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That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Suddenly,

an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. 

They were terrified, 

but the angel reassured them. 
"Don't be afraid!" he said.
"I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

And you will recognize him by this sign: 

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."
Luke 2:8-12 NLT
More angels, terrified people, & signs.
Not sure why God sent angels to see a handful of shepherds and not wake the whole town!
But Luke is sharing with us all these strands, Zechariah the Priest, Joseph of King David's line, shepherds guarding their sheep just like David did, the wise arriving with gifts for a king, Angels giving an unmissable message that the person their people were waiting for, the person who was going to rescue them all, had been born.
I wonder if the shepherds got an inkling that what God was rescuing them from was not quite what they expected as the Angel said "the sign is a baby, in a feeding trough, wrapped in old cloth"
Jesus didn't come to free them from the Roman Empire, but the Empire of sin & death, the Empire of disconnection with ourselves, with others, with creation, and with God.
Our God, who IS Love, doesn't want to be without us.
#upsidedownkingdom
#therescuemissionstarts
#youareBeloved

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