On October 7th, 2023, less than two weeks ago, the terrorist organization Hamas surprised Israel with a sophisticated pre-dawn attack, by launching at least 3,000 rockets before some 2,500 Palestinian militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier and massacred at least 1,400 people from all walks of life—Israeli soldiers, foreign workers, old men and women, young people at a music festival, families, as well as children and babies.

One of the most well-known parts of Luke’s description of Jesus’ birth occurs when an angel appears to shepherds who are guarding their flocks at night and says, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news  that will cause great joy for all the people. “

Here in the Greek of Luke 2:10, it literally says, “I evangelize to you great joy for all the people.”  In fact, our word for “evangelical” Christian comes straight from this Greek verb which means to “share good news.”