4-Shepherds-A

And We Thought We Knew You:
Soul Journey With the Real Jesus

Shepherds

GLORY OF THE ORDINARY

BC 6
Bethlehem, Judea [1]

�� It is late.� Amos, Benjamin, and Jessie head into town.� Out away from everyone is really where they belong according to most people.� They're really inferior.� Can't hold a decent job.� �They're dirty and smelly.� May as well be with other animals that are dirty and smelly.� After all, no one makes them live in squalor.� They could do better if they wanted to.� They just don't want to.

�� Low wages is better than no wages, everyone says.� Keeps them off the streets begging in front of the proper people.� The educated people.� The refined people.� The holy people.

�� Speaking of holy, you never see them in the Temple.� When you do, they have to stay in the outer courtyard with the women and Gentiles.� They wouldn't understand what was going on if they went into the men's courtyard anyway.� But then, they don't try.� Let's face it.� They're losers.� Always have been.� Always will be.� Just losers. [2]

�� Amos, Benjamin and Jesse, each in charge of a herd of sheep, make their way into town and to the corrals they use for night-time confinement and final count.� They'd better deliver the right number of sheep to the Temple this time.� Last time they were short and their pay was docked.

Jerusalem, Judea

�� The priest fills with righteous indignation.� "We are low on sheep to sell for sacrifices.� This is twice in as many months!"

�� "Your holiness, they were due to have been brought into Bethlehem just this evening."

�� "They must be delivered before daybreak in the morning."

�� "They understand that, sir."

�� "If they want to be employees of the Temple, they must always put God first.� Maybe we should pray for them."[3]

Bethlehem, Judea

�� "Hey, Benjamin.� You got your quota for tomorrow?"

�� "I sure hope so,"Jessie replies briefly, still trying to keep track of the number of sheep entering his corral.

�� Amos joins them.� "I lost five just last week.� Things are getting bad.� Lions got two of them." [4]

�� "What happened to the other three?" Benjamin asks, kicking a small rock at his feet.

�� "Robbers.� We're just not getting enough protection."

�� "Can't ever get an appointment to talk to the priests so we can explain how bad things are."

�� "I managed to get in to see them a few months ago," Amos says.� "They said that if I couldn't handle the job, I should say so and allow someone else who would like to dedicate themselves to God to raise the sheep.� And, besides, they couldn't believe there were that many lions in such a civilized area."

�� "Man, I'm short two," Jessie interjects.� "What am I going to do?� I can't afford another pay cut."

�� "They're supposed to be our bosses, but none of them ever comes out to see what kind of working conditions we're really up against," Benjamin says. [5]

�� 'Well, good-night guys."

Jerusalem, Judea

�� As the sun opens its dawn eyes, the Temple workers check the pens holding sacrificial sheep and doves out in the courtyard.� They must have enough for all the travelers who daily come to the Temple to worship and sacrifice to God.�

�� Others sit down at their tables and count out their Temple sheckles which they will sell to these same travelers in exchange for their Roman currency. [6]

�� The three shepherds make their way into the capitol city through the sheep gate.� The one next to the prison house.� The one where they keep the debtors.� The sight always makes them nervous. [7]

�� Being full daylight, they are edgy.� They have every right to be.� They had promised to be there at dawn.� They would slip in a back way if there were a back.� But the courtyard where the Temple store is is right in front.

�� "Excuse me!� Coming through!� Pardon me!� Sheep for the slaughter.� Sheep for the slaughter.� Excuse me!� Coming through!"

�� The first worshippers of the day hurry out of the way of the hired help.� They have no trouble with that.� The smell precedes them.� Some are not quick enough, however, and their worship clothes are slightly touched by the beasts.� In conditions like these, how are they going to wear their best clothes so as to honor God with the best of everything they have?

�� "Where have you been?" one of the priests asks, smiling superficially.

�� "The pasture we were assigned could not support this many sheep," Amos explains.� "We had to go out farther."

�� "Why wasn't this reported months ago?"

�� "We did report it, sir.� We sent a message to the Temple requesting someone come out and look over the land and maybe set aside larger areas for each of us."

�� "I'm sure you understand that none of us has time to go running around the hills inspecting the grass supply.� Not with all the responsibilities we have to our worshippers here at God's Temple.� Perhaps you should pray about it."

�� "But when you hired us," Jessie interjects, "you told us...."

