Fear Not

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

So one of the angels (messengers, servants) of God has stepped into time to address the shepherds in verse ten who are already freaked out -- angels just do not make a full appearance in their glorified forms that much to human beings! Especially not to shepherds, among the great unwashed despite being among the most essential providers, among Jewish society. And these angels are NOT the ones you find on greeting cards and definitely not cute! Whenever they appear in the Bible, which is replete with examples, the first thing an angel says is "Fear not". Do not be afraid. As we begin to read and analyze with perhaps a bit of two millennia worth of hindsight what the angel appearing to the shepherds will say, let us see what in verse ten the angel imparts to them from the lips of God.

For remember, the angel is a messenger. And once he has the attention of the shepherds with their flocks at night -- one wonders if anyone else saw the bright shining light the angel emanated -- and they have stopped being afraid, or at the very least stopped being so paralyzed with fear that they are not thinking straight, the angel (minus wings and halo, both of which are medieval inventions) gives his message. And this is good news (for the disciples reading this, the Good News) and like the rabbi Hillel, who if our dating for the Nativity is accurate had died a few years before said when asked what the Law is and he replied what you do not want done to you do not do to your neighbor followed that with, the rest is commentary. Fear not.

We will see this more as we continue with the message of the angel in the next few verses. The fact that he (not even sure if angels have gender as we know it, but I am going with "he") pronounces the "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL people" (capitalization mine) tells us that this is not good news for only the Jewish people. Although the Jews are the Chosen People (again, capitalization mine) of God which goes as far back as His covenant with Abraham over in Genesis, that in itself is not a guarantee of salvation any more -- forgive me, but any analogy is going to be crude to somebody -- than having a car in your garage is a guarantee you will be able to drive it! You have to have the fuel, you have to have power, and you have to start the engine. Fear not.