It is almost inevitable that we listen to the gospel passage that is being proposed on this night conditioned by the Christmas atmosphere around us: lighted trees, carolls, snow, angels and shepherds.
The gospel begins with a precise historic and geographic ambient. It is the time of the census of all the earth.
It serves for Luke to declare sol- emnly that the Son of God has entered into the universal history.
The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the reminder that Joseph belonged to the house of David are clear indications of the Davidic Dynasty of Jesus (Micah 5:1).
“There was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). The place for giving birth was given in the man- ger, for privacy rather than rejection, as they only had single room houses where privacy was not possible.
In the second part of the gospel (vv.8-14), the scene changes completely. We are no longer in the privacy of a house, but outside, in the fields and the characters are others: the shepherds and angels.
The first people to recognise the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, the saviour, the Messiah, the long-awaited Son of David, were the shepherds.
Why just them? It is not because they were better prepared spiritually. Quite the contrary. The shepherds were not simple, good, innocent, honest folks, respected by all.
They were listed among the most impure of people and there were good reasons to consider them as such.
They were not allowed to testify in a tribunal because they were con- sidered unreliable, untruthful, dishonest, thieves and violent. The heavenly messenger was sent to them. “I am here to give you good news, great joy for all the people. Today a Saviour has been born to you in David’s town. He is the Mes- siah and the Lord” (vv.10-11).
Luke implies that he, not Agus- tus, would be the saviour who was to flood the world with joy and estab- lish peace.
It was not their emperor, but the birth of Jesus which marked “the beginning of glad tidings received, thanks to him.”
Since his first appearance in the world, Jesus was placed among the last of people. instead of the right- eous, who expect from God a word of love, liberation and hope.
Growing up, Jesus would contin- ue to live next to these people. He would speak their simple language, use comparisons, parables, images taken from their world, participate in their joy and suffering, and always be on their side against anyone who marginalised them.
The sign given to the shepherds to recognise the Saviour is surprising and paradoxical. They did not find a baby wrapped in light with a halo around his head. The baby was a normal child, with a unique characteristic: he was poor among the poor.
These groups during Jesus’ life- time are already defined in the moment of his birth: on the one hand, the poor, the ignorant, the despised people who immediately recognised and welcome him with joy.
On the other, the wise, the rich, the powerful, those who lived in isolation in their palaces, away from the people and their problems, were convinced that they already possessed all that makes them happy.
Father Fernando Armellini SCJ
bibleclaret.org
Translated by Father John Ledesma SDB
Abridged by Father Thomas Thennedyil CMF
