December 21, 2014 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST MINISTRY INVOCATION O God: We give thanks to You for the manifold blessings to us. You did not have to bless us but You did. We shall remain eternally grateful. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND Sometimes an event causes spontaneous celebration. Angels announced the birth of the Savior and a multitude of heavenly host praised God. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Background Scripture Luke 2: 1-20 Key Verse Luke 2:20 Lesson Scripture 2:8-20 (NKJV) The Angels Announce Jesus to the Shepherds 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men! The Shepherds Visit Jesus 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 1
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. COMMENTARY Verse. 8. Keeping watch over their flock by night, The expression seems to indicate, that they were stationed at various posts, and perhaps relieved one another. The Jews were not accustomed to drive their cattle to pasture after the first half of November, and that we have, in this verse, indirect evidence of the worthlessness of the tradition which has assigned the 25th of December as the day of our Lord s birth. It is well known that this date was chosen without finding any other support in the gospel. On the other hand, however, we might contend that, from Luke 2:8 alone, it cannot be deemed impossible that the birth of our Lord should have occurred in winter. This winter may have been less severe than usual. In the end of December, after the rainy season, the flowers bloom and the shepherds lead out their flocks again. Besides, these shepherds may have formed an exception to the general rule, whether from poverty, or as being servants. It is also worthy of note, that the ancient Church, to whom the peculiarities of the climate of Palestine were certainly known, was never hindered in its practice of celebrating the Nativity on the 25th of December by the consideration of Luke 2:8. The fact mentioned by Luke, that the shepherds pastured their flock in the field of Bethlehem, is of itself not inconsistent with the traditional date of our Savior s birth. But while the statement of Luke cannot disprove the tradition of the Nativity, it can as little prove it. The celebration of Christmas was not introduced in the church until after the middle of the fourth century. It originated in Rome, and was probably a Christian transformation or regeneration of a series of kindred heathen festivals. In the primitive Church there was no agreement as to the time of Christ s birth. The precise date of the Nativity can certainly be no matter of vital importance, else it would have been revealed to us. It is enough for us to know that the Savior was born in the fulness of time, just when He was most needed, and when the Jewish and Gentile world was fully prepared for this central fact and turning point in history. Verse. 9. And, lo, an angel. The whole narrative is evidently designed to impress us with the sudden and unexpected manner of the angelic apparition; while, at the same time, it is not denied that the susceptibility of the shepherds for the reception of the heavenly message may have been enhanced by their waiting for the redemption of Israel, their mutual discourse, and their sojourn, in 2
the quiet solemn night, beneath the starry heavens. Meanwhile, the first preacher of the gospel stands suddenly before them. The glory of the Lord which shone round them And it was the sight of this that filled them with fear. Verse. 9. And they were sore afraid or feared greatly The fear which we so often find mentioned in the sacred narrative, when man comes into immediate contact with the supernatural and the holy is not to be wholly attributed to the fact, that such contact was unexpected, and still less to a conviction of moral impurity before God, only. In any case, this superstitious fear is surely better before God, than the incredulous skepticism of modern days concerning any angelic visitations. Verse. 10. To all the people. Namely to Israel, to whom they belonged, as is expressed with the same particularity, Luke 1:33; Matt. 1:21. The announcement of this truth to the shepherds, indirectly intimates, that other pious Israelites were soon to hear from them of the birth of their King. Verse. 11. Christ, the Lord. Not the Christ of the Lord, as He is called ch. 2:26, but the Messiah, who equally with the Jehovah of the Old Testament, bears the name. The intimation that He was born in the city of David would recall Micah 5, which, according to Matt. 2:5, was in those days universally understood to refer to Messiah. Verse. 12. And this shall be the sign to you. It happens here, as in the annunciation of the birth to Mary (ch. 1:36). A sign was vouchsafed, where none was asked, God seeing that it was indispensably necessary, on account of the extraordinary nature of the circumstance; while Zachariah, who requested a sign, was visited with loss of speech. The sign now granted, is as wonderful as the occurrence just announced, yet one suited to the capacity of the shepherds, and at the same time infallible. The fear, as to whether they may approach the newborn King, and offer Him their homage, is dispelled by the intimation of His lowly condition, while their carnal views of the nature of His Kingdom are thereby counteracted. Unless we suppose that the shepherds forthwith made inquiry in all the possible of Galilee, whether a child had lately been born therein, we must conclude that their own well-known, and perhaps not far distant location, was the one pointed out. Verse. 