�� "I would love to stay and chat, but I have to counsel someone in just a few minutes.� By the way, we'll have to pay you next week, seeing as your deadline was yesterday.� You understand, of course, that we have to keep our budgeting on schedule." [8]

�� An hour later, Amos, Benjamin and Jessie make their way back through the crowd.� "Excuse me!� Coming through!� Excuse me!"

�� A righteous worshipper looks away from her friends, holds her nose in an obvious gesture of displeasure, then turns back to her friends.� Smiling.

�� Out through the front gate� And past the prison.� Out the sheep gate.� And down Mount Zion and farther and farther from the eternal city.� Across the plain back toward Bethlehem.� Empty hands.� Empty hearts.� Empty hopes.�

�� Probably God doesn't even notice them anymore.� He's busy with the holy people.

�� They must now go home and face their families.� Without their pay.� What will they do?� How will they feed their family?� Does anyone care?� Does God even?

Bethlehem, Judea

�� Morning of a new day.� It starts in a haze of hopelessness.� It will end with a burst of glory such as the world has never seen.�

�� For the Temple leaders?� Not them.� The Temple worshippers?� Not them either.� The citizens of Zion, the great Jerusalem, perhaps?� A thousand times no.� It will be for the overlooked, the neglected, the forgotten.� It will be for these smelly, dirty shepherds. [9]

�� Amos, Benjamin and Jesse, having been assigned their new herd of sheep, head once more out of town.� It is mid-afternoon, but they must get started.� People are glad they're leaving.� Can't go soon enough for most.

�� They can take the smells with them.� Dirty sheep.� Smelly sheep.� Dirty men.� Smelly men.� It's better they be out of sight.� And out of mind.

�� The three men hope their newly assigned pasture will be better than the last.� It will take them four days to get there.

�� Back on the trail.� Walking.� Circling the sheep to make sure they do not stray.� Rescuing the little ones from shallow precipices they do not see.� Pulling long thorns out of those that don't realize the dangers of some bushes.� Watching for signs of snakes in the grass.� Carrying those too small or too hurt to keep up.� Making their way back into the hills.� Slowly.� Laboriously. [10]�

�� A few hours later the sun dims and warns them they must stop before night.� Although the sheep of each of the three shepherds mingle, in the morning the shepherds will divide them up again.� They know how.� For now it is better that they all be together.� Better for the sheep.� Better for the shepherds.

�� Each man goes through his food supplies and selects something for an evening meal.� Then they settle down to talk and wait for sleep, sleep that will not come. [11]

�� They talk.� Amos and Jessie do.� Benjamin does not.

�� "Hey, Benjamin.� What's wrong?"

�� He does not answer.� It must be serious.

�� "Come on.� Tell us what's wrong."

�� "Yeah.� You're among friends.� Spill it."

�� "Well, you know that raise I was supposed to get, the one everyone gets after their first year?"

�� "Yeah?"

�� "They're not giving it to me.� They say they were happy to give me that big chance after I got out of prison.� But I've been inside more times than most."

�� "Man, I missed work a month to serve time for not paying the midwife for my last baby.� But I still got my raise," Jessie responds. [12]

�� "I was depending on it. �I need it.� I've been here without fail for a year without being off sick once."

�� "What are you going to do, Benjamin?"

�� "I don't know.� I just don't know."

�� Silence.

�� Half way noticing what they are eating.� Their ears constantly listening for the sheep.� Thinking of families and jobs.�

�� And existing.� Just existing....�

�� Unexpectedly, Amos jumps up.�

�� "What was that!"

��"What?"

�� The other two jump up.� They look around.

�� They hear shuffling.� Shuffling of....� No, that's not possible.� But indeed is possible.� The shuffling of....of wings.� But where?

�� Suddenly a strange man is standing in front of them.� Still.� Like a rock.� Strong.� Like the wind.� Not a word.� Not a flinching word from him.�

�� The shepherds try to hide their fear, knowing deep down that they cannot fight whoever this is with just hand weapons.� A standoff begins, one which they know they cannot win.� They await their doom.

�� "Don't kill us!� We have a family!� These sheep aren't fattened up yet!� They wouldn't be any good to you!� Don't...."

