Why Angels Appeared to Shepherds on Christmas

[@barbararussell9757]

I love this video. When I was a little girl (I am now 75) my mother told me many times about the shepherds and the angels in the Christmas story. She said that the shepherds knew the night sky in all its mystery because they needed to understand everything that happened above in order to properly tend to their flocks below. Even though they were poor shepherds they were more aware than most of their environment. For this reason it is appropriate that the angels appeared to them, bringing light to the darkness and further defining the celestial patterns. My mother was the most cosmic woman I have ever known. In her deathbed I asked her if she was afraid and she told me she was not at all afraid because it was her next adventure.

[@Daxkalak]

A good interpretation of the shepherds and the angels scene in the Gospel is in the 1980s music video by Franky Goes to Hollywood, for his song "The Power of Love". In the video peasant shepherd boys are sitting by a small fire one night when all of a sudden they are showered by a blinding radiance that lights up everything around them, this is because a giant Angel, with blazing eyes and a massive out spread wing span, appears hovering above them in the air. Unlike the classic peaceful depiction of this Biblical scene, the shepherds in the video fall off of their seats (rocks) in shock and are terrified out of their wits at this supernatural eruption. I think that's what really happened that night - nothing could have prepared those simple boys for the great annoucement that they were about to receive from that angel. But God chose them.

[@barbararussell9757]

@@Daxkalak Good point! These so-called simple peasant boys were in a way better equipped to meet the supernatural than we modern types are. Think of all the ways the supernatural has been trivialized and explained (intellectualized) by modern man. We are equally unequipped to encounter it but we would probably explain the manifestation as aliens or as a psychotic break, much to our shame.

[@Daxkalak]

By the way, after my first reply, I went and watched that Frankie goes to Hollywood video and the scene wasn't exactly as I described it to you (it's been awhile since I last viewed it). It seems I had unconsciously blended a scene from an old 1920s movie that I saw on KZbin recently depicting an awesome angel with fiery eyes and flowing hair (I think the scene might have been taken from a movie of Faust), with the giant angel in the music video. But the main point of my first reply still stands.

[@Lauren-vd4qe]

I hope you have or will accept Jesus as your Lord and obey the NT as much as possible so you will go to Heaven when your time on earth is done.

[@riggel8804]

Had a , "symbolism happens", moment recently I would like to share with yall. I recently found myself in profound financial difficulty. To save my house and hold my family together I took a 3 month travel job in San Francisco/ sodom and gomorrhea. I'm working about 80 hours a week, driving alot and living away from my family. I'm also sleeping /living in a van so I can save the money I'm compensated for housing. I've been skateboarding and reading the OT on my downtown (leviticus and numbers). One morning i was getting dressed and noticed both my ankles and both my palms were bloody and scared from skateboarding. I intuitively thought about the role of sacrifice in the OT and and the symbolism of the stigmata. It gave me a chill. All the self pity i was feeling evaporated and I saw my situation symbolically in the role of sacrifice. I've been skating my whole life and it's exceptionally odd that i am as scarred up as i am now. I am grateful to experience the ups and downs of life as a member of a tradition and not as an isolted individual. It has given me strength that is sustaining me during my hardship. P.s. San Francisco is as bad as they say but it's also more beautiful and welcoming than I was expecting. I don't have a simple opinion on the situation in SF. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!

[@garryrichardson4572]

Sorry to nitpick about words but your wording was.” Part of a tradition “ and I would like to remind you that the Jesus message was come to me or abide in him as he abides in you. The gospel message is relationship with Jesus not part of a tradition. Ask to meet with him. Tell him you love him and desire his presence and in dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

[@fortnitebotpetti7293]

Good luck. Similar story here and you've given me a boost!

[@suzannahjames5264]

Thank you for sharing your hardships and realisations.

[@ImTheSlime]

It’s like we are all existing inside of a Divine Song. Like we are musicians surrounded by an orchestra, and these beautiful harmonic vibrations are encompassing all of reality.

[@cathydombrovske9235]

What a beautiful observation!

