Could you imagine being in the middle of a work shift and being confronted by an angel?

The shepherds were out in their fields, watching the sheep, pulling the night shift. I can’t imagine the job was all that riveting. After all, the old bedtime hack is to count sheep, isn’t it?

When people think “shepherds” at Christmas, they think, “keeping watch over their flocks by night” and angels singing, “Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, peace, and goodwill towards men.” Those are the verses that are focused on, from the Charlie Brown Christmas special to Sunday school lessons. But the shepherds’ story still continues five verses after the most popular passage. You see, after the angels went back up into heaven, the shepherds looked at each other and decided that they had to head into Bethlehem. They had to see the baby that the angels were singing about.