would you be thinking? What questions would be running through your mind? Here’s what I think was running through their mind. “Why would God send an angel to tell us? Why us? Why not tell the priests in Jerusalem? Why not tell the religious people like the Pharisees or Sadducees? Why not tell those in positions of power or influence? Why not tell the rest of Joseph and Mary’s family who are in Nazareth?

Instead, the news of God fulfilling His promise of rescue and deliverance comes to lowly peasants. While the shepherds were frightened and were pondering all that they had heard, there were others who had a much different response:

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine what it must sound like to hear a multitude of angels worship God in one accord without anyone being off key? So what would you do if the angel of the Lord and the glory of the Lord showed up and made that kind of announcement to you?

We will look at how the shepherds responded and the timeless truth that it reveals about the Christmas story tomorrow...