Luke tells us in Luke 2: 8-14:
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. 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. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
I love this story because it has lots of things I’m interested in. It has unusual characters, glory, fear and joy.
Unusual Characters.
I do not know why God chose to announce the coming of Christ first to some shepherds. But, it’s interesting.
These guys were camped out with their flock of sheep in the fields, bedded down with the sheep. Shepherds were not that well thought of. They were transient, moving from field to field. They were not bathed or well-groomed a lot of the time. Even though they took care of animals that would be sacrificed at the temple, the priests and Pharisees would not associate with them. Yet, angels appeared and told them the Messiah had been born.
It is an interesting parallel: those who took care of sacrificial lambs were the first told of the birth of the lamb without blemish that would be the perfect and complete sacrifice for sin.
Glory
When the angel of the Lord appeared, the glory of the Lord shone all around them. Angels are the messengers of God. This angel came from the presence of God to deliver God’s message of salvation, and he brought, or reflected, God’s glory with him.
We give glory to God in the sense that we extol his great attributes. But, God possesses glory in himself. We do not add to that.
His glory is an expression of his holiness, his worth, and his perfection. It is expressed in the Bible as overpowering light. 1 Timothy 6:16 says he dwells or lives in unapproachable light and no one can see him. Angels often reflected his glory when they appeared, showing that they had come from God to deliver his message.
Fear
The response to God’s glory if usually fear. Men and women fall to the ground. We are told to fear the Lord. Those who encounter his glory do fear him. Here are many examples in the Bible.
For example, in Isaiah 6, the pre-incarnate Christ appeared to Isaiah in the temple. The seraphims were calling out “the whole world is full of his glory”. And Isaiah cried out “woe to me. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty”. Isaiah’s encounter with God’s glory revealed his sin and sent him into despair and fear.
When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John, his clothes shone with radiant, intensely white light and they were terrified. (Mark 9:2-8)
Sinful men and women cannot bear the glory of the holy God.
Joy
The good news is, fear is turned to joy by Jesus. The angel told them not to fear, for he was bringing them good news of great joy. That joy came from the news that the Messiah had come. The one that had been expected since the Fall had finally come!
Jesus would be the bearer of God’s wrath, the perfect sacrifice for sin, and the mode of reconciliation of sinful children to their heavenly father.
Salvation brings joy. The end of the story shows the shepherds praising God and giving him glory as they walked down the road. There was joy because there was salvation.
We sing a lot about joy at Christmas. I want us to experience it. Meditate on this passage.
Lots of people think God is permanently mad at them or out to get them. Notice the last statement in this passage. God is please with those who have put their faith in Jesus. He is pleased with us.
That should bring us joy.
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