One of the cultural phenomena of our day is gender reveal parties. A whole industry has been spawned out of pregnant couples’ desire, not simply to know the gender of their expected child, but to make a big production out of announcing to family and friends what the gender is. A quick Google of “gender reveal” will generate a bounty of websites ready to give suggested themes, props, games, and food treat ideas to make the reveal as elaborate and creative as a couple desires. When I think of today’s gender reveal functions, I cannot help but smile when I think of the gender reveal function my wife and I attended for both of our girls 40+ years ago. The occasion was childbirth, the location was a sterile delivery room, and the gender reveal was an announcement by the obstetrician when he said, “Congratulations, it’s a girl.”

As elaborate as contemporary gender reveals can be, they pale in comparison to the greatest gender reveal event in all of history. The written record of that event is found in the Bible in Luke 2:1-20. There we learn that after Caesar Augustus decreed that all the world should be taxed and that the taxes were to be paid in their home towns, a very pregnant peasant Jewish couple named Mary and Joseph made the journey from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. Once in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to a son in the confines of a stable since there was no room for them in the local inn.

It’s what happened next which makes the birth of this child the greatest gender reveal in history. To get the full impact, let me quote the biblical record from Luke 2:8-15 (KJV):

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’”

What makes this the greatest gender reveal in all of history?

1. The messengers
   Anyone delivering such a history shaping message had to be worthy of delivering that message. Only angels were worthy of delivering such important and good news as the birth of the long awaited Messiah. Only angels would be taken seriously in delivering such a message.
2. The message
   The gender reveal was the greatest news ever given to mankind. Not only had a male been born, but this male was the Son of God, the long awaited and promised Messiah, who had come to be the Savior of the world.
3. The “messengees”
   One would assume that in picking a group of people to hear this gender reveal, God would have chosen very good people – those deserving to hear such an announcement. But the gender reveal was not made to the best of people, but to the morally worst of people in the Jewish culture. But why them? God wanted the world to know that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, is for everyone and no one is beyond the reach of His saving grace.

As we celebrate Christmas in just a few weeks, let’s join the shepherds in glorifying and praising God for the birth of His Son which was revealed on that Judean hillside that night.

Merry Christmas!