The King Nobody Wanted | Page 3

to howl. Robbers might be somewhere in the darkness too. In the night, when other folk were fast asleep, a good shepherd needed to be awake and on the watch, to see that no harm came to his sheep and lambs.
One night when winter was in the air, some shepherds were huddled together on a stony field not far from the town of Bethlehem. Not many miles to the north lay Jerusalem, the capital city of Palestine. But here in the fields it was quiet, and lonely, and cold.
The shepherds sat upon the rocks, or stood leaning upon their staves. Now and again one of them would see something move, or hear a little rustling sound. He would raise his eyes and peer out anxiously into the darkness to make sure that all was well.
Suddenly, without any warning, the sky was flooded with light from beyond the clouds. Everything had been dark a minute before, but now every stone and tree and hillock in the field showed up bright as day.
The shepherds jumped to their feet. Some were too frightened to speak, and others cried out in terror.
"What is it?"
"What can it be?"
"It's the glory of the Lord," one called out. "Lord, have mercy upon us!"
Suddenly they heard a loud, clear voice.
"Shepherds!"
Silence fell upon the group.
"Shepherds, do not be afraid. I bring you the good news which all the Jews have waited so long to hear. This very day, Christ your Saviour has been born in the city of David. And this is how you will know him: you will find him as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger."
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The voice broke off, and a great chorus began to sing. The sky rang with the music, and these were the words of the song:
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men."
As quickly as they had come, the light and the singing were gone. There was just the darkness again, and the far-off howling of wild beasts. Everything was the same as before, except that the shepherds' eyes were still blinded by the light, and their ears were full of the music.
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Their excited voices broke the spell as they all talked at once.
"He's come at last--the Messiah's come!"
"Where did the angel say?"
"The city of David--that means Bethlehem."
"Why are we waiting here? Let's go to Bethlehem."
"Yes, let's go to Bethlehem at once, and find out what has happened there."
For the first time in their lives, the shepherds left their sheep to look after themselves. Across the hills and the stone fences and the rocky fields the shepherds scrambled, and hardly stopped for breath till they reached the edge of the town. Everything in Bethlehem was dark as night can be. But no--not everything. One tiny speck of light was flickering in the blackness.
"He must be where the light is," said one of the shepherds.
Down the street they ran, and in through a door.
They were standing in a stable. There were no angels there. Instead of that, the shepherds saw cows and donkeys eating hay. A cold draft of air was blowing in around the cracks of the door and over the dirt floor. Beside one of the mangers they saw a man standing. A young woman was resting close by. She was watching a baby who lay in the straw.
"We came to see the Messiah," one of the shepherds stammered.
The baby cried. The animals munched their food.
There was some explaining to do. The shepherds told the story of what had happened in the field.
The young man beside the manger did not have anything very exciting to tell the shepherds.
"My name," he said, "is Joseph. This is my wife Mary. We used to live here in Bethlehem, but no one remembers us now. I've been working in Galilee for years. I have a carpenter shop there. The only reason we came back to Bethlehem was to have our names entered in the government records.
"We got here only yesterday. We tried to get a room in the inn, but there wasn't any room for us with all the important people here. They said we could sleep in the stable. The baby came tonight. Here he is, if you would like to see him."
The shepherds looked at the baby. They hoped that they would see something unusual about him, but he looked just like any other baby.
Then they remembered the angels' song.
Outside again, the shepherds looked up and saw a faint gray light streaking the blackness in the east. Morning was coming. Soon the people of the countryside would be getting up.
What a story the shepherds were going to tell them! Who would have thought of looking for the Messiah in a manger! The shepherds were the first to learn the secret. As they walked