Jerusalem and Rome knew nothing of this event. The High Priest offered
the evening sacrifice unaware that it was rendered obsolete by the
coming of the true Sacrifice, and Cæsar slept that night without a dream
that a Rival had been born who would uproot his empire and erect a
worldwide kingdom. Earth was unconscious of this birth, but heaven knew
it. There was holy ecstacy in all the shining ranks above, and "angels
seem, as birds new-come in spring, to have flown hither and thither, in
songful mood, dipping their white wings into our atmosphere, just
touching the earth or glancing along its surface, as sea birds skim the
surface of the sea."

Around all the events of the birth and ministry of Christ there are the
flutter and flash of angel wings, and this story would lose much of its
music and charm if it were stripped of its angel ministration. The Bible
is full of angels. They appear to Zacharias the mother of John the
Baptist, and they find Mary the virgin mother, as a beam of morning
light finds a white-leafed flower, and reveal the mystery that has come
upon her. No sooner is the infant Jesus laid in his manger than the door
of heaven opens and there comes trooping forth a radiant throng, filling
the midnight sky with splendor and proclaiming to earth the glad
tidings. Angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness and strengthened
him in the garden. More than twelve legions of angels waited to do his
bidding when he was arrested. Angels rolled away the stone from his tomb
and sat by the empty grave, announcing his resurrection as they had
announced his birth; and as they thronged the skies at his coming, so
they hovered in the air at his going; and when he comes again he shall
come in his glory with all the holy angels with him.