Wow, what an entrance the Father gave Jesus when He sent Him to this world! One of the most visually spectacular miracles in the Bible is noted in Luke 2:13,14 (KJV) “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men.” Many believe that the heavenly host consisted of thousands of angels appearing in the heavens to those shepherds who were watching their sheep on that hillside that night.
Possibly a few campfires were kept going to warm their hands on and to help ward off unwelcome critters from attacking the sheep, gently lit the area. All of a sudden, the midnight sky lit up like the bright of day as the glory of God shown round about. A ginormous number of angels, in perfect harmony, sang praises to God and made an announcement to the World. It was the greatest proclamation ever made, the greatest announcement ever issued, and the best news ever expressed by any form of God’s creation; “On earth peace, good will toward men!”
The Hebrew people had been waiting for over four thousand years for the promised Messiah. Through one hundred generations of Hebrew time, from Babylonian captivity, through Roman oppression, they had watched, they had prayed, they had hoped. Can you imagine what little Sarah was saying to her mother? When’s Messiah going to come mommy, when’s Messiah going to come? Why is Daddy a Babylonian slave Mommy?
Through Egyptian slavery. “What are those cuts on your back Daddy?” little Noah asks, “Why are those taskmasters so hard on you? Daddy tell me again the story, When is the Messiah going to come and save us? When is He going to come?” They watched, they prayed, they hoped, they believed against hope. For over four thousand years, and one hundred generations of Hebrew time they waited.
Seven hundred years before Messiah arrived the prophet Micah had prophesied that the Messiah, when He came, would come from Bethlehem. “But thou oh Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2 KJV)
It’s possible as Christ’s arrival neared, the young prophets were saying, “Watch Bethlehem, watch Bethlehem, when the Messiah comes he’s coming from Bethlehem. Perhaps just like today, when prophetic insight came to praying godly individuals, nobody wanted to listen. However since God always has a remnant, perhaps there were some who had not given up hope and were still watchful.
World history pivoted on what was about to happen. BC would soon become AD. It was the age of the mighty Roman Empire. In the heavens a cataclysmic shift in divine influence began to unfold. A gift of grace was about to be poured out on all the earth.
Roman oppression had taken its toll on the hopes many had of ever seeing the Messiah. A prophetess named Anna who lived at the Temple and a man named Simeon knew that God had showed them they would live to see the Messiah’s coming. However, the hopes of many were that this Messiah would be a warrior king who would deliver them literally from their Roman bondage.
However, this Messiah would not be interested in any earthly kingdom. He eventually said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.”
Can you hear the children of that day? “Grandfather, tell me again the story. Tell me again about the coming Messiah. Why does Mommy have to work so hard for those cruel Romans? As the children questioned the adults watched, they prayed, they hoped, they believed against hope.
Then one fantastic night shepherds were watching their flocks on the hillside outside of Bethlehem. Suddenly one of the most spectacular miracles, visual and spiritual, in all the Scripture, as previously described, began to unfold before their eyes. A great host of angels appeared to them, singing praises unto God, announcing that what these Jewish men had been taught since they were little boys had finally happened. They too had asked their elders “When’s Messiah going to come? Tell us the story again about the coming Messiah.” They heard those angels say. For unto you, unto you, unto you, is born today, this night, a Savior. He is being born in the City of David, in Bethlehem, in Bethlehem! He is being born right now in the city that Micah prophesied about over seven hundred years ago! Tonight he is being born, the Messiah is being born in Bethlehem!”
Wow, what an entrance! Thousands of angels were singing, lighting up the midnight sky, declaring the sudden, dramatic fulfillment of prophecy to these shepherds that had without a doubt been taught God’s word since they were little children. The scripture says the shepherds essentially said to each other “Come on guys let’s go and see where this baby has been born, let’s go to Bethlehem and see this Messiah, this Savior this child who is the Christ the Hebrew King!’
Four thousand years of prophecy were fulfilled in one night in the coming of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God to this world. Emanuel “God is with us” and can become, “God is in us through receiving Him as the Lord and Savior of your life. He was born into this world to spend his thirty three-year-old life denying himself and living a holy life so that he could become the acceptable sacrifice, the “Lamb of God” for the sins of the world.
The reason His entrance was so grandiose was that He was the greatest gift that this world would ever receive! Jesus came and eventually shed his sinless blood on a cross so that we could all receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit and the power to become the children of God.