[@CheeseSteakJimi]

Light is synonymous with truth, reinforcing the understanding that Jesus, as the ultimate source of truth (light), guides us away from evil (dark).

[@desmotpoker6731]

What a simple minded dualistic notion. Thats the perfect soil for Close minded Fundamentalism.

[@jimbojones101]

​@@desmotpoker6731arsesphinctersayswhut?

[@kykloskatharevousa7147]

​@@desmotpoker6731 Simple as, and it's also not wrong.

[@dzemroz]

​​@@desmotpoker6731i mean thats the very brief summary of Christian faith, theres 2000 years of theology and history to explore if you are interested in more nuance. But i know you arent, you wouldnt have left such an ignorant comment otherwise.

[@desmotpoker6731]

@@dzemroz way more than 2000 years of theology. but If you dont understand what my comment ist aimed at you got the learning to do.

[@calebcreates8555]

I am now a Catechumen for the Orthodox Church in large part due to your videos. (Jordan Peterson, and Jay Dyer's Transcendental Arguments for God also helped me a lot.) Thank you so much for all your work. My life has completely changed.

[@TwinCitiesOxygen]

Peterson doesn’t really match up with Orthodox theology

[@joaol.galdino8738]

May God bless your path and may you bear good fruit, especially the fruits of the Spirit. I began that same path, now more than one year ago. Enjoy the journey!

[@princessjasmine9902]

@@TwinCitiesOxygenHe doesn’t have to his messages is what most must focus on. I watch Peterson Bible Studies that I went and became a Orthodox Christian due to his message of faith. I think most of us shouldn’t focus on the theology but the message of his teachings that what I did.💕

[@calebcreates8555]

@@TwinCitiesOxygen you're are correct of course, but nobody else could have been a better bridge for understanding spiritual stuff coming from a nihilistic materialist world

[@TwinCitiesOxygen]

@@calebcreates8555 yes I came the same way, I apologize if I put any damper on your post. Merry Christmas Christ is born, glorify him.

[@CranyumHipHop]

Orthodoxy has changed my life over the past 5 months 🙏☦️👑🙌

[@cathydombrovske9235]

Thank you, Jonathan. I'm 78 and live in Montana. I've just become aware of your work, and know I've got to find out a lot more. This stuff seems to really address me where I live.

[@gnosticmonk2019]

Tu m'a fait pleurer avec ton message de Noël. J'ai aussi beaucoup aimé ton entrevue avec Russell Brand. Joyeux Noël à toi et ta famille. Je suis financièrement pauvre ces temps-ci et suis incapable de supporter ton merveilleux travail, mais j'espère bien pouvoir un jour y contribuer. Ta voix, ton message, et ton art inspirent beaucoup. In Terra Pax Hominibus Bonae Voluntatis.

[@HeinrichCrux]

I've recently associated it with the sign of the cross Above (the Father) is Glory to "God in the Highest" Bellow (the Son) is "Peace on Earth" And spreading through the cosmos (the elbows) is the Holy Spirit, as in "good-will among men" (Pentecost)

[@bman5257]

Ooh I love that.

[@veroburkellcjeffburke3973]

​@bman5257 MEEEEE TOOOOO! HOLY BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ALL! May we each invite the Holy Family in to Peirce our hearts with His Presence!

[@letruweldonothsa2622]

I was thinking the same thing! Not exactly in those terms or about "Glory to God in the highest", but just about why we say associate the persons of God with points on the Cross, the Father being on the top, then the Son on the bottom, then the Holy Spirit being the crossbeam. The Father being on the top is His being the source of Triune life (that is, the cause of the Divinity) he Son being on the bottom is His condescension, His coming down, and the Spirit moving from right to left is His filling of all things.

[@michaelart4878]

💘

[@idiopathictendencies8453]

Absolute satanism

[@JJDSports2012]

You’re phenomenal and a real blessing. Prayers for you and for Jordan Peterson, through whom I made your acquaintance. Merry Christmas

[@notsocrates9529]

JP was a good introduction for people like me who did not know he plagiarized and repackaged a reductionist version of Jung's ideas.

