All our carols and Christmas cards to the contrary, their encounter with the angels was absolutely terrifying for the shepherds. After all, when a great hero of the faith like Daniel had encountered angels, he had passed out, completely overwhelmed by the experience (see Daniel 8:17). So, why wouldn’t a bunch of ordinary guys have the same reaction? For whenever weak and sinful human beings come into contact with true holiness and amazing supernatural power, sheer terror is to be expected. No, this was never intended to be a sentimental scene.

So, why would God send an army of holy angels to announce the birth of His Son to some shepherds working the night shift? To make a point perhaps even more amazing than the power and holiness of the angels: that the Lord’s Messiah, the Son of God would be born to save – ordinary, everyday people just like those shepherds. And in order to underscore this point, the angels said that the divine, royal baby would be found, not in a satin-lined cradle in a palace, but wrapped in ordinary cloth, and lying in a feedbox for animals.

And the angels’ news remains good news for all of us. For Jesus didn’t come for the proud and powerful, but for the humble and lowly, not for those who think they have it all together, but for those who know good and well that they don’t. After all, just a few chapters later, Jesus Himself said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

So, how can we respond to such gracious mercy? Well, the shepherds believed the angels’ amazing message. They went and saw the baby in the manger. And in spite of how little sense any of it made to them, they went and proclaimed what the angels had said to them: that a baby of such humble birth had come to be a Savior for ordinary people.

So, can we follow their example this Christmas season? Can we believe and share this good news?

Luke 2:8-20 (NASB)

8 And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
10 And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
15 And it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
17 And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20 And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.