�� He cannot finish.� It's the light.� The man is beginning to glow.� Brighter.� Flashing.� Blazing.�

�� But it is not his glow.� For the glow spreads, shimmering as it goes.� Brighter and brighter.� Larger and larger.� Now even the shepherds are engulfed in the light.� They try to shade their eyes.� But if they look down the light is there.� If they look to the left, the light is there.� To the right, still, there.� Everything in the circle of light bedazzled.� Still the stranger stands motionless ~ the man they dare not defy.� The shepherds too are motionless. [13]

�� Then the stranger raises his hand.� Does he have a weapon?� The shepherds raise their hands protectively in front of their faces.� Instead, the stranger speaks.� His voice is booming....

�� "Do not be afraid!"

�� ....yet peaceful.

�� His voice is thunderous....

�� "Please!� Don't be afraid!"

�� ....yet believable.

�� The shepherds slowly lower their hands, lower their puny weapons, and stare at the voice.� They've never heard a voice quite like it.� For a moment, they forget the light, and focus on the voice.�

�� For now, it is laughing!!!

�� "I bring you the most joyful news!"

�� His joviality cannot be contained!� He struggles happily between his laughter and ecstatic words!�

�� "The most joyful news ever announced!" he continues excitedly.

�� Despite efforts to resist, the mood is catching.� The shepherds find themselves grinning, despite their determination not to.�

�� "And this news is for everyone!� Everyone, I tell you!� Everyone!� You and you and you! �And your families!� And your cities!� Your nation!� The world!� The universe!� Those who lived before you!� Those who will live after you!� Celestial news!" [14]

�� News?� What news?

�� "The Savior - yes, the Deliverer, the Lord...." he continues. [15]

�� Yes?� Yes?� What about him?� What about the Deliverer?

�� "....The Lord has been born tonight in Bethlehem, Judea!!!� He's here!� At last he's here!" [16]

�� Just born?� Tonight?� Our Deliverer just now born?

�� "Do you," Amos gets the courage to blurt out, "Do you want us to go see him?� And guard him?� Where is he?� Just tell us where he is!"

�� The stranger actually hears.� Now he's answering.� The wonderful, glorious, marvelous answer.

���� "You will find him wrapped in bands and lying in a feed trough in a barn." [17]

�� "Oh, now, wait a minute!� Just hold on there!� What kind of joke is this?� This is King Herod's doing, isn't it?� He's trying to catch us committing treason."

�� As though their doubts serve as a signal, in a flash, the stranger grows brighter and brighter.� His light shatters and zooms up into infinite space.� And seemingly this one man, if he is a man, multiplies into an army of others just like himself.

�� Everywhere!� Angels!� All along the grass.� Up over the trees.� Hovering closely over the shepherds.� Leaning over clouds.� Suspended from stars.� A stream of holy angels that flash and zoom, flash and zoom up into space and beyond.� The light, the blinding light. [18]

�� As though a star has just been born.

�� This can't be.�

�� Oh, but it can be!� He's given up everything for you.� He's not only entered a human body, but he's lying in a feed trough - for you.

�� Then the song.

�� The ears of the simple men, the dirty men, the smelly men, are now delightfully deluged.� Engulfed with the uncompromising chords of a song bursting over the brink of eternity!� Rushing like an out-of-control torrent to the hearts of simple shepherds!� Though impossible, the song echoes louder and louder, as if gaining potency from the light itself.� It is out of control!� They're praising God!� It cannot be repressed!

�� "Glory!� Glory to God!� Glory to God in the highest heaven!" the angels sing over and over in jubilant triumph.�

�� "Peace on earth!"� Yes, singers of God!� Oh, yes!� Sing on!� Sing on!

�� Catapulting!� Zooming!� Through the corridors of the heavens.� Through the hearts of ordinary shepherds.� And into the souls of mankind.

�� "Peace on earth for all those pleasing him....PLEASING HIM....P L E A S I N G�� H I M ! "

�� The song resounds from galaxy to galaxy.� The passion song of the universe.� Eternity stops and absorbs itself in melodious divinity. [19]

�� Then the light begins its return ascent.� Slowly at first.� Away from the lowly shepherds.� Away from the trees above them.� The clouds above that.� Away from earth's atmosphere.� Past the stars.� Higher, higher, smaller and smaller.

�� Gone.

�� The light is gone.� Exploded in pride.�

�� The heavens once more are black except for the tiny twinklings that have adorned the sky since creation.