[@citymonkmusic]

Thank Jonathan Your Christmas videos are very refreshing. The old Christmas tree video and now the universal history one are worth returning to every once in a while

[@dionysis_]

Was just rewatching the Christmas tree one too 🙂 It is great.

[@SampsonAndBeasley]

“Reality has musicality.” Johnathan Pageau ❤

[@julijanacvejic517]

I wasn't waching your videos for some time now, dye to "chronic lack of time disorder", although I listened your speach at the ARK conference. Anyway, beeing still in the preparation period for Nativity ( I am on old calendar as you) I said to my self today, let see what my dear French You tube friend has to say about upcoming feast. Great insight and explanation of these familiar verses!!! Thank you again Jonathan, it is good to be here, you reminded me today ❤🐑😇⭐

[@zita-lein]

It always strikes me how God deliberately sets things up so that He shows His all-encompassing love. Here, it looks like the highest is reaching down to the lowest with a pronouncement that will attend to the widest. Glory to God!

[@missh1774]

12:28 I saw this today. People of different cultures and faiths gifting a small part of themselves to be together as a common people as the year comes to another closer, in celebration of a unity that is named Christmas Day. 🎄 We wish you a Merry Christmas Johnathan. 🎁Suprise!!! Santa is real.

[@theworldforgot4857]

May GOD bless your mom's soul and may she rest in eternal peace and may GOD give you strenght and courage and bless you abundantly AMEN🙏🏽🤲🏾❤️☝🏽✝️

[@ashleygatewood]

Some really great insight. Thanks for sharing and hope you have a Happy New Year~

[@rosemarymccarron3887]

Bishop Williamson is brilliant on giving homilies on what our priorities are in life,that being that it is our duty to adore God first and foremost .

[@rosetocreation]

Our love of this hymn is synchronous with His Love. Thank you for your revelations, the Shepards really are a beautiful connection to everything and the way you describe the angels 🙏

[@troyhavok8605]

Shepherds are also those who gather in the flock, that keep the flock together, and keep them safe from the monsters that lurk in darkness. I posted this before I had listened to the whole video. After listening to the whole thing I realize the shepherd and his relationship with his flock is showing the very thing Jonathan is trying to explain with sports metaphors. The shepherd gathers in the flock and continually directs them toward the highest goal of the shepherd. When they are all aligned toward his aim, the sheep will live a peaceful existence, but as soon as one member of the flock gets separated, that individual is at risk of attack by wolves, lions, etcetera... The shepherd and his flock necessarily exist as one body. The shepherd holds the purpose, or logos, of the flock in his mind and directs that body toward it. If we expand that symbolism, we can see how having all individuals in the world being aligned toward the highest possible good, and Logos of all things, (God) would lead to peace. The Glory, or the light of truth, shines down on the shepherds to bring light to the symbolic truth they represent. God bless.

[@bowswindle8701]

Beautifully put. To add onto your assessment as scripture/ jesus says ,jesus is the good Shepard. & think back to psalms 23! And on your point of “as soon as one member gets separated” they are more in danger of the Shepards staff then they are predators. Just sharing my thoughts thanks for yours!

[@thechapLen]

I’m preaching mainly from this verse tomorrow, Christmas Eve. I appreciate this explanation but it has been a little overthought. Glory goes to God who deserves it. Peace comes to us, who do not. Because of his favor (grace) we can find peace in this world and especially in the next.

[@traceyedson9652]

I think JP was explicating the pattern/built-in truth behind why the truth of Christmas is, er, true. That God coming to earth and its ramifications is a fundamental reality behind how things work. Of course, the “peace on earth” is Christ Himself Who “is our peace.”

[@nnn-pr3vr]

Glory is for God, peace is for man.

[@sarahjanelap]

Merci pour ce vidéo! En terme de vulgarisation, vous êtes à la théologie chrétienne ce que Peterson est à la psychologie. Les concepts que vous expliquez sont soudainement accessibles à notre compréhension lorsque mis la lumière de vos explications claires et précises. C'est vrai qu'on est pas en paix quand on ne se concentre pas sur son notre but le plus grand. Ça fait comprendre les rites religieux: ils servent à nous "rappeler de se rappeler" notre purpose constamment. Parce qu'on oubli et qu'une multitudes de choses s'approprient notre attention. Joyeuses fêtes et que Dieu vous bénisses votre famille et vous!

