A GREAT PROCLAMATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Luke 2:8-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The baby Jesus was born with no fanfare, no celebration outside of the joy within the hearts of the young couple Joseph and Mary inside that Bethlehem stable. It was a humble scene for the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Savior of the world to enter into creation. Emmanuel had come, God leaving Heaven to come to earth so to dwell among His people but He did so in peace and relative solitude.

That soon changed for as we shift to what happened next, we find lowly shepherds enjoying a solitude of their own. They were minding their business and doing what shepherds do, “keeping watch over their flocks at night.” in the fields nearby Bethlehem, the city of David.

The night sky above them was dark and the air surrounding them carried a chill as it was in the winter months. As they tended to the sheep, they were probably holding conversations about the day or events that had been happening to pass the time. Perhaps they were talking about their sheep because shepherds of the special relationships they had with their flocks. In fact, the shepherds were so close to their sheep that any member of their flock could recognize and know the sound of their voice, responding to it and it alone.

Yes, on the surface it seemed like just any other ordinary night but suddenly the scriptures tell us that an “angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” The spontaneous, supernatural experience left the shepherds terrified much like Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph were in their prior encounters with Gabriel (Matthew 1:18-24, Luke 1:11-20, 26-38). And so we find the angel doing as he had done before, seeking to calm the shepherds’ fears by simply saying, “Do not be afraid” before delivering what would be a great proclamation, the first formal announcement of Jesus’ birth.

“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

I have always found this totally amazing because the announcement that the long awaited Messiah had come was not given to the most renowned Jewish priest or teacher of the law. It was not given to anyone in a significant leadership position in any of the main Jewish locales like Judea or Galilee. Ditto for anyone in Roman authority like Emperor Caesar Augustus or Syria’s governor Quirinius or Jerusalem’s King Herod. No, the divine public statement of Christ’s birth came to a group of humble shepherds, a cultural group who were considered near the bottom of Jewish societal hierarchy. They would have been the last group that any Jew would have picked for such a declaration but as we know, God does not move at the will of any man or woman. Rather, He does things in His perfect way at His perfect time.

And so the shepherds were the recipients of one of the greatest proclamations in human history and that would have been enough on its own but there was one more amazing experience in store for them.

For we read where “a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel” suddenly, “praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.’”

The angel had no more brought the good news of Jesus’ birth when the sky burst into the light surrounding a “great company of the heavenly host”. We don’t know how many angels were in this company but they could have been as many as would be in an army. That’s a lot of angels and they formed quite a choir as they praised God and pronounced the glory and peace on earth that had come through the holy baby lying in the Bethlehem manger, the One who came to save the world.

And then, it was over.

The angels disappeared into Heaven as quickly as they had come and the shepherds were left where they were before the great proclamation happened. Their surroundings had not changed but they, they were changed forever having gone through an experience they would never forget. This experience was so incredible that the scriptures tell us they quickly decided to “go to Bethlehem and see” what had happened, the thing that the Lord had told them about. Unable to harness the thrill and excitement within, they couldn’t wait to go, seek, and find the baby Messiah.

Friends, Christmas has come and gone for another year and we have returned to our familiar surroundings, most of us working in ways we did before we celebrated Jesus’ birth. With this, we have a choice to either just let things return to normal or like the shepherds, run to Bethlehem to seek and find Jesus anew in our hearts and minds.

The great proclamation of the heavenly host announced that hope and peace for all mankind had come through Jesus and this hope and peace is still here, no matter how world events might try to have us believe otherwise.

With this, shouldn’t we be just as excited as those shepherds were on that chilly Judean night after receiving the good news of great joy for all people?

Today and forever more, let us rejoice in Jesus, the One who has brought us salvation and reigns in authority over all things in Heaven and earth, despite beginning His life in a lowly stable with only His parents there to witness His birth. Truly, it is the greatest rags to divine riches story ever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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