Christmas
🎄 🎁 Merry Christmas! 🎁 🎄
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But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11 (NET)
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You probably know the story:
The shepherds are watching over the sheep at night. Then Jesus is born (of course they have no idea). And an angel comes to them to declare the Good News.
Suddenly a host of angels appeared and started singing, giving glory to God.
I bet those guys were scared out of their minds.
I’d probably think, “I must be dead. Yep. This is it. The end.”
😆
I mean, can you even imagine?
Crazy.
That pretty much happens to everyone who sees an angel in the Bible, so they almost always start off with “don’t be afraid.” I’m not sure it helps much, but maybe it did.
If these were any sort of good Jewish people, they would immediately know the significance of Christ.
“Christ” is a Greek word for the Hebrew “Messiah.”
These people had been waiting hundreds of years for the Messiah. They’d had some failed rebellions in the recent-ish past where supposed “messiahs” had come and gone.
If a normal human tells them that the Messiah is born today, they probably don’t believe them.
But this was a heavenly host of angels, they had to at least check it out.
It’s surprisingly rare to get an explicit sign from heaven like that.
I sometimes wish God would do it more often, but I know He knows what He’s doing.
Anyway, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and celebrate the Good News of great joy today.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
