Be not afraid

DOREEN G. YU

- 

That was the message of the angel to the shepherds over two millennia ago.

Out in the field with their sheep, ready to bed down for the night, keeping warm as best they could, shepherds were not exactly the most obvious choice to receive that most important announcement. After all, shepherds were generally uneducated and rough, itinerant NPAs (no permanent address) since they moved around wherever the sheep could graze and thus were not exactly pillars of society.

So when an angel appeared out of the sky and “the glory of the Lord” shown around them, of course they were afraid; terrified, in fact, the Bible records (Luke 2:9). But the angel reassured them - “Be not afraid” — and went on to give them the most wonderful news: the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-12)

And not only that; the angel was then joined by a “great company of the heavenly host,” an entire barangay of angels, all singing praises to God. Imagine what it must have been like for the shepherds, out there in the field in the cold, dark night, then angels appear with an incredible announcement. Could these shepherds have ever in their wildest dreams imagined that an angel would appear to them in such a glorious extravaganza?