When the angels appeared in the sky and declared to the shepherds the glory of the newborn Messiah, the Son of God born from a virgin, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and laid in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem, the shepherds left not their herd o’ pigs, but their flocks of sheep and goats to go and find the baby Immanuel, God with us. We can declare these facts with confidence. Why? It’s not just a guess based on Jewish culture. We have the benefit of eyewitness reports recorded for us in the gospels – precise reports that include details down to even the very message the angels declared to the shepherds! Because we believe this report that Christ has come – including all the meaning and purpose that God has attached to his coming – and because we love his Son, the Father declares that he loves us!
