When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds . . . went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.
That the first visitors to come pay homage to the infant King were shepherds is not a coincidence, nor is it an insignificant detail. Clearly, Scripture is foreshadowing for us what Jesus’ role as Messiah would look like; its presentation would most closely resemble not that of an iron-fisted warrior, nor that of a law-enforcing government official, nor that of any ruler or president or dictator of any kind. The infant who would be called “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace” would most closely match the occupation of shepherd. His was to be a vocation of love for those under His care, such that not a single one of these souls should be lost.
And yet, within this tender portrayal of gentleness, “the government will be upon his shoulder.” Somehow, this gentle baby, whose image these poor and dirty shepherds most closely resemble, would at the same time be King.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.
So, there they are, minding their own business, trying to corral Bertha the lamb who was always scurrying away from the herd, when suddenly an angel appears. Now let’s stop and think about this for a moment. This was not an angel disguised as a stranger who comes to help an old lady cross the street, then peacefully leaves the scene. Just like Mary, Zechariah, and Samson’s mother before them, the shepherds are filled with fear (in a “terrible,” but not “bad” way). These men are called to attention. And it is sudden! Can we even imagine? Let’s picture ourselves in our regular routine, perhaps making dinner or washing dishes, when out of nowhere, a stranger appears in our kitchen (albeit a beautiful stranger—the most beautiful one we have ever seen), glowing with a radiant light unlike anything our eyes have ever beheld before. We would be both terrified and mesmerized at the same time! Such would have been the disposition of the shepherds in their encounter with the angel. The angel has caught their fixed attention, to say the least, and they are ready to have whatever the angel has to say to them seared in their hearts. There is no need to jot down notes. This is the one encounter of their lifetime they would never forget. Not a single detail.
Now here’s the clincher. What does the angel have to say to the shepherds? Actually, the angel doesn’t “say” anything to the shepherds at all. Why? Because he would have sung his message to them:
According to the evangelist, the angels ‘said’ this. But Christianity has always understood that the speech of angels is actually song, in which all the glory of the great joy that they proclaim becomes tangibly present. —Pope Benedict XVI
Of course, we always picture the angels singing, “Glory to God in the Highest,” but have we ever thought about them singing any other message? According to Pope Benedict XVI, that is the only way they communicate. It is the highest form of communication. (Let’s think about that the next time we’re tempted to cringe when our parish priest is a little off-key.) Singing gives God great glory and praise, and, we are told, it is like “praying twice.”
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you land break into song; sing praise.
Singing is a gift from God that restores joy to a downcast heart, even if our voices have less-than-perfect pitch. So we can understand why the angels communicate themselves to others in just this way. But I would venture to guess that there is one more reason God willed that the angels should speak to Mary, to Zechariah, and to the shepherds in song.
Now sit right back and you’ll hear a tale . . .
Here’s a story, of a lovely lady . . .
My bologna has a first name . . .
How is it that we can recite television jingles from decades ago, word for word, from beginning to end, but sometimes can’t even remember what we had for breakfast? Is it because the message of the jingle is particularly noteworthy? Of course not. It is because God has designed our brains to memorize an incredible amount of information when it is recorded in song. It is the reason elementary school students learn their facts musically beginning with the alphabet and ending with the “Fifty Nifty United States.” The day the angel visited the shepherds, he had a message for them that needed to be remembered with precision and with accuracy. So what is this message of such significance that every detail needed to be recorded?
Today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
Ah. So now we get it. Yes, that is the most important message of all time. But what’s incredible is what the angel says to them next:
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
Why are these words incredible? Let’s recall, the year before, when the angel visited Zechariah with his great message, he got back the response, “How shall I know this?” So today, the angel skips right to the chase and doesn’t allow the shepherds the chance to ask any questions. He doesn’t give them the opportunity to express doubt. The angel has learned his lesson that his “terrible” presence is not always answer enough for us mortals, and so he right away offers the shepherds the “sign” which he knows they need. And the shepherds say nothing to anyone about their encounter until they see the sign for themselves:
When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.
Whatever they then said or however they said it, it must have been powerfully persuasive because “all who heard it were amazed.” What was so powerful about the shepherd’s proclamation? Their absolute, all-encompassing, life-changing joy. It would have been infectious, it would have been convincing, and it would have made a believer out of anyone listening to the voices of the shepherds that day. May the joy of Christ fill our hearts this day and spill over onto all who we encounter . . . and make believers out of them too.
Together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD restoring Zion. Break out together in song . . .
Author’s Note: If you’d like to read more reflections like this one, check out my newest release in The Safe Haven series, The Liturgical Seasons of Advent and Christmas, available from Amazon and The Catholic Store.
Photo by Jamie Davies on Unsplash