�� The shepherds stare up into the heavens.� Then at each other.� Finally....

�� "Did you see what I saw?"

�� "Did you hear it?"

�� "We all did!� What are we waiting for?"

�� "He said tonight.� The baby was born tonight!"

�� "Come on!� Let's go in to town.� We've got to see him for ourselves!"[20]

�� "We passed a cave just before stopping.� We can take the sheep back there," Amos announces. [21]

�� The shepherds hurriedly round up their sheep and rush them back to the spot where the cave is.� They are herded in.

�� "Our tents and supplies," Benjamin instructs.� "We can pile them in front of the entrance. "The sheep won't cross over any of this.� They'll be okay."

�� "Yeah!" Amos shouts.� "We got a personal invitation!� Us!� We've gotta go!"

�� Half an hour later they are on their way back toward Bethlehem.� They can travel much faster without the sheep.

��"Do you think we're the first to know?"� It's hard not to talk about it.

�� "Yup.� We're the first."

�� "Wonder why God chose us?� No one even likes us."

�� "Who cares?� We have seen the light.� Bright as a star.� All that's left is for us to see him for ourselves."

�� They become pensive and concentrate on walking as fast as they can toward town.� An hour later they're at the city gate.� They call out to the guard.

�� "Let us in!"

�� "Who are you?" the guard on the other side of the gate calls out.

�� "Amos, Benjamin and Jesse.� We work for the Temple.� We've got a matter of great importance to take care of!"

�� "Having to do with the Temple!"

�� "Yes!� Let us in!"

�� Shortly, the bars are removed and the gate slowly squeaks open.�

�� Once inside, they stand wondering which way to go.

�� Where to start?� So many people in town for the census.� The crowds have thinned down considerably, though, for it is now past midnight.

�� They see a patrol of Roman soldiers passing the next intersection, but decide against getting their attention.� They see a man carrying a torch up ahead of them.� They call out to him.�

�� "Hey!� You with the torch!� We're looking for someone!� Stop a minute!� We're looking for someone!"

�� No, he hasn't heard of any babies born tonight.

�� They see a man and woman with three children obviously looking for some place to spend the night.� Obviously exhausted, the woman and children stop and slide their backs down the outside wall of a house, apparently unable to go any further.

�� They are startled.� "We just want to ask you something, sir.� Please, We don't want to hurt any of you.� We just want to know where the baby is ~ the Deliverer, the Savior."

�� "What baby?� What Deliverer?� What Savior?� We could sure use a deliverer tonight.� There's no place left to spend the night.� Heaven help anyone having a baby in this town."

�� They continue looking and asking.

�� The town hostel, of course!� Why didn't they think of that in the first place?� They know right where it is. [22]

�� In short order they find it, for it is not located too far from the city gate for the convenience of travelers.� The three men go in.� The proprietor remembers someone coming by saying his wife was having a baby.� He has no idea who it was.� He hadn't had any room anyway.� Maybe someone in the adjoining tavern knows something.

�� They go out into a courtyard where the revelers are.� The celebrators.� Celebrating the big nothingness that comes out of their liquor.�

�� "Is the baby here?� Is the Deliverer here?� Is that what you're celebrating?"

�� "Baby?� Deliverer?� You King Herod's spies?!"

�� "What are you talking about?� You're crazy."

�� The crowd laughs in derision.

�� "No, it's true!� The baby!� He is the Deliverer!� The angel told us!"

�� Derision arises amidst the counterfeit laughter and drowns out the frustrated shepherds.

�� A hand on the shoulder of Amos.� He turns.�

�� "There's no baby here," the stranger explains half seriously.� "There were a lot of families around town with babies, but none born today that I heard about."

�� "Well then, pregnant women.� Did you see any pregnant women?"

�� "Come to think of it," a second stranger nearby responds, "I was asked by a young man on the street this afternoon if there was a room anywhere because his wife was about to deliver."

�� "That's the one!� Where are they?"

�� "Uh, I think I was over by the market place when I saw them."

��"Thanks, man!" they yell over their shoulders as they rush out the door.

