What is commendable about the shepherds’ response to this good news proclaimed from the heavens?

No one had to prod the shepherds into the right response to the divine messengers’ words. They were in full agreement that nothing would deter them from going immediately to find the newly arrived Savior: “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:15 NASB). Since Bethlehem sits on a ridge, the shepherds most likely had to walk uphill the two miles from the fields to town. So as soon as possible, they set out to “see this thing that has happened.”

The word translated thing in this passage denotes much more in Greek than it does in English. The term literally means “word” or “reality.” The shepherds understood that they had received a word from God, and the reality of it was that the Messiah had been born that same day. And the reality was something they could confirm tangibly because the angel gave them a sign to look for, a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12). The shepherds had seen and believed the angels, which was sufficient verification for what had occurred, but they wanted to obtain additional authentication by finding the child exactly where the first angel said He would be. That would affirm their eagerness of faith and prove that they were participants in more than a mere earthly drama.