Sermon Tone Analysis

*2:8–20** \\ The Real King’s Birth*

*2:8.*

Due to the proximity to Jerusalem, some scholars have suggested that the flocks here are the temple flocks raised for sacrifice.

This narrative would have challenged the values of many religious people, who despised shepherds; shepherds’ work kept them from participation in the religious activities of their communities.

Pasturing of flocks at night indicates that this was a warmer season, not winter (when they would graze more in the day); Roman Christians later adopted December 25 as Christmas only to supersede a pagan Roman festival scheduled at that time.

*2:9.*

Angelic appearances, the revelation of God’s glory and consequent fear among the humans present were common in the Old Testament when God was acting in history in special ways.

*2:10–12.*

For “Do not be afraid” see comment on 1:13, 30.

“Good news” could refer to the proclamation of God’s salvation (Is 52:7), but pagans applied it also to celebrations of the cult of the emperor among all people in the supposedly worldwide empire.

Particularly in celebration of his birthday (pagans publicly celebrated deities’ birthdays), the emperor was hailed “Savior” and “Lord.”

But Jesus’ birth in a lowly manger distinguishes the true king from the Roman emperor, whose loyalists in Luke’s day would have bristled at (and perhaps responded violently to) the implicit comparison.

“Signs” are common in prophetic literature (e.g., Is 7:14; Ezek 12:11) and function as much to provoke and explain truth as to prove it.

*2:13–14.*

This choir contrasts with the earthly choirs used in the worship of the emperor.

The current emperor, Augustus, was praised for having inaugurated a worldwide peace.

The inverted parallelism (God vs. people, and “in the highest” vs. “on earth”) suggests that “in the highest” means “among heaven’s angelic hosts.”

*2:15–18.*

The shepherds probably checked the animal stables till they found the one with the baby; Bethlehem was not a large town.

*2:19–20.*

Mary kept these matters in her mind as Jacob had Joseph’s revelations in Genesis 37:11 (for the idiom, cf., e.g., Ps 119:11; Prov 6:21; Wisdom of Solomon 8:17).

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*/His birth drew the angels from heaven (vv.

8–14)./*

How amazed the angels must have been when they saw the Creator born as a creature, the Word coming as a speechless baby.

The best commentary on this is 2 Corinthians 8:9, and the best response from our hearts is wonder and worship.

“Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim.

3:16).

The first announcement of the Messiah’s birth was given by an angel to some anonymous shepherds.

Why shepherds?

Why not to priests or scribes?

By visiting the shepherds, the angel revealed the grace of God toward mankind.

Shepherds were really outcasts in Israel.

Their work not only made them ceremonially unclean, but it kept them away from the temple for weeks at a time so that they could not be made clean.

God does not call the rich and mighty; He calls the poor and the lowly (Luke 1:51–53; 1 Cor.

1:26–29).

The Messiah came to be both the Good Shepherd (John 10) and the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the world (John 1:29).

Perhaps these shepherds were caring for the flocks that would provide sacrifices for the temple services.

It was fitting that the good news about God’s Shepherd and Lamb be given first to humble shepherds.

Shepherds are not easily fooled.

They are practical men of the world who have little to do with fantasy.

If they said that they saw angels and went and found the Messiah, then you could believe them.

God selected hardworking men to be the first witnesses that His Son had come into the world.

First, one angel appeared (Gabriel?)

and gave the glad announcement; and then a chorus of angels joined him and gave an anthem of praise.

For the first time in centuries, the glory of God returned to earth.

If brave shepherds were afraid at what they saw and heard, then you can be sure it was real!

“Fear not!” is one of the key themes of the Christmas story (Luke 1:13, 30, 74; and see Matt.

1:20).

Literally the angel said, “I announce to you good news, a great joy which shall be to all the people.”

He used the word which means “to preach the Good News,” a word Luke uses often in both his Gospel and in the Book of Acts.

We see here Luke’s emphasis on a worldwide Gospel: the Good News is for everybody, not just the Jews.

