The Christmas Storey

The gospel according to St. Luke , CH. 2 GIVES us a snapshot of the birth of Jesus. Most of my readers will know the story, so I will not reread it again, save a verse or two. I find it most interesting to note just how many and who it was that were notified of the coming birth of the One who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Also it is interesting to know who was aware of this great event and what it was truly all about.
First of all the young woman who was to give Him birth, Mary was approached by none other than the Angel Gabriel, the same angel who had appeared to a priest named Zacharias and announced to him that he was going to be a father, the father of John the Baptist as it turned out.
Luke 1:31 says ", you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus." Then her cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias, who at the time was carrying her miracle child, John. Mary had gone to visit her and the Holy Ghost within Elizabeth witnessed to her that Mary was to be the mother of her Lord. Luke 1:43 reads ?But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"Then of course there were the shepherds, the Bible doesn't say how many of them were there but they received the news that night while most of the populace slept.. Sound familiar?
It seems notable to me that not one of the religious hierarchy, not one priest or chief priest, not one Levite was notified or was there. Just some humble shepherds, the local herdsmen of whom the priests and high priests would not even consider as amounting to anything. So it was that these shepherds were chosen to announce what the angel told them. And so they did Luke 2:17, "Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child." That was His first coming. There had been plenty of notice given, the prophets since the time of Moses had prophesied His coming. The general populace by and large seemed to ignore it. How about His next coming? There is plenty of notice given it also...the signs point to it as not too far away. To ignore it is to miss out and be left behind. If it seems like it has been delayed or that God has put it on hold, it is because of what it reads in 1 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." God doesn't make idle or slack promises, He doesn't make promises He can't keep. Be ready.