Every Christmas we sing the words of this beloved carol. But have you ever wondered: just how "silent" was it on that first Christmas?
With Mary ready to deliver, the holy couple is led quickly to a stable behind a busy inn. You can hear the sound of Joseph's frantic preparations, making a suitable place in the hay for his wife to lie down and give birth. Then the night air is filled with Mary's labored breathing. When the baby finally arrives, he greets the world in the usual way: with an ear-splitting cry! Believe me, it's anything but silent in the stable.
Meanwhile, there are shepherds in the hill country outside of the city guarding their flocks. The quiet of the evening is interrupted by a host of angels appearing in the sky overhead. The angelic visitors direct the shepherds to the newborn child. Then they sing out praises to God that echo throughout the neighboring hills and valleys. There's no silence here either.
The shepherds hurry to the stable to see the baby for themselves. The gospel writer, Luke, tells us that the shepherds are amazed and can't help sharing everything they've seen and heard. In the streets of Bethlehem, the silence is broken as the shepherds stop and share their exciting story with every passerby.
It wasn't quite a silent night, was it? But the sounds of the first Christmas must have blessed the Father's heart. The baby's cry confirmed that the old prophecy had been fulfilled: "To us a child is born, to us a son is given." The savior, Jesus, had come just as He promised. The angels' announcement to the shepherds was the very first proclamation of the gospel. And the ragtag shepherds who visited the Christ child were actually the world's first missionaries--sharing with everyone the good news they had heard with their own ears and witnessed with their own eyes.
I love "Silent Night." We sing it as part of a candlelight service at our church every Christmas Eve. But I'm thankful that the first Christmas wasn't too silent. The sounds of the first Christmas are reminders to us of God's amazing and boundless love.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Bordas & Bordas!
;)
