And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. (Luke 2:18 ESV)
The Shepherds’ Audience
My grandfather told of his World War II experience coming ashore in the Philippines nearby General MacArthur. I was not there, but I have pictured it in my mind’s eye. I have imagined it. I am not an eyewitness, but I am still a sort of witness.
I have heard my father describe his first date with my mom so many times, that it seems as if I was hidden in the cool kid convertible myself. I am not an eyewitness, but I am still a sort of witness.
My wife had a close encounter of the deer kind while driving a few weeks ago. I was not in the car, but she described it to me. I can almost hear the sounds. I am not an eyewitness, but I am still a sort of witness.
We are more like the shepherds’ audience than we are like the shepherds. Like that audience on the first Christmas Day, we have experienced the description, the analysis, the casting of a picture. We are not eyewitnesses, but we are still a sort of witness.
And hearing like that is believing. Seeing like that is believing. Knowing like that is believing.
That early audience models for us how to consider the story. With wonder.