[@jeffilli1663]

Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to people of goodwill. Thats how we sing it at our church.

[@ibelieve3111]

Thanks

[@JulianH3nry]

God bless, and merry Christmas, Jonathan! "Little video" you say, as my mind is better aligned thanks to your incredible insight... ha.

[@Michael-hs5ih]

Merry Christmas!

[@vimalpatel4060]

Merry Christmas Jonathan...

[@TheGeneralGrievous19]

Have a Blessed Advent 🏮 & Merry Christmas, 🎄 everyone! 🙏 🙏 🙏

[@calatianupriser]

This was very useful and very timely as well. Merry Christmas Jonathan and everyone else! ☦

[@davitchaganava9622]

brilliant

[@iamacalmocean2080]

Beautiful Christmas message💫🙏🇦🇺💚 thank you for your poetic, artistic powerful truth words

[@SarahMc585]

watching Christmas eve :)

[@yohanesliong4818]

Wow, that's beautiful! Thank you

[@glengrantdavidson8185]

Thanks very much. God bless All ...🎉

[@andrejvoth4213]

Merry Christmas, Jonathan. I like your explanations and views on things. You are a good teacher!

[@lucasklein9803]

Watching this video about "the highest uniting the multiplicity" was the consequence of my will getting dispersed while attending another activity 😂 Great video, as always.

[@simhthmss]

Christ is born! Glorify him!

[@NitwitMN]

Grateful for this enhanced understanding

[@Planter55]

Good one. "Take no words for granted." merry Christmas

[@InfoArtistJKatTheGoodInfoCafe]

God bless you.

[@AugustasKunc]

A classic symbolism video. Love these.

[@michaelart4878]

The Jordan, Euphrates, Bow and EL-bow are all rivers 🙌 ALLELUIA 🙌 A-men' 🔥

[@simonpaulmiddleton]

Thank you. The analogy of the team is brilliant. You offer such a brilliant insight around the notion of the extension of peace (the absence of discord) a grace that is a fruit of the identity. This allows the team to focus in on high performance which again is a kind of exultation of the full utilization of the individual capabilities that devours the team's highest goal. Thank you for plumbing these mysteries.

[@LeonieMart]

Thankyou for this Jonathan. May you and your family be blessed with peace and joy this Christmas. Your videos have drawn me into a deeper ongoing conversion to Christ and His Gospel. I will be forever grateful 🙏🏻

[@adamperez8555]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mr. Pageau !

[@briteboy79]

Here for it. 🌟

[@nickimontie]

Merry Christmas!

[@NeanderthalWoman-ou8ev]

I don't see why the angels' song need be puzzling. First, they announce glory to God - which is what angels always do. Then, they announce that human beings can now have peace with God and that His attitude towards them is one of favor. This new status with God is precisely what Christ's incarnation (and all His works that followed it) brought about. In turn, Christ's coming is the ultimate reveal of God's good will towards humanity, and His plan to restore us. That's how I have always understood the song.

[@Jgehes]

Deuteronomy 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

[@behailumulugeta5062]

Good analogy ❤ We love u 🇪🇹

[@charlesvgrife2153]

The shepherd's job was to report to the priests which lambs were the firstborn and therefore suitable for the sacrifice. The angels showed the shepherd's that a new "lamb" had been born. The firstborn of Mary, without blemish. And therefore suitable to be the infinite sacrifice.

[@stephaniemodavis]

Thank you

[@julialongmore8748]

Thank you Jonathon. Love ,,peace , joy to your family and to everyone. ❤ thank you to exodus with jordan peterson and finding you.

[@shotinthedark90]

IDK why I never thought of this before, but it just now strikes me that a star is a source of light, but one which has withdrawn into a kind of pin-prick singularity. In other words, a star is something we see in the heavens but does not help us see on earth. The star is a kind of foreign sun, a heavenly source of light, but not *our* source of light on earth. The foreigners follow the foreign light to where the light has come to "rest" on earth, i.e. the incarnation. A new sun rises.

