An Angel Army Stormed a Small Town in the Middle East
from Luke 2:8-20
Imagine lying on your back in the freshest, greenest grass. Overhead, the night sky spreads from edge to edge of your view: millions of twinkling, sparkling stars dot the darkness of a moonless night. You take a deep breath in, smelling all the smells of the grass and the wildflowers and the earth and the herd of sheep asleep nearby. You are very nearly asleep now yourself, hearing only the conversation of your friends, the fire crackling, the gust of a breeze blowing by…
That’s when your view is suddenly lit up by a man!
But, Is he a man? you wonder to yourself.
He stands just beyond the campfire and now he’s blinding your eyes with light; he is looking right in your direction – at you and your friends.
“Do not be afraid!” he says, in a booming, almost overwhelming voice. “Listen, I bring you glorious news of great joy which is for all the people. This very day, in David’s town, a Savior has been born for you. He is Christ, the Lord. Let this prove it to you: you will find a baby, wrapped up and lying in a manger.”
Your heart is racing in your chest, now. Your eyes are wide: you have never heard or seen anything quite like this…
When suddenly, overhead, the sky – just a moment ago dark and dotted with a million stars – is now invaded by the Army of Heaven! Shoulder to shoulder, it’s like they’re marching from the Throneroom of Heaven – glowing with the fire of a thousand suns – and you press into the earth, trying to avoid their advance.
But with joy they begin to trumpet and shout for all to hear – for you to hear: “Glory to God in the highest Heaven! Peace on earth among men of good hearts!”
And then – just like that – with the thundering sound of their worship still ringing in your ears, with the grass still bending under the blowing of their trumpets…
They're gone.
You look around. Your friends are all pressed down into the earth, frightened and amazed like you, but everything else is darkness again. The millions of twinkling, sparkling stars are back to dotting the darkness of the moonless night; the only sound is the fire’s popping and crackling.
You stand up. Your heart continues to race. You say to your friends, “Let’s get going to Bethlehem and see this thing that the Lord has made known to us!”
And so away you go… journeying off over the darkened hills, crossing streams and meadows and walking beneath the spreading trees…
Until, stooping your head to get in through the opening of a hillside into the stable it holds, you lock eyes with a young mother and father, inside. Your eyes take a moment to adjust to the dim lamplight within…
And there He is. The most powerful person in all human history – the mighty General of that Angel Army – who is laying, swaddled, on a bed of hay.
A baby. In a manger.
He slightly turns His head and your eyes meet for a moment. You fall to your knees and you worship this Christ, your Lord.
The invasion has begun. Glory to God in the highest Heaven!
Let’s Talk About It
How do you think you would have felt if you had been one of the shepherds?
What do you think baby Jesus would have looked like?
Have you ever seen an angel? What do you think an army of Heaven would look like?
