Luke 2:20
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
After the angels left for heaven and the glory faded, the shepherds hastened to Bethlehem by night, found the infant Redeemer lying in a manger exactly as the celestial messengers had described, made known abroad what they had seen and heard, and then returned glorifying and praising God for all things as it had been told to them. Their finding filled them with great joy, amazement, love, and gratitude for God's condescension in sending His Son into the world in humble surroundings with His glory veiled. In believing, receiving, seeking, and worshiping the newborn Christ and King, they gave the reception heaven looked for when the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem. That joyful return stands in contrast to the priests, rabbis, teachers, and learned in Jerusalem who heard the report yet were indifferent, world-engrossed, and misled by hope for a temporal prince, so they did not discern or welcome Him though they claimed to understand prophecy. They exemplify those who heed the light given them, for God revealed Christ to the shepherds on the plains in the way He could best reach them, as He revealed Him to the Magi by a star, teaching that in every place God works after the manner by which He can best reach the people.
Setting and Sequence
The return took place at night on the hills and plains of Bethlehem after the angels had left for heaven and the bright glory had faded, while what they had beheld remained in memory as the brightest picture ever seen by human eyes and left an indelible impression on mind and heart. Aglow with the glad tidings, the shepherds hastened to Bethlehem to find the Saviour. There they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, the infant Redeemer in the narrow confines of a manger, exactly as the celestial messengers had described and testified.
Before and as they returned, they departed with great joy making known abroad what they had seen and heard. They spread everywhere the joyful tidings of the wondrous glory they had seen and the celestial praises they had heard from the lips of the heavenly host. All who heard wondered, while Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Their report of the angels' message reached Jerusalem, but the priests and rabbis treated it as unworthy of notice and refused to go to Bethlehem to see whether it was true. Then the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it had been told to them. Their return was the response of those who believed, received, worshiped, and heeded the light given to them.
Meaning Contrast and Example
Luke 2:20 belongs to the account of the Messiah's birth in humble surroundings, with His glory veiled and no worldly display to attract people, so that He was to be accepted through the testimony of God's word. He came exactly as prophecy declared He would come, His divinity clothed with humanity and majesty and lowliness combined, as an infant of days of poor parentage. The Jewish nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ was to be born of the seed of Abraham and of David's line, and the morning and evening sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God.
For those willing to receive the heavenly Guest, angel messengers veiled their glory and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem with hosannas to the newborn King. The humble shepherds believed Him, received Him, went to find Him, and worshiped the newborn Christ and King. Finding the child filled them with joy, amazement, love, and gratitude for God's condescension in sending His Son into the world.
Their joyful return is the reception heaven looked for when Christ came clothed in humanity, and the news was welcomed in heaven. It stands in contrast to the ignorance and indifference of the great and learned who claimed to understand prophecy yet did not recognize the Messiah's coming. Angels had watched to see how God's people would receive His Son and had come unseen to Jerusalem to the expositors of the Sacred Oracles and ministers of God's house, where Christ's coming had already been announced to Zacharias and where tidings of the forerunner's birth and mission had been spread abroad. But Jerusalem, the priests and teachers, and the land of Israel were indifferent, selfish, and world-engrossed, rehearsing meaningless prayers and striving for riches and worldly honor, untouched by the joy that thrilled all heaven. His mission was misunderstood through misapplication of Scripture from delusive hope for a temporal prince, 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 they continued in the false path to the end, unteachable, self-righteous, and self-sufficient, while only a few were longing to behold the Unseen and to these heaven's embassy was sent.
The shepherds exemplify people who heed the light given to them and to whom God reveals His truth. God revealed Christ to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem in the way He could best reach them, different from the way He revealed Christ to the Magi through a star. In every place God works after the manner that He can best reach the people.