�� Back in the darkened streets, they hurry over to the market place.� It is near the middle of the night.� Not a single light.� Everyone has long ago closed up and gone to bed.�

�� Frustrated, but still not deterred, the three shepherds make their ways up and down the streets, though occasionally ducking into dark doorways to avoid questioning by the Roman patrols.� �� Looking for a sign.� Any kind of sign.� The angel wouldn't have told them about the baby if he hadn't wanted them to go honor him.�

�� Up and down the street.� Block by block.� Nothing.� Darkness.� �� But wait!� There's a light.� Where's it coming from?� They follow the light.� It's coming from a small barn.�

�� They know.� Without a word they know.� Their silence envelops their awkward thoughts in holiness.� They stop.� The rush is over.� One by one, quietly so as to not disturb anyone, they walk toward the gate.� On the other side lies the Deliverer, the Savior of the world, announced by angels.� In their heart of hearts they know.

�� Should they knock?� They pause.� Should they or shouldn't they?� They're suddenly aware of jitters.

�� They whisper.

�� "Do you really think he's in there?"�

�� "Do you think he'll be like us?"

�� "Think he'll have a halo and all?"

��"Do you think he'll go directly to the palace and have servants and all?

�� "The angels came to us, didn't they?� Do you see anyone else they went to?� He must be like us.� He'll understand us."

�� They knock on the gate.

�� Scuffling.� Shuffling.� Muffled voices from within.�

�� "Who's out there?"� Joseph, hearing voices outside the gate so late at night, has grown nervous. ��

�� "Uh, sir, we're just shepherds.� But the angels.� The angels told us," Amos calls as quietly as he can through the closed gate.� "Our Savior.� Is he in there?� Please, can we just take one little look?� We won't hurt him."

�� "No one else could have known," comes the muffled reply.� "Yes, you may come in. [23]

�� The gate is unbolted, and the crude shepherds walk into a room of holiness.� Their hearts are beating rapidly, beating with the pulse of the universe.� The pulse of divinity.

�� Joseph, holding a small lamp, leads them over to one of the stalls.� There Mary is lying on the straw with an old blanket over her.�

��"Sweetheart, wake up.� Wake up.� There's some people here to see baby Jesus.� We must show them.� Wake up, sweetheart."

�� Mary blinks her eyes, looks up into Joseph's face, then beyond him.�

�� "Please wake up, sweetheart.� They've come to see Jesus."

�� Mary understands.� Joseph helps her sit up.� She smiles sleepily.� Next to her is a feed trough filled with straw.

�� Inside, inside is a tiny baby.� And sure enough, he's all wrapped up in swaddling bands.

�� They smile.� God smiles.� They've found each other.� The simple in heart have believed.

�� Baby Jesus is sleeping, but wakens and looks up at the humble men.� Their eyes fill with tears.

�� He did this for us?� He came down from heaven to this for us?� But we're sinners.� He cared this much?� He loved - this much?

�� One nudges another and whispers.

�� "What do we do now?� Do we bow?"

�� "Yeah.� We're supposed to bow."

�� Awkwardly, not used to society's formalities, they drop to their knees, then bend slow until their heads touch the ground in polite humility.

�� Then they look up.� Another mutters under his breath.

�� "Make a speech, someone."

�� "Not me.� I flunked out of school."

�� "You do it, Benjamin.� You were named after the tribe of King Saul ~ Benjamin."

�� Benjamin clears his throat in embarrassment.

��"Sir.� Ma'am.� Baby.� God's angels appeared to us!� They told us the Deliverer, the Savior was born tonight.� Man!� Why'd they do that?

��"All those religious people at the Temple.� Why didn't the angels tell them instead?� Some of them go to lots of religious feasts.� We can barely afford to go to the three required ones.� They're so good."

�� Realizing his speech has stalled, he looks at baby Jesus and shifts gears.

��"Your baby, ma'am.� Your baby is going to save us.� Man, oh man!� He has heard our prayers.� No more soldiers and war chariots and foreign rulers.

��"Peace on earth.� That's what the angels sang.� Peace at last.� In my lifetime!� Praise God for your baby!"

�� Joseph, knowing how tired Mary is, speaks for them both.� "He's not just Mary's baby.� He belongs to all of us ~ me, you, people everywhere - and to God."

�� Joseph leans over and carefully puts baby Jesus in his arms.� "Come.� See God's Son up close"

�� "Oh, well, we're not really very clean."

�� One of the shepherds slaps his hands on his cloak to wipe off some dirt.

�� Come, young man with not much education.

�� Come, you who are not noticed by the important.

�� Come with dirty hands and shoes with holes in the bottom and hand-me-down clothing.

