That Good Old Christmas Story

Every year at this time I read through the Christmas story again and try to imagine what it must have been like. I think about Mary hearing the angel tell her that she would give birth to a very special child. Do you think she really understood how it would take place? I also think of Joseph; how he also heard from the angel that Mary was pregnant, but the pregnancy didn’t come about because Mary had been with another man. It was a miracle in those days for a woman to be with child and not to have been with a man. In today’s world it is not a miracle anymore...


I also think about the shepherds. They are out there with the sheep taking care of them, and an angel comes to them. It doesn’t say that Mary or Joseph was frightened when they saw the angel. It does say that Mary was troubled, but it doesn’t say she was frightened. On the other hand, it does say that the shepherds were frightened. The NIV uses the word “terrified”. The shepherds didn’t only see one angel, they saw what the Bible calls a “great company of heavenly hosts”.

I wonder sometimes why the angels appeared to shepherds and not some other group. Why lowly shepherds instead of kings? Why lowly shepherds instead of the priests and the other religious leaders of the day in Jerusalem? Why shepherds instead of teachers, builders, farmers etc…? The only answer I get when I meditate on this is from
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 where is says, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

This Christmas, when you meditate on the story behind the celebration, remember that God hasn’t changed! He is still calling people like you and me to spread the word concerning what has been told us about this child (Luke 2:17).