The Second Birth Announcement -- And there were shepherds ...
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 of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ 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, and on earth peace to men 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." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,..."
So God had sent a birth announcement to the Kings of the east ~ the Magi ~ long long long long before Jesus was born. It was found, opened and responded to by some men who came, brought gifts and worshiped.
The second birth announcement came to some shepherds. I have heard messages that note that these men were the poor and rejected of society ... the lowest rung ... and that was why God told them. It is true that shepherds were the rejects ~ they were not wealthy, they were dirty and lived "unclean" lives by the standards of the religious. These things are true. And -- I do like the symmetry of God telling Kings (the rich and powerful) and shepherds (the poor and rejected). However I do not think that is why a birth announcement went out to them. . .not exclusively at any rate.
So . . . "there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night." These shepherds, out in the dark field near Bethlehem were shepherds of a very significant flock. The sheep, and most significantly, the lambs of this flock were the Passover lambs. They had to be kept near the Temple in Jerusalem, and watched and cared for very carefully. These shepherds watched the Passover lambs right near where THE Passover Lamb was born. I think that is reason number one why God sent the Angels to tell them.
Also, David, the shepherd boy who became king, shepherded his flocks right there, in the hill of Bethlehem. The clue for me is that the angels do not say, "today in Bethlehem, as prophesied by Micah the prophet" -- they say, "today in the city of David". I think that God, for David's sake, sent a birth announcement to these men.
God sent this birth announcement this way -- for all three reasons I think: the Passover lambs, the legacy of David the shepherd boy king, and God remembered the lowest of the low.
Can you see them?
It is dark
and quiet.
Perhaps a lone shepherd is playing softly on flute. The sky all at once is ablaze of light. You know that terror stole their breath away ~ you know because the first thing the angel says is "Do not be afraid." I always find that kind of funny: An angel is suddenly in front of you -- what else are you going to feel? Who could be blase` about an actual angel? I love that at first one angel addresses these men. It feels like the angels are being as gentle as they can be ... so aware of the fragile and frail hearts of men. I love that it says, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God . . ." It is like the choir is excited ... so excited they can not wait one second more ~ they burst into view, exploding into song.
How do you see the angels? I kind of hate the Renaissance pictures of fat baby angels...I don't like the pictures of wan looking feminine-ish wispy angels either. The Old Testament calls the angels the "host" of God. In fact one of God's names is YHWH of Hosts. (That would be LORD of Hosts, in most of your Bibles, but fyi, when it says LORD in all caps, it can be directly translated YHWH.) The best translation of that would be "LORD of armies". Angels are warriors! (yeah, no wonder everyone's first reaction is terror! right??) And...I wonder ~ Bethlehem sits upon a hill and it is only 5 miles to Jerusalem. Did anyone else see the sky so full of light? Did no one hear the choir of angels? Did they just ... turn over, and go back to sleep? Really??
So...close your eyes and imagine an army of HUGE GIANT GYNORMOUS warriors filling the night sky singing at the top of their lungs. OH MY GOODNESS! I so wish I could have been there!
Like the Kings from the east, these shepherds followed the instructions and went to Bethlehem to worship. We are told that these shepherds, "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,..." Scripture says they spread the word concerning what they saw; I think most, if not all of them, went to see their rabbis. I mean who else are you going to tell that you saw ANGELS? And again...there is not a word about any priests, any rabbis going to find the child about whom the angels sang.
hmmmmm
LOVED this post. Every time I read this passage I weep. It is so amazing to think of what the sheperds experienced that night. I love that you talk about these sheperds keeping watch over the passover lambs!! This was new to me. I can't help but think how radically this encounter impacted them that they left those sheep alone! They were tasked with guarding them with their lives and yet they went to see the babe the angels spoke about. I love the heavenly chorus!! Holy moly, that must have been even better than the Tabernacle Choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus!
ReplyDelete