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By R.A. Mathews

He was a fun-loving angel — and a bit of a trickster! Don’t take my word for it. I’ll show you. This is one of my favorite discoveries in Scripture. 

Certain events in history look like angels having fun. There’s the angel who ran a lottery, the one who toyed with Samson’s parents, and then this trickster — the Christmas Angel. I will cover every angel in the Bible in my “Reaching to God” series, and this one is in “The Christmas Edition,” which will be available this week on Amazon in every format: e-book, paperback, and large print.

It was the Christmas Angel who decided to have the world’s greatest treasure hunt, choosing only a select group of shepherds to play. 

Who were these shepherds? Scripture tells us shepherds could be girls, boys or old men.

For instance, young Rachel was a shepherd. “While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd” (Genesis 29:9, NIV).  

David was also a shepherd as a teen (1 Samuel 17:33, NASB).

And Moses tended sheep when he was 80 (Exodus 3:1-2, NIV).

So, the possibilities are endless, but I think they were kids. Let me show you why, and you can decide.

Scripture says the Christmas Angel appeared to the shepherds and then handed out clues.    

“… there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And so the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a mange.’” (Luke 2:8-12, NASB). 

The angel obviously knew where Jesus was. The angel could have said, “He’s at Jimmy Blake’s house, corner of East and Main.” Why not?    

Some may say the angel was testing their faith. I agree. But it also seems like he was having some fun. Look at the clues.

“…  for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’” 

Three clues: “City of David,” “baby wrapped in swaddling cloth,” “lying in a manger.” That’s it. That’s all they get. No star. The wise men got the star. But that’s later on. 

So, the world’s greatest treasure hunt begins.   

“City of David” is easy. That’s Bethlehem, right?   

Uh, no.   

David lived in Bethlehem as a boy, but “City of David” is “Jerusalem” in the Old Testament, AND, frankly, why even say “City of David”? Why not just say “Bethlehem”?  

See what I mean? It looks like this angel is playing. And not just that, he’s also deliberately trying to throw the shepherds off.   

But out of all the shepherds in the world, these were Bethlehem shepherds. As I said in the last chapter, the people of Bethlehem knew the prophecy was 700 years old because it was about them.

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah… from you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2, NASB).

Jerusalem was where David ruled and the “City of David” for all the other Israelites, but not for those in Bethlehem. David belonged to them, and the upcoming birth of the Messiah was their claim to fame. So, that’s where they went. 

Scholars think there were about 300 to 1,000 people living in Bethlehem at that time. What do the shepherds do when they get there?   

They remember another clue: the manger.   

That narrows things down. Not some sweet baby crib — it was a feeding trough for animals. And not everyone had livestock. 

The shepherds would have gone from one owner of livestock to the next. Remember, the Christmas Angel knew where Jesus was, but isn’t this more fun? That’s why I think the angel chose young shepherds.

Last clue: A baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. 

Could it possibly be true? 

This wasn’t the boy Jesus or a full-grown man. They were looking for a baby. And you know the shepherds were thinking about that manger the whole time. The long-awaited Messiah, the one destined to lead Israel, in a food trough?  

But they find baby Jesus just exactly as the angel said. And thus ends the world’s greatest treasure hunt.   

We are made in the image of a God of joy. Know that He loves you and will care for you.

This abridged chapter is from “Reaching to God: The Christmas Edition,” available this week on Amazon. Reprinted with permission.

The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is a newspaper faith columnist and the author of the Reaching to God series and the mystery Emerald Coast: The Vendetta.  Contact her at Hello@RAMathews.com. Copyright © 2020, 2024 R.A. Mathews. All rights reserved.