Knowing The Word in Luke 2:8-14

The Shepherds and the Angels

2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Comments

These shepherds in the Bethlehem countryside were likely pasturing flocks destined for temple sacrifices. A rabbinic rule in the Mishnah and Talmud provided that any animal found between Jerusalem and a spot near Bethlehem must be presumed to be a sacrificial victim. Shepherds had a long history in Israel. Abraham had flocks as did his descendants. When Joseph, son of Jacob, brought his family down to Egypt, they were given property in Goshen because the Egyptians despised shepherds. King David was a shepherd. Shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth had a bad reputation. They kept moving their flocks around on lands that were not necessarily theirs. Because of the nature of their calling, they were not able to keep the ceremonial purity laws and were not allowed to give testimony in the law courts, according to the Talmud. God, however, gave them the privilege of being among the first to see the Christ. For this honor, they must have been devout men, yet they were from a despised class.

The splendor of God blazed about the shepherds, striking terror in them. This should remind us, as it would have them, about God’s glory leading the people out of Egypt into the land of promise. God’s manifested glory was always good news. It meant God was with his people. The same term used for the good news of the gospel is used here in the angelic announcement “for all the people,” who characteristically are the people of Israel, but we know that ultimately it is good news for every person in the world. The sign of the swaddling cloths is to help the shepherds find the baby and to attest to the truth of the angelic message. The title of “Savior” is only used here in the synoptic gospels and only once in John. The other title, “Christ the Lord,means Messiah and Lord, hinting at his identity as both God and man. The phrase makes Jesus the unmistaken, definitive Messiah for Israel. To drive the message home, the “heavenly host,” the army of God, join together in a chorus of worship.

Paradoxically the angel army is proclaiming peace rather than war. The peace between God and people will bring healing of the estrangement caused by human rebellion. Preceding peace, however, is the glory of God, which is the manifestation of his supreme moral character and goodness, the opposite of rebellious and self-centered human nature. The angels in unison say that God will bring peace for people on whom God’s favor rests. In the Greek, the emphasis is on God, not people. Peace will be on those whom God chooses, not those who choose God. God in his glory is proactive, not reactive. God sends his messengers to the shepherds. God sends the shepherds to their Savior. God does not put things in motion and sit idly by. He is proactive in all things because of his glory.

Application

God chooses us and draws us to his son just as he did with the shepherds. He picked the most unlikely to see their Savior before others, such as the more noble magi, did. In your life, where have you seen God act in unlikely ways to draw you and others into a deeper relationship with Jesus?

Prayer

Eternal Father, thank you for being in the rescue business. You reach out to us sinners to draw us to you through your Son, our Savior. As we celebrate the anniversary of his birth, grant us spiritual insight to see him more clearly, know him more dearly, and follow him more nearly day by day. In his name we pray.