There were shepherds camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-12)
~~~~~
Shepherds camping. Watching their sheep. A normal night at work, it sounds like. The text doesn’t say there was a fire blazing to keep them warm, or awake, or to scare off predators. But speaking of blazes, it does say that, “Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them.”
That would definitely interrupt the night shift.
In other parts of the Advent story, the angel who shows up is identified by name as Gabriel. Gabriel is not named here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who plopped down in the shepherd’s pasture. He had this habit of interrupting the lives of ordinary people with extraordinary news. Gabriel was identified as the one who burst in on Mary. He did the same with Zachariah. And he never bothered to give them a warning that he was coming with big news, with something like, “At 11:00 tomorrow night, there will be a special news report. Prepare yourselves.” None of that. The angel just showed up, unannounced.
The Scripture says, “They were terrified.” No doubt how you or I would feel if a spaceship landed in the front yard of our house. And I mean, really landed, not just landed in our minds or dreams or imaginations, but was suddenly in front of us, with lights and whirring sounds, and then someone exiting to talk to us, in our language. We would have no place to hide. Couldn’t rub our eyes enough to rub out what we were seeing. We would be scared spitless.
The angel moved immediately into pastoral mode in the pasture with the words, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide.”
Don’t be afraid, this messenger says! Easy for him to say! Can someone please check my pulse? I don’t feel so good. Am I hallucinating?
This great and joyful event is identified with these words: “A Savior has just been born in David’s town”, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. What? The Messiah and Master is here?! That was great news! We assume the shepherds were Jewish, but we don’t actually know that. I point this out because the mention of Messiah would penetrate deeply into the Jewish heart.
In common lore, the Messiah was the one who would be a mighty warrior. He would liberate Israel from all their enemies, including the hated Romans who were dominating them at this time. This is great and joyful news! Yippee! Messiah is here! And to double up on the hope of our dreams, Messiah is also the Master. He is in charge. There will be no competition. He will have unmatched rule and power. I’m not sure why this announcement is coming to us common laborer shepherds, but I don’t need to know that. I just know that what we have longed for has finally happened. The hope of every Jewish mother is fulfilled: a baby boy born to be Messiah! I wonder what palace he is in, and if the Romans know already, and will the birth of this Messiah Baby be carried on all the news broadcasts with appropriate pomp and circumstance? There certainly is a big whoop-te-doo out here in the field…
The angel continues: “This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”
I can imagine that incredulity set in. Did you say baby wrapped in a blanket, lying in a feeding trough used by livestock? Hmmm. I was expecting Messiah Baby in a palace surrounded by doting servants and the finest of nursing and medical care. Maybe I am dreaming. Or at the least, I need to get my hearing checked.
No need. It’s all legitimate. Messiah and Master is in a place you don’t expect. And if you knew the circumstances, he was conceived and born in a way you couldn’t predict.
This was a night shift like no other.
We aren’t let inside the minds of the shepherds, but I have to think also that the mention of King David got their attention in multiple ways. The David theme continues to come together and play a prominent role in the story presented by the Gospel writers. Joseph was identified as a descendant of David. The birth of Jesus happened on the journey back from the Roman-ordered census, and took place in Bethlehem, David’s town. And David himself was a shepherd. Was that why the angel appeared to shepherds; David was one of them! They had that occupational connection, that affinity. And before David rose to national fame and leadership, he too had toiled in this lowliest of jobs. Their job. Was there, rightly so, a mark of pride underneath this? The Messiah has been born in David’s town—you know, David, the shepherd boy, one of us!—and the Messiah is from the line of David. We can’t ask for much more occupational pride than that!
We identify with those who are like us. As speakers, we try to find connections with our audiences. I remember once in a church in Tennessee, a friend of mine and I had been invited for ministry. When he began playing his guitar and singing, some kind of special musical flavor connection was made, and the host excitedly jumped up and announced to the church, “Brother Tim is one of us!” For many years in our church in Dallas, a veteran of World War II named Aubrey latched on and called us his favorite “Guadalcanal missionaries” because that is the name of the south Pacific island we had lived on, and it was the island his Army comrades had fought on. We had a lasting connection for the rest of his life. I have to think that the mention of David, the Shepherd King, was a connection that resonated with these shepherds who were part of the first cast of characters to receive the news that would change the world.
Non-Jewish star scholars had deduced that a king had been born. Unnamed, obscure shepherds received news that the Messiah and Master had arrived. The Good News can’t be contained. It’s out now.
We are hearing this news centuries after the Messiah’s birth. What are we doing in response?
“Father, thank you for revealing this extraordinary news in an extraordinary way to these ordinary people. And you continue to do so! And we can never thank you enough. Whether it’s through supernatural visitors or common, every day events, we stand ready for you to get our attention and turn our hearts to you. Come, Lord Jesus!”
Freddy Boswell 