�� You who have no importance.� No big office and secretary and name engraved on your door.

�� All with run-down camels and yards with no flowers in them and beds made only of straw.

�� Look into the eyes of God.

�� Once again the baby opens his eyes a moment, stretches in a miniature show of strength, then returns to sleep.

�� "Look at those long fingers," one of the shepherds comments."� He'll be able to throw quite a spear!"

�� "Oh no," Joseph responds.� "Not a spear.� Peace.� He will fight war with peace.� And he'll win too.� Peace on earth, remember?"

�� "Look at that jaw.� What a man he'll grow up to be," another quips.� "Determined.� Maybe even stubborn."

�� They all grin.� The baby seems oblivious to all the attention.� Or is he?

�� "He's pretty tired."� Joseph explains the obvious.� Half jokingly, he adds, "He's had quite a trip."

�� Indeed, Lord Jesus, you have.�

�� From throne in heaven to feed trough.� From mansions in heaven to a stable.� From streets brilliant with gold to a dark narrow street in the middle of somewhere.� From bed of heavenly clouds to wrinkled cotton bands and sticky straw.

�� Oh Son of God!� It's all wrong!� Go back and do it again!� Unwed mother?� Dirty stable?� Unwanted?� No one told but uncouth, underpaid, unnoticed shepherds?

�� Where's the queen?� The holy wedding?� The Temple?� The palace?� The crowds waving banners?� The choirs singing manicured anthems with a world class orchestra?

�� It's all wrong, God.� You've got it all mixed up!

�� The shepherds look over once more at Mary and tell her in awkward words that she is blessed.� She nods in tired appreciation and smiles faintly.

�� They walk closer to Joseph, and one by one shake his hand.�

�� "Well, so long," they each repeat in almost a whisper, not knowing quite what else to say but also not wanting to awaken the now sleeping baby.

�� Joseph leads them to the gate.� The insignificant men leave.� The men holy people hardly ever notice. [24]

�� Back out in the dark street, they turn in the direction from whence they had come and head toward the edge of town.� Slowly.� They're all thinking.� All pondering.� All absorbing.

�� It begins to rain.� They do not care.

�� Jesse notices a stray puppy whimpering as they pass.� He pauses, reaches down, and puts the puppy under some trash nearby for protection, but it runs back out, afraid of the unknown.

�� Rainwater from farther up the street is streaming down in this direction faster now.� Jessie puts the puppy back, but once again it runs out and in the path of the faster flowing water.� It is frightened.� It does not understand.

�� The other men have paused to watch him, but then resume their journey down the street.� Jessie catches up with them and says, "If only I could become a dog just like him.� I could show him how to get under the shelter so he can be saved.

��" If only I could become a dog just like him...." [25]

�� Amos is the next to stop.

�� "Guys, what are we doing?� We can't keep this a secret.� We must tell it! Despite dangers of King Herod's jealousy, we must tell it."

�� "You're right!" says Benjamin.� "Let's get back over to the hostel tavern.� People will still be there."

�� The men literally run through the streets.� But this time not quietly.� How, indeed, can they be quiet at a time like this?

�� "He's here!" they shout.�"The savior's here!� He came tonight!"

�� "Hey, be quiet out there.� People are trying to sleep, you know."

�� Still they run and shout.� Finally they're back at the hostel. �They pound on the gate.� "Let us in!� Let us in!� We found him!� It's true!� It's true!"

�� The latch to the gate rattles and the gate is opened.� "Get in here.� You're going to waken all the guests and attract the soldiers."

��"Then wake the guests and alert the soldiers!� They'll be glad.� He's here!"

�� The clerk prods them through and into the courtyard where nearly the same crowd as they had seen an hour earlier is still there celebrating the world's nothingness.

�� "We found him!� We found him!� Our Deliverer!� He was born tonight!� We know it was him!"

�� "Come on, guys.� You expect us to believe that?"

�� "It's true!� Angels appeared to us!� We saw them with our own eyes!� Our Deliverer is here.� Right here in our own town.� He's here!� He's come at last!� At last!"

��"People don't see angels anymore."

�� "We did!� It's true!"

�� One of the patrons calls out amid the objections.� "I know this guy.� He's never lied to me yet.� Benjamin?� You say you actually saw angels?"