13. A multitude of the heavenly host, A usual appellation of the angels, who are represented as the body-guard of the Lord. To include among the multitude spoken of, the spirits of the Old Testament saints, as well as angels, is a conjecture unsupported by the text. Verse. 14. Glory to God in the highest. The song of the angels may be divided into three parts, the last of which contains the fundamental idea, which evokes the praise of the two preceding. God s goodwill toward men: this is the matter, the text, the motive of their song. It is far more suitable to consider the 3
divine, so gloriously manifested in sending His Son, as the theme of the song. It is because of this goodwill that he receives praise and honor. The goodwill of God towards man is the subject of His glorification, both in heaven and earth. The usual explanation of peace as the cessation of a state of enmity through the birth of Messiah, the Prince of Peace, must in this case be given up. Goodwill. The word expresses not only that God shows unmerited favor to men, but that they are also objects of complacency to Him. The solution of the mystery, how a holy God can feel complacency towards sinful man, lies in the fact, that He does not look at him as he is in himself, but as he is in Christ, who is the Head of a renewed and glorified humanity. In other words, God is praised in heaven, and peace is proclaimed on earth, because He has shown His goodwill to men by sending the Messiah, who is the Prince of peace (Isa. 9:5) and has reconciled heaven and earth, God and man. This will undoubtedly remain the meaning of the Gloria in excelsis. The sense is: Glory be to God among the angels in heaven for sending the Messiah, and peace or salvation on earth among men of His good pleasure among God s chosen people in whom He is well pleased. Sacred poetry was born with Christianity, and the poetry of the Church is the echo and response to the poetry and music of angels in heaven. The worship of the Church triumphant in heaven, like this song of the angels, will consist only of praise and thanksgiving, without any petitions and supplications, since all wants will then be supplied and all sin and misery swallowed up in perfect holiness and blessedness. Verse. 15. Let us now go. Not the language of doubt, which can scarcely believe, but of obedience desiring to receive, as soon as possible, assurance and strength, in the way of God s appointing. Verse. 16. And found Mary and Joseph, and the babe. Here, as usual in the history of the Nativity, the name of Mary comes before that of her husband. Natural as it was that they should not find the child without His parents, yet this meeting was specially adapted to give most light to the shepherds concerning the mysterious occurrence. The Evangelist leaves it to our imagination to conceive the joy with which this sight would fill the hearts of the simple shepherds, and what strength the faith of Mary and Joseph must have drawn from their unexpected and wonderful visit. Verse. 17. They made known abroad the saying that was told them, Probably by daybreak there might have been many persons in the neighborhood. Though the influence of the shepherds was too little for their words to find much echo beyond their immediate circle; yet they were the first evangelists among men. 4
Verse. 18. And all that heard it wondered. It is a matter of rejoicing, that the good news left no one who heard it entirely unmoved. The contrast, however, between these first hearers (ver. 18) and Mary (ver. 19), forces upon us the conclusion, that their wonder was less deep and less salutary than her silent pondering. Verse. 19. But Mary. Mary appears here richly adorned with that incorruptible ornament which an apostle describes as the highest adorning of woman. Heart, mind, and memory are here all combined in the service of faith. Verse. 20. And the shepherds returned. A beautiful example of their pious fidelity in their vocation. Their extraordinary experience does not withdraw them from their daily and ordinary duties, but enables them to perform them with increased gladness of heart. They probably fell asleep, before the beginning of our Lord s public ministry, with the recollection of this night in their hearts, and a frame of mind like that of the aged Simeon. Their names, unknown on earth, are written in heaven, and their experience is the best example of the first beatitude. Matt. 5:3. Undoubtedly, their early and simple testimony to the newborn Savior was not entirely without fruit; though they might soon have been convinced that such a message, brought to them from heaven, was not calculated for the ears of every one, nor intended to be proclaimed upon the house-tops. RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS CLOSING PRAYER My God: I am grateful to have found You and kept You in the forefront of my being. Bless us continually with Your grace and mercy. They represent bountiful blessings for all of us. Amen. 5