“Easy for you to say” might have been the quivering response of the shepherds. One couldn’t blame them for at least thinking those thoughts. Grown men, accustomed to dark nights in the fields, were terrified. We’re not talking about Hollywood’s digital imaging, which makes the impossible appear real. We’re talking about the impossible being real. Do not be afraid?

Justified fear

The biblical scrolls trumpeted the anger of God and the destruction of sinners. What is there about God that the shepherds should not fear? After all, he torched two wayward cities by raining down fire from heaven. He turned Lot’s wife into a salt block for daring to watch the event. What is there not to fear? He had drowned the crack troops of the Egyptian army in the sea. He had opened the earth to swallow insubordinates. These were actual recorded events. Do not be afraid?

For the times when you and I think of sin but lightly, it would be good for us to revisit Scripture’s horrifying exhibitions of God’s wrath. They should leave no doubt in the reader’s mind that God is not casual about our sinning. What does God think when we lose our temper, lose control, lose our priorities, or lose our innocence? Why wouldn’t his blood boil when we parade as law-abiding citizens only to live on the wrong side of his commandments? “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Do not be afraid?

News that dispels fear

“I bring you good news.” The heart of the Lord brims with amazing love for people. He not only takes our sinning seriously, but he also takes our rescue seriously. And his long-planned rescue mission had begun. An angel had appeared to a priest and left him speechless. His senior-citizen wife suddenly was expecting their first child. A virgin relative became pregnant.

Then, in the town where Rachel died and David was born, our fears died and hope was born. The night was cold, and our rescuer was in a feeding trough. With animals watching and their dung steaming, Mary and Joseph hold him in amazement. Her child was both God and a small helpless baby. In a place made for animals, she and Joseph—and later the shepherds—were in the presence of God. Strangely, they were not afraid. He became flesh and dwelt among us.