�� "I swear it!� We all did!� We saw the angels!� They announced his birth!" [26]

�� The discussion continues a little longer.� But gradually the people return to the nothingness that entertains them so.� Strangely, no one asked where they could find this baby, their Deliverer.� What does it have to do with them?

�� Their divine mission completed, the shepherds leave the little town of Bethlehem through the gate.� They work their way through the hills until they arrive at where they left their sheep.� They are still safely in the cave.� There've been no problems in their absence.

�� It is an hour before dawn.� They get their bed rolls out and try to sleep.� But how can they?� Angels!� Angels actually appeared to them tonight!� Right on this very spot!�

�� They etch every moment, every word, every gesture in their minds.� They must never forget.

�� "Remember when the first angel appeared?" Benjamin inquires softly but happily.� "I nearly jumped out of my skin.� What did you guys do?"

�� "Remember when all the other angels appeared?� And the light?� I thought the sun must be exploding!"

��"Or a star was being born."

��"Remember when we saw him?" [27]

�� Yes.� Remember.� Always remember....��

�� Day dawns.� Amos, Benjamin and Jessie wake up out of a sleep that did not ever really come.� And return to the dream they had lived only hours before.� They talk quietly among themselves.

�� "Man!� The angels appeared to us!� No one else tried to see the baby.� Why didn't everyone in Bethlehem go looking for him after we arrived?� Everyone knows that's where the eternal king of the Jews is supposed to be born.� Why didn't people look?"� [28]

�� "Maybe they got the announcement in Jerusalem!� We must return!"

��"Do you think they'll believe us?"

�� "We've got to try!"

�� The men return their sheep to Bethlehem and the corrals, then make their way to Jerusalem.� In through the sheep gate.� Past the prison.� Around to the front entrance of the Temple.

�� "Excuse me, sir.� Did you see or hear anything unusual during the night?� Light or singing?"

�� He and others they ask respond begrudgingly, obviously irritated to be in conversation with dirty, smelly shepherds.�

��"Uh, no.� Didn't see or hear a thing.� Slept like a baby."

��"But the Deliverer.� Isn't he supposed to be born in Bethlehem, Judea, the home town of King David?"

�� "Hey you, there!� Let's not bother our worshippers.� Let's go along home now.� They have important things to take care of today." [29]

�� So the unimportant shepherds turn back toward the outer courtyard of the great Temple.� The Temple where they know they will never really be welcome.� Slowly.� Confused.� On their way out they hear a scholar.� He's making a speech to whoever will listen to him.

�� "....Yes, God will be our Great Deliverer.� He will deliver us some day from our enemies.� He will deliver us from wars and rumors of wars.� He will bring us the Prince of Peace.� Jerusalem will rise again.� Holy Jerusalem will reign with the Lord of all lords, the King of all kings.

�� "No more Herods.� No more Caesars.� No more soldiers and swords.� Our God will deliver us!� God is indeed the Great Deliverer.� And when he comes, we will all stand and salute him as our Savior.� We will bow and submit to him as our Ruler.� All praise to God, our Deliverer!"

�� "Oh, yes!� Praise God!" his listeners declare.

�� Then, as the shepherds leave out the door, they hear the great choir of the great Temple break forth in song.

�� "He is our Deliverer, he is our Deliverer, he is our Deliverer.� Hallelujah, Amen!� Hallelujah, Amen!� Hallelujah, Amen!� Aaaaaaaaa-mennnnnnnnn!"

�� Shivers up spines!� Arms raised to the heavens!� Triumph!� Glorious triumph!

�� And in their blind zeal, they miss him. [30]

LIFE APPLICATION

1.� When in your life have you felt looked down on by the religious majority?� How did it make you feel?� Have you ever looked down on others?� How will you remedy that attitude so people know you do not look down on them?

2.� People thought there would be peace on earth one could see when the Messiah came to be king.� But it was a spiritual peace.� In what way have you sought peace in your life when nothing around you became peaceful?� How can you turn this expectation into an inner peace starting today?

3.� Just as the religious leaders of Jesus' day did not correctly interpret the scriptures or covered up what they knew, it happens today too.� Take a popular belief today that doesn't make sense to you and look up that term in the New Testament concordance so you can interpret the scriptures for you.� (Full Bible-index concordances ~ the size of large phone books ~ are available at most libraries, and can be purchased at most bookstores at a reasonable price.)

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