Good News of Great Joy

The shepherds are on the ground, shaking. Light everywhere. And then a voice, strong and kind at the same time. Don't be afraid.

On the hills near Bethlehem, a group of shepherds had been keeping watch over their sheep through the night. Then, without warning, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord blazed all around. They were terrified. Anyone would be. But the angel has not come to frighten them. He has come with a message. And it is a message that people all over the world still read aloud every Christmas.

“Fear not,” the angel says. “For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Not just good news. Good news of great joy. And not just for the priests in the temple, or the rich in Jerusalem, or the clever and the important. For all the people. That includes a handful of shepherds in a field. Imagine them slowly lifting their heads. Joy? For us? The fear begins to loosen its grip. They listen.

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Every word matters. Unto you: this baby is for them. This day: not someday, but tonight. In the city of David: Bethlehem, just down the hill, King David's town, where God had promised a new king would come from. A Saviour: someone who rescues. Christ: the Greek word for Messiah, the anointed king God had promised for centuries. And Lord: a title the scriptures used for God himself. Three huge names, given to a baby born a few minutes' walk away.

And then the angel tells them how to find him. Here is your sign. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. After all those grand titles, such a humble clue. Not in a palace. Not behind guards. In a feeding trough. The shepherds would not need to be invited in by servants. They would know a manger when they saw one. The Saviour, Christ the Lord, was waiting for them in the kind of place where shepherds belonged.

The words good news and saviour were not only church words. A few years before Jesus was born, cities in the Roman province of Asia set up a stone inscription praising the emperor Augustus. One copy found at Priene, in modern Turkey, calls Augustus a saviour and says that his birthday was the beginning of good news for the world. So when Luke's angel announces good news and a saviour, his first readers would have heard a quiet contrast with Caesar.

The angel's message is in Luke chapter two, verses ten to twelve. Good news of great joy, for all the people, and a baby in a manger as the sign. So here is a question to carry with you. Who do you know who needs to hear that this good news is for them too?