The Nativity of Our Lord at Midnight

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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, Good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Dear friends in Christ, these words of the angel chorus are quite familiar to us—not only because we know and love St. Luke’s beloved Christmas account, but also because we sing these very words in the Divine Service, as we just did a few minutes ago. To be sure, the hymnal uses a slightly different translation of the text, but it is the same words of the angels from that first Christmas night:

Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, goodwill toward men (LSB 187).

It is right and fitting that we place these words upon our lips when we gather for the Divine Service because in the angels’ song, the very heart and center of Christmas is revealed. For the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is the glory of God which bring peace and good will to men.

The first thing to note about the angels’ words is a functional matter. What are the angels’ words doing? Are they giving to God a glory which He did not possess prior to this exact moment, as when a parent praises a child for their accomplishment? Certainly not. For the glory of God is not dependent upon another. God is inherently glorious. And so, the praise of the angels, and indeed the praise and glory which we give to Him, is a praise and glory which joins in that which already exists. In other words, God is glorious; and when we sing, “Glory be to God on high”, we are merely reflecting and participating in the glory which is His from eternity.

And so, the angels sing of God’s glory on that first Christmas night in order to highlight for the shepherds and for us God’s glory that exists in the newborn Jesus. In fact, the angels always appear in the Gospel narratives at the key moments in the life of Christ in which God’s glory is most on display—at His conception and birth, when He overcame the temptations of Satan in the wilderness, in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His suffering and death, at the empty tomb, and at the ascension. And so, the angels’ appearance and song on this first Christmas night show us that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the heights of revelation of God’s glory.

Now, we know the story of Scripture well enough that this doesn’t surprise us. But, when we stop and pause, it probably should surprise us. The all-powerful God has become weak, helpless, and poor. He has left the throne of heaven and taken upon Himself frail human flesh. How is this the glory of God?

If we look to the Old Testament, we see that the chief salvation event of the Exodus is in complete contrast to our Lord’s lowly birth. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt, suffering at the hands of Pharaoh. But the Lord looked down from heaven, saw the need of His people, and came to help them with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Once, twice, and even ten times He inflicted plagues upon the land of Egypt which put to shame the wise men and the gods of the Egyptians. And the Lord led His people out from the land of their captivity by His glorious presence—in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. And He brought them to the edge of the Red Sea, where His victory over Pharaoh would be secured. The Lord split the great sea in two so that His people walked through on dry land. But when Pharaoh and His army tried to do the same, they were drowned. But that was not the end. Then the Lord miraculously provided food and water for the Israelites in the desert. And He manifested His glorious presence to them upon Mount Sinai by the glory cloud which shook the earth and from which His voice audibly spoke to the whole nation. When we think of God’s glory and offering salvation to His people, this is what the Old Testament would have us think of.

But when it came time for our Lord’s final act of salvation for humanity, He would do things very differently. This time, it was not His mighty hand which caused His people to move, it was the decree of an earthly king which required Joseph and Mary to journey to Bethlehem. They were to be taxed—to submit to Caesar. And there, away from home and at the whim of a foreign ruler, Mary gave birth to the Incarnate Son of God—the one who was to lead His people in their new and final Exodus from the slavery of sin into the eternal Promised Land. And the Lord of creation was not laid down to sleep in the finest of cribs in the king’s palace in Jerusalem just a few miles away. His bed was a feeding trough, and His company was a few neighboring shepherds and some animals. This is not how we would expect the God of creation to manifest Himself to the world as He prepares save His people. And yet, this is exactly how He has chosen to do it.

The fact that our Lord came to work salvation for us in such humble means tells us something significant about our God. Of course, He is fully capable of great displays of power and might. But these great displays of power and might are not how He chiefly desires us to know Him. He chiefly desires that we would know Him as our brother who suffered in our place. He desires that we would above all see and know His great love for us, not His power over us.

So it is that the angels declare: “peace on earth” and “good will toward men.” Again, as we said before, these are not words which create reality, they are words which reflect and communicate the reality that is happening in the person of our infant Lord. The fact that our Lord has become flesh reveals to us the good will of God toward all men. As the famous verse says:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

If God had not loved the world, He would not have sent His only begotten Son to be born in human flesh. But, indeed, God does love the world. We know that He loves the world because He sent His only begotten Son.

Therefore, it is His great love and good will toward men which motivated Almighty God to send His Son to bring peace on earth. For He is “the Prince of Peace” and “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end” (Isaiah 9:6b-7a).

In the end, true peace cannot really be achieved by strength of arms. Salvation was certainly granted for Israel by the almighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord in the Exodus. The wicked Egyptians who had rejected the Lord in favor of false gods and who had oppressed God’s people were destroyed. But Israel still did not have true peace. For the wickedness of sin still existed within themselves. And so, they rebelled against God in the wilderness, building a golden calf, complaining about the food He gave them, and cowering from the Lord’s command to enter into the Promised Land. For true peace to exist by strength of arms, the Lord would have needed to destroy Israel too.

Indeed, if true peace were to exist on earth by strength of arms, the Lord must destroy you and me, for our hearts are filled with evil and sin. We are no better than the Israelites. But because of His great love for the Israelites, the Lord would not destroy them. And because of His great love for you, He will not destroy you. Rather, God has taken human flesh upon Himself. He has entered into the midst of humanity’s wickedness and sin, He has taken it all upon Himself, and He has allowed Himself to be destroyed, thereby making a way for your sin and mine to be purged so that we are not destroyed eternally. True peace cannot be achieved by strength of arms. Thus, Almighty God laid aside His strength and power and took up the form of a helpless child. For herein lies our only hope of salvation.

And so, it is good and right that we sing:

Glory be to God on high: and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord. Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen (LSB 187-189).

Indeed, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh is the glory of God and it is the salvation of humanity because the Christ Child alone brings true peace and demonstrates God’s good will toward men.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.