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1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:1-20 NRSV)
I've wondered before if it was just a Hispanic Methodist thing, or did an abundance of Chicano boys have bathrobes? I ask because the bathrobe was the costume of the day when it was time to cast shepherds and wise man for our church's Christmas pageant. It didn't matter if you were assigned to be a king, you wore the same bathrobe you wore last night as a shepherd. The only difference is that this year you get the gift wrapped cigar box, and who in our church was smoking so many cigars? Huh? Whoever it was was doing it very privately for I knew no one who smoked cigars; cigar smokers usually give themselves away! But we're in Luke's Gospel, the one commonly called the universal gospel because Luke took great measures to include the common man and woman; and his birth narrative includes the most common of the professions of the day, the shepherd, for Luke considered it very important to have in his story, those who identified more with the people than say, kings. Not that the kings were not important, but Matthew in his Gospel felt it better to share with his audience the presence and majesty of royalty. But royalty is still involved because the first verse says that it was the royal government who pushed for this census to occur. Emperor Augustus wanted the people of the world to be numbered, and of course, for taxation purposes. Every citizen was ordered to their birth town to register there. And Joseph, being of the lineage of David the King, was from Bethlehem and there he went, with his betrothed Mary, who was expecting a child. And while in Bethlehem she gave birth to a son, whom she wrapped in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger. The Creator of the universe's first bed is a box designed for animal food. This is the scandal of the incarnation: God doesn't enter the world with overwhelming power that compels worship; He enters with vulnerability that invites rejection. He doesn't demand a throne; He accepts a feeding trough. From His first moments, Jesus identifies with the displaced, the overlooked, the ones for whom there is "no room." Christmas teaches us that God doesn't reveal Himself primarily through might but through meekness, not through domination but through humility, not to the powerful who demand recognition but to the powerless who have nowhere else to turn.
God's announcement of this birth goes first not to kings or priests but to shepherds: "In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night." Shepherds occupied the bottom of the social ladder—ceremonially unclean because of their work, unable to observe all religious rituals, regarded as untrustworthy. Yet these are the first evangelists, the first to hear and share the good news. "Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." Heaven breaks into an ordinary night shift with overwhelming glory. The shepherds' terror is understandable—they're face to face with the supernatural, with holiness, with otherness. But the angel's first words are comfort: "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord." This announcement is packed with significance. "Good news"—the gospel begins here. "Great joy"—not mild contentment but overflowing delight. "For all the people"—not just for Israel, not just for the religiously qualified, but for everyone. "To you is born"—personal and present, not distant or theoretical. "This day"—not in the ancient past or the far future but now. "A Savior"—someone who rescues, who delivers, who saves from danger and death. "The Messiah"—the long-awaited Anointed One promised throughout Scripture. "The Lord"—divine, worthy of worship, God Himself.
The angel gives them a sign: "This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." The sign of heaven's King is a baby in a feed box. Then suddenly the lone angel is joined by a multitude: "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!'" The heavens can't contain their joy. Multitudes of angels—the "heavenly host," the armies of heaven—burst into praise. Notice what they celebrate: "Glory to God in the highest heaven"—God receives the honor, the worship, the credit for this moment. "And on earth peace"—not the absence of conflict but the reconciliation between God and humanity, the shalom that comes when Creator and creation are reunited. "Among those whom he favors"—or "among those with whom he is pleased," referring to those who receive this message with faith. Peace comes to those who welcome the Prince of Peace.
The shepherds' response is immediate and wholehearted: "When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' So they went with haste." They don't debate, don't question, don't delay—they go with haste to see what God has done. "And they found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger." Everything the angel said was true. The sign was accurate. God's word proved trustworthy. "When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them." The shepherds become the first preachers of the gospel, telling everyone what they've seen and heard. Those who hear are amazed—astonished, marveling at this news. "But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart." While others are amazed and the shepherds are proclaiming, Mary is quietly treasuring and pondering, storing these moments deep within, meditating on their meaning. Both responses are appropriate—public proclamation and private reflection, enthusiastic sharing and quiet contemplation. "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." They go back to their ordinary work transformed, filled with praise, their lives forever changed by encountering the Savior.
Christmas calls us to respond to this good news of great joy. Like the shepherds, we're invited to go with haste to encounter Jesus, to see for ourselves what God has done, to treasure and ponder these truths, and then to return to our ordinary lives glorifying and praising God, telling others what we've seen and heard. The baby in the manger is the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord—God with us, God for us, God who loves us enough to enter our world, share our humanity, and ultimately die for our sins and rise for our salvation. This is good news of great joy for all people, including you.
PRAYER: Loving Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son into our world—not with overwhelming power but with vulnerable love, not to palaces but to stables, not announced to the powerful but revealed to shepherds; help us, like Mary, to treasure and ponder the wonder of the incarnation, and like the shepherds, to go with haste to encounter Jesus and return to our lives glorifying and praising You, telling others the good news of great joy, in Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: This Christmas, follow the shepherds' example: encounter Jesus afresh through reading and meditating on the Christmas story, then share the good news of great joy with at least one person who needs to hear that a Savior has been born for them.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! Be like the shepherds and humbly amaze others with the awesomeness of Jesus' birth in your life.
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
