Good News, Great Joy

It was lambing season. They were out in the fields doing their job, just like every other night: smelly shepherds that nobody liked!

“And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.”

Luke 2:9

It says they were greatly afraid. I bet they were. I mean, have you ever seen an angel? No, of course you haven’t, and I’m sure those shepherds hadn’t either. And the glory of the Lord. I have no idea what the glory of the Lord would have looked like but when Moses saw it his face shone for ages and they were afraid to look at him. When the Tabernacle was filled with the glory of God nobody dared go in. Yes, I bet those shepherds were terrified.

My guess is that they had no idea what it all meant. Back in his day, when God’s people had turned away from Him (yet again), Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart from Israel. It was as if God had said, “That’s it, I’m out of here.” That was 550 years before this night. In all that time the glory of God was never seen in Israel but now, for no apparent reason, on an ordinary night, in this out-of-the-way place, God was much as saying, “I’m back, people!”

I wonder did the shepherds work that out? Probably not. They were likely too scared to think. Anyway, the angel explained what was going on.

"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”

Luke 2:10

Really? Good news for the whole world? Here, on a hillside outside Bethlehem? Shepherds? Are you kidding me?

Well, what is this good news, Mr. Angel?

“There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:11

If the shepherds were good Jews, they would have known what that was about. It meant the Messiah had come. The angel might as well have said, “The One all you descendants of Abraham have been waiting for for hundreds of years: the One it’s all about — the promises, the nation, the land, the Temple, the priests, the sacrifices, the prayers. The One it’s all about has come. The One who’s going to rule on the throne of David forever, the One who’s going to set up a kingdom of peace and justice, the One who is going to save His people, end all their woes and make everything right just like it was always meant to be is here. He’s arrived, tonight, and He’s just down the road in the village.”

And then, it was like heaven could contain itself no more. The cloak of invisibility that hides the unseen world of spiritual reality was thrown back.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

Luke 2:13 – 14

After the way Israel has treated God for millennia — despising His law, turning their backs, going after their idols and their filth again and again and again — God has sent a Saviour. He’s going to forgive them, He’s going to take away all their troubles and there’ll be peace on the whole earth. And peace on earth, by the way, is not just an end of wars. It’s way better than that. It’s peace between God and mankind. It’s God’s not angry with them anymore. It’s a perfect world where everything that’s wrong has been fixed. It’s everything back in harmony the way it was always supposed to be. Imagine that!

What amazing, what incredible, what unbelievable grace. What a God!

How many is a multitude anyway? I think it must have been millions and I get the impression they weren’t there because they had to be. Maybe they’d been given a day off. Special occasion. Some party in Heaven, that night.

You want to know what angels celebrate and get excited about? Well, here’s the answer. Angels can’t see into the future and they can’t be in more than one place at a time. This was all news to them too. They had seen what was going on in Heaven: the preparations and the send-off. They were hearing about what was going on in Bethlehem: whispers passing through the crowd. This was them reacting as it unfolded. Angels get excited about God keeping His promises and building His kingdom even when the people he made those promises to have no time for Him. Angels get excited about God loving and saving hopeless sinners: Angels get excited about God being gracious because every time He is it reveals more of the beauty, the wonder, the glory of God.

“Glory to God in the highest!”

When the shepherds got over their scare and after they had checked everything out:

“They made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marvelled at those things which were told them by the shepherds… Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

Luke 2:17 – 20

What do you think, were they happy when they went home to their wives the next morning? Too right they were! And they couldn’t keep it to themselves!

It's a simple wee story. A story about ordinary people, doing their ordinary job, surprised by the best news ever, praising God and bursting to tell it. It’s a story about millions of angels erupting into spontaneous praise. It’s meant to make you happy — joyful. It’s meant to leave you amazed by God’s grace like they were: amazed in a way that trumps everything else. It’s meant to leave you with no reason not to be joyful.

Christmas brings sad thoughts for some of us and maybe over the holiday you’ll have your little weep about something or other. That’s OK. But then, think about this story. Put yourself in the shepherd’s sandals. Imagine you’re one of those angels straining to see through the crowd. Experience some of what they did. Let the wonder of God fill your heart till it makes the sadness better.

Yes, it’s great news, and there are lots of sad people who still haven’t heard it. Who knows, if you did experience a little bit of what the shepherds and the angels experienced that night, you might just be moved to tell them: it might just come bursting out of you. Has the gospel — the good news about Jesus’ birth — ever done that to you?

Have a very happy Christmas.