[@SusanWebster-pz2vg]

Merry Christmas to you and your family 🎄may you have much joy and peace 🙏

[@ILIRIA_]

I was a anti-theist atheist for 10 years and then me and 5 others seen a 3ft lion with goat legs all around him, after a major fight and ran laughing at us and disappeared after 3-5 seconds. It shattered my materialistic world view.

[@MediaevalGuitar]

Glorify Him!

[@antoniodesousa9723]

Merry Christmas. Love the t-shirt. I actually knew a shepard. He was a skinny old man, never married. I didn't even know if he had a home. He seemed to be a simple guy, oeople woul buy him beer in the village bar. Yes he would be considered low or set apart, friendly maybe naive but I would not cross him.

[@88blest]

Can you explain to a heathen like myself what is on that t-shirt? As I feel like I like it but don't know why I feel that way... Haha

[@joem8496]

Merry Christmas Jonathan

[@mellomojared]

You brought me to faith Jonathan-what a privilege it would be, to be your friend ...as a long time listener consider getting a RODE mic. It would be lovely to your voice with utmost clarity

[@sunflower1m.545]

❤❤❤

[@michellestevenson8060]

Beautiful message. It seems similiar to the parable of the good shepherd and the hireling in the book of John? Merry Christmas to you and your family!

[@DillonCSK]

Excited!

[@heidiburbey6174]

🤍 🎵 🕊 Mahalo nui loa, Jonathan 😊

[@artlopes9463]

The light exposes iniquity and evil. The darkness attempts to conceal such making the darkness complete yet without substance. Glory belongs to God just like every soul belongs to God. He is light and darkness does not comprehend Him. Even the demons believe and tremble in August fear. He consumes darkness. Truth will always trump lies.

[@wirezts]

❤

[@adamovka6669]

Merry Christmas Jonathan!

[@torbreww]

Great discussion. So the shepherds represent the earth. The angels represent heaven. The meeting of the two groups represents the incarnation of Christ (God becoming a man) which had just happened that night. Those on whom the good will of God rests are humans who participate in this harmony between heaven and earth through faith in the incarnate Christ who will be providing the way of salvation through the cross, resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

[@vesper9198]

Is that Miyamoto Musashi in the background? Wow, I didn't expect that. I wonder why?

[@DerekJFiedler]

Merry Christmas

[@Dogheadedchris]

If someone has the appetite to consolidate, compile, and cohere all of the basketball analogies JP has used, I think this could become “mandatory viewing” for middle/high school basketball teams.

[@maxfunk5773]

We ball.

[@johnandrews1162]

Great video and very helpful. Jonathan speaks of order a lot and it is good to hear. However, isn’t the order of which we speak in Christ an upside down order, the first being last, the lowliest lifted up high? Good to hear more about that.

[@MaverickCadaverick]

Love your videos, brother! Would love to see a interview between you and Paul Wallis / 5th Kind TV. 🕊

[@gunzofthenavarrone8293]

My family is struggling with peace, harmony and a shared purpose and the core of it is my wife doesn't realize how much her competing for authority, decision making power, has caused pain for our marriage and an unhealthy competitive relationship in our kids with each other and us. Can you speak on this? your points on "team" truly resonate with me and I have been trying to get my wife to see that she is supposed to be the assistant coach. In the face of the "team", always in support of the head coach, but in closed door meetings capable of influencing the head coach in ways that would product better results and please God. Thanks!

[@Fieldoferns14]

Humble prayer filled with love will move mountains. Perhaps you need to also look inward, see that God is stretching you, or that you also are lacking (we all are) in some ways. But, yeah, prayer and understanding bro... P.S. I used to be that wife, my husband is a "symbol" of Jesus to me. Loving, long-suffering, strong, patient, and kind. Through his love and God's grace, I don't struggle nearly as much.🙏❤

[@joshuagormanly2475]

The whole scene is about all being equal in God's eyes, rich and poor alike. To show that you will have peace among men when you treat each other as equal. It is all summarised in the commandment love one another as God loves you, ( and maybe also as yourself).

