The Humble People

The Humble People

Luke 2:8-20

Main Idea: Christmas is good news of great joy and an invitation to worship.

I. The Content of Christmas (2:8-12)

As the shepherds are keeping their flock by night, suddenly an angel of the Lord appears and the “glory of the Lord shone around them.” This ‘glory’ (God’s radiant beauty and perfection) produces a great (mega) fear within them, as they feel the weight of God’s holiness. At the bottom of all of our fears is the reality of our sin and guilt.

In the midst of their fear, the angel assures them: “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news (‘gospel’) of great (‘mega’) joy.” Each word in this ‘gospel’ tells us about the meaning of Christmas:

  • Unto you (and for all the people) 

  • Is born this day in the city of David (the promise of a royal son from the Davidic line)

  • A Savior

  • Christ (‘Messiah;’ the long-promised anointed one of  God)

  • The Lord (God himself; cf. Isa. 9:6-7)

“The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary… the Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard or will hear.”
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God

II. The Chorus of Christmas (2:13-14)

Suddenly a multitude of the ‘heavenly host’ appears with the angel. This language indicates the angelic army (cf. Josh 5:13-15). They are proclaiming a battle-cry:

  • Glory to God in the highest: of all the things this heavenly host had seen God do before, this moment of the incarnation of Christ spurs this response

  • Peace on earth: the coming of Christ brings peace and joy to those who have been stuck in the bondage of sin and fear, knowing that Jesus has come to accomplish peace through the hostility of the cross. 

III. The Call of Christmas (2:15-20)

Christmas is an invitation to go and investigate further the claim of a Savior who has been born unto us. “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” ~ C.S. Lewis

We see three exemplary responses in this passage:

  1. Wonder & Amazement (2:18)

  2. Treasuring & Pondering (2:19)

    “The more we look at [the incarnation], the more we are astonished; the more we become accustomed to it, the more have we a sense of its surpassing splendor of love and grace. There is more of God’s glory and majesty to be seen in the manger and the cross, than in the sparkling stars above, the rolling deep below, the towering mountain, the teeming valleys, the abodes of life, or the abyss of death. Let us then give ourselves up to holy wonder, such as will produce gratitude, worship, love, and confidence, as we think of that great “mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh.”
    ~ Charles Spurgeon

  3. Glorifying & Praising (2:20)

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