The most momentous event in the history of the world happened about 2,000 years ago when the Creator of the universe took human form and thereby divided time. Scorners rail against the designations B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of the Lord") as outdated and try to substitute B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era). Yet the glorious fact remains that they must define the common era in terms of the coming of the God-Man in the town of Bethlehem. Similarly, we may bemoan the commercialization of Christmas, but the "winter" break observed in schools witnesses to Jesus' impact on society.

*We see hints of His goal of coming to save sinners in the reaction of the shepherds on the night of His birth (vv. 8-12). Not too many decades ago, some scholars argued against a December birth for Jesus on the theory that shepherds did not oversee their sheep at night during that month. Researchers now know that shepherds were assigned throughout the year to guard and nurture sheep used for the twice-daily sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. We readily see the appropriateness of the angelic visitation to the shepherds because God's sacrificial Lamb had been born in Bethlehem.

The entire birth narrative is covered in one verse (v. 7). After giving birth, Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid him in an animal feed trough. The scene then shifted to the experience of the shepherds. The brightness of the shekinah glory associated with the angel of the Lord understandably frightened the shepherds. He explained the reason for his presence and provided a sign to lend credibility to the message (v. 12).

We often romanticize the role of the shepherd, based partly on the tenderness of the shepherd-sheep connection in passages like Psalm 23. The Jewish religious authorities viewed them differently. The Talmud, a collection of writings constituting civil and religious laws governing the Jews, described shepherds as thieves. They were banned from appearing as witnesses in legal proceedings. God reached to the lowest level of society to bring forth witnesses of the birth of Jesus.

*When God's heavenly host honored the shepherds with a private worship service, He was announcing that the fulness of time had come (vv. 13-14). This phrase comes from Galatians 4:4a, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman." In the first century, studies of prophecies led many to believe the coming of the Messiah was at hand. The time was right.

Politically, the Roman empire extended across most of the Western World, even as far as the British isles. Roman citizenship guaranteed protection against aggression and violation of civil rights. Nearly all people spoke Greek along with their local dialects. The time was right.

*The extraordinary revelations received by the shepherds inspired them to become the first evangelists of the Messiah's ministry (vv. 15-20). As the heavenly host receded from sight, the shepherds pondered the events and felt compelled to enter Bethlehem in search of a new-born Babe lying in a manger. They soon found Him, along with Mary and Joseph. Their enthusiastic report of what had happened must have confirmed for Mary the heavenly uniqueness and earthly significance of the boy named Jesus. She remembered the events and undoubtedly shared them years later with Luke as he researched the events to include in the Gospel.

The shepherds could never be the same. They left the city to spread the good news of all they had seen and heard. The outcasts became the first evangelists.