John Calvin Commentary Luke 2:15

"And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." — Luke 2:15 (ASV)

After that the angels departed. Here the obedience of the shepherds is described to us. The Lord had made them witnesses of his Son to the whole world. What he had spoken to them by his angels was efficacious and was not allowed to fade away. They were not plainly and expressly commanded to come to Bethlehem; but, being sufficiently aware that this was God’s design, they hurried to see Christ.

In the same manner, we know that Christ is presented to us so that our hearts may approach him by faith, and our delay in coming admits of no excuse.¹⁶⁶

Furthermore, Luke informs us that the shepherds resolved to set out immediately after the angels had departed. This conveys an important lesson.

Instead of allowing the word of God to fade away with the sound, as many do, we must take care that it strikes its roots deep in us and manifests its power as soon as the sound has died away from our ears. It also deserves our attention that the shepherds exhort one another, for it is not enough that each of us is attentive to his own duty if we do not offer mutual exhortations. Their obedience is further commended by Luke’s statement that they hastened (Luke 2:16), for we are required to show the readiness of faith.

Which the Lord hath revealed to us. They had only heard it from the angel, but they intentionally and correctly say that the Lord had revealed it to them, for they consider the messenger of God to possess the same authority as if the Lord himself had addressed them. For this reason, the Lord directs our attention to himself, so that we may not fix our view on men and undervalue the authority of his Word.

We also see that they considered themselves obligated not to neglect the treasure which the Lord had pointed out to them, for they concluded that, immediately after receiving this information, they must go to Bethlehem to see it. In the same manner, each of us, according to the measure of his faith and understanding, should be prepared to follow wherever God calls.

¹⁶⁶ “Si nous sommes paresseux de le faire, toutes les excuses du monde ne nous serviront de rien.” — “If we are indolent in doing so, all the apologies in the world will be of no service to us.”.” — “If we are indolent in doing so, all the apologies in the world will be of no service to us.”