[@samwilt5620]

For those with ears to hear..

[@spikestoyou]

@jonathan pageau Will you PLEASE do some sort of deep dive on Robert Sepehr’s latest video on Saturnalia

[@CheeseSteakJimi]

In Jesus's time, shepherds were often seen as humble, everyday people. To many, they represented the common folk. By appearing to shepherds, the angels demonstrated that the Savior’s message was for all mankind, not just the elite or privileged. Plus, there’s also something symbolic about the fact that Jesus Himself is often referred to as the "Good Shepherd." This event shows an important belief that God often chooses "the weak things of the world" to accomplish His purposes.

[@TimelessWisdomDrAnita]

"The heavens declare the glory of God!"

[@keithjohnsonYT]

🙌

[@NathanSmutz]

Some suggest that the shepherds were caring for flocks used as sacrificial animals for the temple.

[@lanabowers5332]

Here is the actual event. Down at Ain Feshkha, the 'farm' the pastors or 'shepherds' were meeting for the equinox. The 'Angel of the Lord' (Simon the Essene/Simeon the Abiathar Gabriel priest) came to them & announced the new regime & that the 12 year old Jesus would continue the succession. The ministers sang a hymn of praise & declared the new policy 'peace on earth'.

[@kriptikful]

Simply put Jonathan, it was the Angels announcing that the "War is over". There was war between God & Men's Sin & Sins. And now Peace & Goodwill from God towards all Men.

[@OrthodoxInsights]

Christ is Born!

[@lightenlynx]

I gotta tell you bro, great video for a nap. Not so much for clarification.

[@christeeleison9064]

Also to fulfill Paul's reading of Deuteronomy 32:43

[@alexwelts2553]

3 times i have discovered a shepherd left chained and starved in abandoned dwellings. German shepherds. Once it attacked me feeling cornered after much trauma and starvation. As im currently likely to attack anything that corners me without clear intentions. Another it was already dead on a chain hanging down the hill to the railroad tracks. And then again, a resilient and happy but thin and young and easily rehomed she shepherd. Are angels abandoned abused dogs?

[@Drometheus]

Thank you! Jonathan have you ever heard about or read the works of Rudolf Steiner?

[@dionysis_]

I like this. Focusing on the highest can indeed unite the different denominations and even religions without them losing their individuality. (I know that is not what you said but I do think it is the same pattern 😉)

[@brb5506]

God's favor rests on those who do God's will. The result of doing God's will is personal peace bestowed by the Holy Spirit through the grace of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

[@fritzco55]

They came to the arrival of the perfect Lamb of God! Shepherds tend their flocks… all those who find this Lamb will find their way.

[@zdmc23]

Yes, and it is also a heralding of peace bc the Prince of Peace has arrived ☦️✌️(important that the peace sign is a victory sign. Christus Victor!)

[@Cyrus_II]

Regarding symbolism of the new year, As a persian orthodox Christian in America, I'm confused on which cycle I should care about; there's the persian new year in spring, there's the civic new year in Jan 1, and there's the ecclesiastical new year in September 1, and there's all these other liturgical cycles. I don't know which one to care about. Maybe all this confusion is an image of the end of the world.

[@susanparker767]

✨🌟✨

[@AzureSymbiote]

Which video talks about the angels being related to stars?

[@wtfsattawtf]

Understand understand understand understand

[@1337Jag]

Shepards were also considered low class citizens. Sometimes outcasts. This verse is also showing how the highest thing is reaching down to the lowest thing. This also connects to a lot of other concepts in the scriptures and patristic tradition.

[@SempreGumby]

Sheppards were not only the lowest of the low, but they were raising sheep for sacrifice in the temple in which they were themselves not allowed to enter because they were unclean. So God makes an example of this wrong by proclaiming the Good News to the Sheppards first. God, throughout the bible, is consistent by announcing to the poor, the down trodden, the slaves, the barren, Good News.

[@spiritfilled5758]

Question? Do you think it is true that everything is sound & viberation. ( God said & The word )