And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them (Luke 2:8-18 ESV).
All-Star Performance
Okay. So, here’s this all-star performance just a couple of miles from Bethlehem. And I like how the NLT phrases it: Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God and saying: “glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” I’m wondering, with the exception of the Seraphim who were always attending to the Lord’s throne, (Isaiah 6) if God emptied out heaven for this once in an eternity light show, the birth of His Son?
Now with that many angels in the sky, why didn’t anyone else notice? It could have been as bright as day there. And as far as the volume level, it would’ve been off the charts. And the quality of the sound? Completely and utterly heavenly. As a musician, I like to think that the angels sang this announcement; but alas, it says that they were “Praising God and saying.” But what they were saying and how they said it had to have been out-of-this-world beautiful.
Notice at the beginning of this passage, just one angel appeared, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory was so great, they were terrified. Imagine what the radiance level would be with all of heaven’s armies gathered in one place. And I ask again, why didn’t anyone else see it? And with all of them, with one voice praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased,” why didn’t anyone else hear it?
I suppose there are two answers: God didn’t want them to hear, or they couldn’t hear. Now if God didn’t want anyone else to hear, I suppose there are couple reasons for that. First of all, He would not want Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus to be overwhelmed by the entire town trying to see the sight. Second, He wanted one of the lowest of low segments of society to be the first to hear the Good News. And third, He wanted the same guys to be the first to tell the Good News.
The second option would be that the citizens of Bethlehem couldn’t hear. Now it’s not that they were all wearing noise-canceling headphones. Pretty sure those were not around at this point. So, it didn’t have to do with the hearing, it had to do with their hearts. After 400 years of silence they had gotten used to not hearing from God. They went on with their lives, did their weekly rituals, but there was no room for something new. Their hearts were closed off.
Keep your hearts open this Christmas. May there be an opportunity for you to hear God speak, for you to see what God is doing, and then join Him.
Missed yesterday’s post? Read about Christmas’ impact on eternity.
Read the previous blog in the series, Eternity & Christmas.
Read the next blog in the series, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?
