And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
The verse describes what took place at Bethlehem after the angels disappeared, the light faded, and the darkness of night fell again on the hills, while the memory of what had been seen remained. The announcement came to good and lowly keepers of flocks on the hills and plains around Bethlehem who talked together about the promised Saviour, prayed earnestly for His coming, and were longing to behold the Unseen. God did not send this revelation to the priests, teachers, rulers, and people of Jerusalem and Israel, though they knew the Saviour was soon to come and Israel had been preserved as a witness that Christ would be born of the seed of Abraham and of David's line.
Those leaders were unprepared because they expected a mighty and temporal king who would make them rich and great, were too proud to receive the Messiah as a helpless child, and were indifferent, selfish, and engrossed with the world, untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven. This was despite the light of prophecy, the announcement to Zacharias, the birth of the forerunner with miracle and prophecy, and the daily morning and evening temple sacrifices pointing to the Lamb of God. Their delusive hope for a temporal prince with misapplication of Scripture left them misunderstanding His mission. The angel had announced that a Saviour, Christ the Lord, was born in the city of David and would be found as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, while angel messengers veiled their glory and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem with hosannas to the newborn King.
The shepherds hurried with great joy to Bethlehem to find and worship Him, and found Mary and Joseph and the infant Redeemer lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes exactly as the celestial messengers had testified, and they believed Him and received Him. Filled with joy, aglow with the glad tidings, and with indelible impressions, amazement, love, and gratitude for God's great condescension in sending His Son, they departed and spread everywhere what had been told them concerning the child. They made known abroad the sign they had seen, the message concerning the newborn Saviour, the wondrous glory they had seen, and the celestial praises they had heard from the heavenly host. All who heard the shepherds' report of what they had seen and heard wondered and were amazed at it.
Their report reached Jerusalem and drew attention, but the priests and rabbis dismissed it rather than investigate, and pride led them to reject it and helped close their hearts to Christ. So the very ones who ought to have been first to welcome Jesus did not discern Him because He was not the one their ambitious hopes desired, and by continuing in the false path they became unteachable, self-righteous, and self-sufficient while fancying they possessed true light and were the only safe instructors of the people. Christ's birth fulfilled the prophecies of His coming as the Messiah just as prophecy had declared He would come, with divinity clothed with humanity and majesty and lowliness combined as an infant of days of poor parentage. The shepherds of Bethlehem received and shared the light God gave them and are an example of people to whom God revealed truth because they heeded the light they had received.
God revealed Christ to them on the plains of Bethlehem in a different way than He did to the Magi but in a way suited to them, showing that in every place God works in the manner by which He can best reach the people. Unlike the wise men, the shepherds had been told beforehand about the lowly estate of Jesus, while the wise men had received no such intimation and came expecting royalty. The wise men were disappointed by the indifference of the Jewish leaders and left Jerusalem less confident than when they entered. At Bethlehem they found no royal guard to protect the newborn King and none of the world's honored men in attendance, but Jesus cradled in a manger with only His uneducated peasant parents as guardians.
The verse describes what took place at Bethlehem after the angels disappeared, the light faded, and the darkness of night fell again on the hills, while the memory of what had been seen remained. The announcement came to good and lowly keepers of flocks on the hills and plains around Bethlehem who talked together about the promised Saviour, prayed earnestly for His coming, and were longing to behold the Unseen. God did not send this revelation to the priests, teachers, rulers, and people of Jerusalem and Israel, though they knew the Saviour was soon to come and Israel had been preserved as a witness that Christ would be born of the seed of Abraham and of David's line.
Those leaders were unprepared because they expected a mighty and temporal king who would make them rich and great, were too proud to receive the Messiah as a helpless child, and were indifferent, selfish, and engrossed with the world, untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven. This was despite the light of prophecy, the announcement to Zacharias, the birth of the forerunner with miracle and prophecy, and the daily morning and evening temple sacrifices pointing to the Lamb of God. Their delusive hope for a temporal prince with misapplication of Scripture left them misunderstanding His mission. The angel had announced that a Saviour, Christ the Lord, was born in the city of David and would be found as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, while angel messengers veiled their glory and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem with hosannas to the newborn King.
The shepherds hurried with great joy to Bethlehem to find and worship Him, and found Mary and Joseph and the infant Redeemer lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes exactly as the celestial messengers had testified, and they believed Him and received Him. Filled with joy, aglow with the glad tidings, and with indelible impressions, amazement, love, and gratitude for God's great condescension in sending His Son, they departed and spread everywhere what had been told them concerning the child. They made known abroad the sign they had seen, the message concerning the newborn Saviour, the wondrous glory they had seen, and the celestial praises they had heard from the heavenly host. All who heard the shepherds' report of what they had seen and heard wondered and were amazed at it.
Their report reached Jerusalem and drew attention, but the priests and rabbis dismissed it rather than investigate, and pride led them to reject it and helped close their hearts to Christ. So the very ones who ought to have been first to welcome Jesus did not discern Him because He was not the one their ambitious hopes desired, and by continuing in the false path they became unteachable, self-righteous, and self-sufficient while fancying they possessed true light and were the only safe instructors of the people. Christ's birth fulfilled the prophecies of His coming as the Messiah just as prophecy had declared He would come, with divinity clothed with humanity and majesty and lowliness combined as an infant of days of poor parentage. The shepherds of Bethlehem received and shared the light God gave them and are an example of people to whom God revealed truth because they heeded the light they had received.
God revealed Christ to them on the plains of Bethlehem in a different way than He did to the Magi but in a way suited to them, showing that in every place God works in the manner by which He can best reach the people. Unlike the wise men, the shepherds had been told beforehand about the lowly estate of Jesus, while the wise men had received no such intimation and came expecting royalty. The wise men were disappointed by the indifference of the Jewish leaders and left Jerusalem less confident than when they entered. At Bethlehem they found no royal guard to protect the newborn King and none of the world's honored men in attendance, but Jesus cradled in a manger with only His uneducated peasant parents as guardians.