But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
The angel who spoke to the shepherds about birth of Jesus had to calm them down so they would listen to the good news. Angels in the Bible were constantly telling people to stop being afraid. Even today, seeing an angel is a little out of the ordinary. Those who have seen angels don’t generally tell everyone they know.
The shepherds heard the angel mention a sign that this baby was the Christ: “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The shepherds left to go check out the sign. If they couldn’t find any babies in Bethlehem in a manger, then they probably would’ve headed back to the sheep quietly, wondering about what they’d seen.
They knew the baby they saw in the manger was the one the angel told about, so they went to tell others and praised God for all they had seen and heard.
Often, we keep things to ourselves when we aren’t sure if we believe what we thought we saw. But when we see something spectacular, we tell everyone. We want to share our joy just as the shepherds did.
This description of that angelic visitation is found in Luke 2:8-20. The event is memorable to many people today, even people who have never read the Bible. People who don’t go to church can hear some of these Luke 2 Bible verses sung in shopping malls during the Christmas season. People who don’t go to church or shopping malls can hear these Bible verses spoken by Linus on the Charlie Brown Christmas Special which is on TV every year.
Angels are memorable. God uses them to bring messages that He wants remembered.
Mary, who had just given birth to the Savior of all mankind, thought about all that had happened that day and treasured the memories in her heart. Can we be like her? Can we treasure the message that God wants us to remember?
We don’t really need an angelic visitation to get God’s message. We have the Bible which tells us plenty about God and about ourselves. We also have the Spirit of the Living God. God can speak into our hearts to guide us to His message for our lives.
When you finally really hear the good news of God’s message for you, will you tell someone?
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