This Sunday our focus text was Luke 2:8-20, when the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks experienced the revelation of the Incarnation, as proclaimed to them by the angelic host. It is amazing to consider the Gospel itself was first preached to men who were considered second-class citizens, men that would have been largely ignored by many people and shunned by most of society – what a reminder that God, in His graciousness and sovereignty, is often most interested in those whose hearts are ready for the truth. Often this doesn’t equate to those who are most impressive outwardly; in fact, that correlation is often very clear. The proud and the haughty, the ones who the world would consider impressive, are many times the very ones who are too blinded by the shallowness of their own reputation to be interested in anything deeper. As CS Lewis once said, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
We read in verse 9, “And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.” They were completely enveloped by this other-worldly experience as God’s glory surrounded them, and they had reaction: complete terror. When the ESV states “…they were filled with fear“, it literally means they were paralyzed, in the grip of panic – in fact, the original Greek word used here is “phobeo”, which translates literally to “panic-fear”. They didn’t really understand what they were experiencing, but they sensed enough to have a similar reaction as did the prophet in Isaiah chapter 6 when he was in the presence of God’s glory and proclaimed “Woe is me! For I am lost...” In other words, Isaiah, and mentally the shepherds in Luke, instinctively knew they were not worthy to be in the midst of what they were being shown. But, in His rich mercy and tender-hearted care, the Lord through the angel spoke these words in response: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy…” They rightly had reason to fear, as they were caught up into a situation that was far beyond them, but the angel assures them this visit was to announce the revelation of God to mankind in the form of His Son, born not far from them in a feeding trough. It is indeed beyond human comprehension to consider a greater contrast than God Himself descending from heaven to be born as a lowly human being, in a wooden trough that fed wild animals… a God that preached this Good News to lowly shepherds who were discarded by society… a God that loves so deeply that He makes propitiation for us Himself, because no one else can.
We focused on the angelic host’s proclamation in verse 14, “Glory to God in the highest! And on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” For a moment, just picture yourself as one of these humble shepherds experiencing this firsthand – in the dead of night, heaven breaks open just for a moment and God allows you to see inside as ‘a multitude of angels‘ proclaim in unison the wonders of God Almighty. That original word that we derive multitude from meant literally thousands upon thousands of angels – all declaring the unsurpassable, unavoidable glory of God. And, by extension, God’s glory being the foundation for the peace that is spoken of by this multitude of heavenly host, peace that transcends human understanding… but while considering this richness of this passage, we also must recognize that this peace that is spoken of comes with a very important caveat – “…among those with whom He is pleased.” This is a qualified peace, a peace that is offered within the parameters of God’s holy plan. There is only one real path to peace, through the blood of the Son. When we look at the manger, the shadow that forms behind it should be in the shape of a cross.
We drew 4 specific points from this text…
1. True spiritual peace that transcends earthly anxiety is rooted in the enveloping glory of God’s presence. It is worth noting that God’s glory cannot be separated from God Himself – in other words, one cannot be in the presence of God without being in the presence of His glory. Without the glory – the manifested presence – of God, there can be no real peace… but wait, you may say, peace? Pastor, have you looked around at the world? If someone asked me to describe the world around us in attributes, peace isn’t one of the things that comes to mind – in fact, just the opposite. Also, you may say, didn’t Jesus say something about not bringing peace to earth? In fact, He sure did – in Matthew 10:34, Jesus states “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” How do we rectify these things? The peace spoken of in Luke 2, and of Jesus during His ministry, is an inner peace that changes a person from the inside out – not the other way around, as our culture is so obsessed about. Jesus really did come to bring a sword, because He knew that becoming a disciple would drive wedges between that person and others – the world doesn’t like the idea of being held to a higher power, and the accountability that inevitably comes with that. The world wants to define freedom as being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want – we are confronted with evidence of this outlook every day of our lives. But real freedom, as outlined in Scripture, is through slavery: the bondservant to Christ is the freest person on earth.
