It was, then, on that 'wintry night' of the 25th of December,24 that shepherds watched the
flocks destined for sacrificial services, in the very place consecrated by tradition as that
where the Messiah was to be first revealed. Of a sudden came the long-delayed,
unthought-of announcement. Heaven and earth seemed to mingle, as suddenly an Angel
stood before their dazzled eyes, while the outstreaming glory of the Lord seemed to
enwrap them, as in a mantle of light.25 Surprise, awe, fear would be hushed into calm and
expectancy, as from the Angel they heard, that what they saw boded not judgment, but
ushered in to waiting Israel the great joy of those good tidings which he brought: that the
long-promised Saviour, Messiah, Lord, was born in the City of David, and that they
themselves might go and see, and recognize Him by the humbleness of the circumstances
surrounding His Nativity.
24. There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date. The
objections generally made rest on grounds, which seem to me historically untenable. The
subject has been fully discussed in an article by Cassel in Herzog's Real. Ency. xvii. pp.
588-594. But a curious piece of evidence comes to us from a Jewish source. In the
addition to the Megillath Taanith (ed. Warsh. p. 20 a), the 9th Tebheth is marked as a fast
day, and it is added, that the reason for this is not stated. Now, Jewish chronologists h ave
fixed on that day as that of Christ's birth, and it is remarkable that, between the years 500
and 816 a.d. the 25th of December fell no less than twelve times on the 9th Tebheth. If
the 9th Tebheth, or 25th December, was regarded as the birthday of Christ, we can
understand the concealment about it. Comp. Zunz, Ritus d. Synag. Gottesd. p. 126.
25. In illustration we may here quote Shem. R. 2 (ed. W. vol. ii. p. 8 a), where it is said
that, wherever Michael appears, there also is the glory of the Shekhinah. In the same
section we read, in reference to the appearance in the bush, that, 'at first only one Angel
came,' who stood in the burning bush, and after that the Shekhinah came, and spoke to
Moses from out the bush. (It is a curious illustration of Acts ix. 7, that Moses alone is
said in Jewish tradition to have seen the vision. but not the men who were with him.)
Wetstein gives an erroneous reference to a Talmudic statement, to the effect that, at the
birth of Moses, the room was filled with heavenly light. The statement really occurs in
Sotah 12 a; Shem. R. 1; Yalkut i. 51 c. This must be the foundation of the Christian
legend, that the cave, in which Christ was born, was filled with heavenly light. Similarly,
the Romish legend about the Virgin Mother not feeling the pangs of maternity is derived
from the Jewish legend, which asserts the same of the mother of Moses. The same
authority maintains, that the birth of Moses remained unknown for three months, because
he was a child of seven months. There are other legends about the sinlessness of Moses'
father, and the maidenhood of his mother (at 103 years), which remind us of Christian
traditions.
It was, as if attendant angels had only waited the signal. As, when the sacrifice was laid
on the altar, the Te mple- music burst forth in three sections, each marked by the blast of
the priests' silver trumpets, as if each Psalm were to be a Tris-Hagion;26 so, when the
Herald-Angel had spoken, a multitude of heaven's host27 stood forth to hymn the good
tidings he had brought. What they sang was but the reflex of what had been announced. It
told in the language of praise the character, the meaning, the result, of what had taken
place. Heaven took up the strain of 'glory;' earth echoed it as 'peace;' it fell on the ears
and hearts of men as 'good pleasure:'
26. According to tradition, the three blasts symbolically proclaimed the Kingdom of God,
the providence of God, and the final judgment.