Arguably, the most surprised group at the birth of Jesus had to have been the shepherds. These were simple folk, almost nondescript. By common law of the time, they were deemed so low down the social scale that they were not even permitted to serve as judicial witness. While the good folk of Bethlehem and Jerusalem went to bed unawares that night, the shepherds were awake, simply carrying out their task of shepherding. Imagine their surprise when the heavens split open and the celestial choir broke out in song, 'Glory to God in the highest'. At first they were frightened but quickly overcame their fear when the angel's words hid them with the cold hard fact that their long-awaited messiah had been born. Their response was equally surprising. They hurried to find the baby Jesus and after paying homage to him, they became instant witnesses that the King of kings had been born and all will be well with the world. Men forbidden by customary law to serve as witnesses became the first witnesses to the birth of Christ. God's ways are truly mysterious. The Magi represented the highest of human scaling, while the shepherds were the lowest. Jesus came to fill the entire spectrum of human existence. This is the truest significance of Christmas.
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