By John Mark Young
“Mary, come outside and look!” Joseph exclaimed as he came back inside the stable.
Mary sighed. “Joseph, I’ve just had a baby. I don’t feel like walking.”
“Mary,” Joseph insisted, “you’ve got to see this! It’s a beautiful clear night outside−clearer than I’ve ever seen. But there’s more. There’s a bright star shining down right on us. It’s right above the stable where we are right now!”
In the faint light of the candle inside the stable, Mary could see that Joseph was greatly excited about something. He was so insistent that Mary slowly got up from the bed Joseph had made for her on the floor of the stable.
She padded her new baby with His blanket to make sure He’d be warm while she left His side for just a minute. She hesitated as she looked down on her newborn Son. She’d seen the newborn babies of her friends and they all looked cute.
But her baby−He was cute too, but, somehow, there was just something different about Him. He had a radiating beauty about Him−even in His sleep−that she’d never seen in any other baby.
In that moment she cherished Him even more−and silently in her heart thanked God that He had given this baby to her. Then she took Joseph’s hand and took just a few steps outside of the stable.
She too was amazed at what she saw!
There was a star right above them−it was lower to the ground than the other stars in the sky and it gave off a brilliant glow of light to the stable they’d been staying in and where their baby had just been born.
She’d never seen anything like it and she knew in her heart that this memory would be with her forever. But she didn’t want to leave her baby longer than just a moment.
“What is that, Joseph?” she asked incredulously.
“I don’t know,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’ve seen the stars out on lots of starry nights, but never anything like that before. “It was so beautiful−like it was straight from God to our new little baby. Somehow He’s just so special…”
Then they both hugged each other again and wrapped themselves in their blanket beside their adorable little baby. They had just drifted off to sleep when they heard a knock on the outside of the stable.
“Is anybody in there?” a hesitating voice asked from outside.
“Who are you?” Joseph answered as he sat up in bed.
“We’re shepherds from a field just over there,” the man replied. “We were taking care of our sheep when we saw a star shining−a marvelous, beautiful light right down on this stable. We had to come over to see what it was.”
By this time Mary had woken up too. She and Joseph stared at each other, barely believing their ears. But, after all, they’d seen the light and it’s no wonder that other people nearby would have seen it too.
Joseph motioned them in.
Slowly the man opened the door. There were several shepherds and one by one they slowly stepped inside. Even in the faint light of the candle, they could see that the men were very hesitant−and that they meant no harm.
The light from the star outside helped brighten up the stable. The men could then see the little baby lying between Mary and Joseph. All at once a radiant glow seemed to light up their faces.
They were all excited when they saw the baby lying there asleep. They’d looked at each other and suddenly they all seemed so excited−but why?
“As we were watching our sheep,” one of them began, “we noticed that star outside that’s right above us. Then suddenly a face appeared wearing a beautiful white robe−it was an angel! He had the glory of God all around him which shone down on us too!”
“At first we were afraid what he wanted to do to us and why he would pick us out to talk to us like this. Then he said, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”
Then another man interrupted him. “At first we couldn’t believe what was happening and then the angel went on to say ‘And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’”
A third man also joined in. “Then we heard a multitude of other angels praising God and saying ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’”
All of the men nodded and one of them continued, “Then we knew we had to go to Bethlehem to see what God had just made known to us.”
Then they all peered over the newborn baby lying there sleeping. “Is that Him−the one who is the Savior of all of us?”
Joseph and Mary looked at each other, almost in disbelief. They knew that an angel had appeared to Joseph too, to tell him that their new baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would somehow save people from their sins. God had just confirmed through these shepherds too what He’d already told them about their baby!
With all the excitement of Christmas with lights, trees, presents, and Santa Claus, it’s important to remember that what we’re really celebrating is the First Christmas with the birth of Jesus…