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- We considered the New Testament political connotations to this in the context of the Jewish faith – the Jews had long expected the Messiah to usher in a new era of peace both politically and socially for them; when it became increasingly clear that this wasn’t Jesus’ mission, they became more convinced in their unbelief in Him as the Messiah. But that is founded on a heartbreaking misunderstanding of the goal and mission of the Messiah – He did indeed come to bring peace, but not the kind they wanted. In fact, He came to offer a peace that is exponentially greater than what they claimed to want. Consider if Jesus had instituted a powerful political regime, even one the likes of which the Jewish people had not enjoyed for many a generation…. what would have happened after the Lord ascended back to heaven? It is a surety that human sin would have toppled it in short order. Then what would they have been left with? The same life of struggle and pain as they had before…. No, our Lord had much better things in mind, and offered them – and us – a peace that is deployed by the Spirit and “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7); a peace that helps recalibrate our lives back to Him.
2. To know God is to be in awe of His glory. Look again at verse 9, “suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them, and they were terrified” (NLT). As mentioned above, they were seized with fear as they tried to wrap their heads around what they were seeing. The same word is used in Matthew 9, after Jesus healed the paralytic, we read “and when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God…” The sense here being that our brains can’t even function properly when given even a fleeting glimpse of the glory of God… and a question that may emerge from this is: how then do I experience His glory? I think a good way to answer this is found in Psalm 19:1 and then 7-10, as follows…
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- “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim His handiwork… the law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold…” the clear message here is this: God reveals glimpses of His glory through His creation, and this should prompt us to want to know Him more. The path to a deeper understanding of Him is through the truth, as expressed to us in His Word. Think on the progression of verses 7-10, how Scripture is the standard we are to hold ourselves to, how it is foundational to our outlook on both ourselves and the world around us.
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3. God’s unfathomable grace is undeserved, unexpected, and unassailable... Reconsider with me verse 15 – particularly the last 8 words, “…which the Lord has made known to us.” The shepherds immediately recognize the irrepressible compulsion to tell everyone they saw about their experience – they couldn’t not tell their story. We considered those three words in the point itself – as follows…
- Undeserved: 1 Peter 2:9 states “… you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His glorious light.” Not only did God shine light into the darkness of the world in the Incarnation, just as He shined light into our barren souls, He did it in full grace – grace, meaning having favor upon one who is undeserving.
- Unexpected: Titus 2:11 states “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and Godly lives in the present age…” The original word for appeared conveys a sense of ‘without warning or expectation’ – it appeared at a time when very few were looking for it. Consider: when Jesus was born, the prophets had long been silent; the revelations of God seemed to be over, it had been 400+ years since the last book of the Old Testament had been given. And yet, on that night, in a quiet, unsuspecting town, God came down to earth to us.
- Unassailable: Psalms 145:3-5 state “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.” Human language does not afford proper wording to describe the attributes of God, so when we say words like “His greatness”, we are cognizant that this doesn’t even amount to a drop of water in the ocean. That being said, consider with me those 4 words: His greatness is unsearchable. In other words, God’s majesty is so beyond our comprehension that pondering it for a thousand lifetimes would not even provide a glimpse of it’s reality. His glory is truly absolute, irrefutable, and undeniable.
4. … and is properly responded to with reverence and worship (cont’d from point #3). Look back at verse 17 in Luke 2 – what is the immediate response of the shepherds? Glory, honor, and praise to the Lord: they “made known” what they saw – which means they declared it publicly. They couldn’t help but tell everyone they came in contact with about this news, this Good News that had been revealed to them. Not unlike what the apostle Paul said in Acts chapter 4, as they were on trial for breaking the law – Paul responds with these words: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, but we cannot help but speak of what we have seen and heard.” In other words, Paul is declaring “even if we wanted to keep silent, we could not! The things we have seen with our own eyes must be proclaimed to the world!” What an example of bold faith, lived in the power of the Spirit, in the midst of trials (both literal and figurative). May our lives be lived as boldly as the apostles!
… in summation, let us consider: in His grace, God has sovereignly extended true peace to humanity by sending His son as our Savior, offering salvation to all who believe upon Him. May we live out the truth of Colossians 3:15, to “let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.” Amen.
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