What was the Good News?

Not that God had sent a soldier or a judge or a reformer, but that He had sent a Saviour to meet man’s greatest need.

It was a message of peace to a world that had known much war.

The famous “Pax Romana” (Roman Peace) had been in effect since 27 b.c.

but the absence of war doesn’t guarantee the presence of peace.

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy.

He cannot give peace of heart for which man yearns more than even for outward peace.”

The Jewish word /shalom/ (peace) means much more than a truce in the battles of life.

It means well-being, health, prosperity, security, soundness, and completeness.

It has to do more with character than circumstances.

Life was difficult at that time just as it is today.

Taxes were high, unemployment was high, morals were slipping lower, and the military state was in control.

Roman law, Greek philosophy, and even Jewish religion could not meet the needs of men’s hearts.

Then, God sent His Son!

The angels praised God at Creation (Job 38:7), and now they praised Him at the beginning of the new creation.

The whole purpose of the plan of salvation is “glory to God” (see Eph. 1:6, 12, 14).

God’s glory had dwelt in the tabernacle (Ex.

40:34) and in the temple (2 Chron.

7:1–3), but had departed because of the nation’s sin (1 Sam.

4:21; Ezek.

8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22–23).

Now God’s glory was returning to earth in the person of His Son (John 1:14).

That lowly manger was a holy of holies because Jesus was there!

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*Judah*’*s shepherds are briefed* (2:8–21).

1.     /They watch/ (2:8) : They are in the fields guarding their sheep.

2.     /They wonder/ (2:9–14): The shepherds are confused and terrified when the horizon is suddenly filled with God’s glory!

a.

The reassurance by the angel of the Lord (2:9–10): “Don’t be afraid!

I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!”

b.

The revelation by the angel of the Lord (2:11–12)

(1)     In regard to God’s Son (2:11) : The Messiah has just been born in Bethlehem!

(2)     In regard to God’s sign (2:12) : They will find him wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.

c.

The rejoicing by the angels of the Lord (2:13–14): “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to all whom God favors!”

3.     /They worship /(2:15–16): The shepherds kneel before the babe in the manger.

4.     /They witness/ (2:17–21)

a.

The confirming (2:17–18, 20): When they leave, they tell everyone what has happened.

b.

The contemplating (2:19) : Mary treasures these things in her heart and thinks about them.

c.

The circumcising (2:21) : On the eighth day, the babe is circumcised and named Jesus, in accordance with what the angel said before the baby was even conceived.

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*2.9*     καί (1) {B}

On the one hand, the reading καὶ ἰδού is in harmony with the solemn style of Luke in chaps. 1 and 2 (where ἰδού occurs ten times).

On the other hand, however, it is difficult to imagine why, if ἰδού were present originally, copyists would have omitted it.

The Committee preferred the shorter reading, attested as it is by a variety of good authorities.

*2.11*     Χριστὸς κύριος {A}

The combination Χριστὸς κύριος, which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament,1 seems to have been quite deliberately used by Luke instead of the much more frequent Χριστὸς κυρίου.

It was to be expected that copyists, struck by the unusual collocation, should have introduced various modifications, none of which has significant external attestation.

*2.14*     ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας {A}

The difference between the AV, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men,” and the RSV,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”

is not merely a matter of exegesis of the meaning of the Greek, but is first of all one of text criticism.

Does the Angelic Hymn close with εὐδοκία or εὐδοκίας?

The genitive case, which is the more difficult reading, is supported by the oldest representatives of the Alexandrian and the Western groups of witnesses.

The rise of the nominative reading can be explained either as an amelioration of the sense or as a palaeographical oversight (at the end of a line εὐδοκίας would differ from εὐδοκία only by the presence of the smallest possible lunar sigma, little more than a point, for which it might have been taken — thus ευδοκιασ).

The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure.2

Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls it was sometimes argued that “men of [God’s] good pleasure” is an unusual, if not impossible, expression in Hebrew.