The song of the angels: Glory to God in the highest
[Luke 2:8-20]
Our church motto for the year 2012 was “Praise the Lord O my soul!” And the motte Bible verse was Psalms 150:6 – “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” After we have received the word of God under the sermon titled “Praise the Lord O my soul,” focusing on Psalms 150:6 on Sunday, January 1, 2012, we have meditated on the songs in the Bible through the that year. We have started with the songs of Moses, the songs of Balaam, the song of Deborah and Barak, the song of David, the song of women, the songs of Habakkuk, the song of Moses song, the song of the Lamb, and the songs of going up to the temples from Psalms 120 and on. As we were doing so, on Christmas Sunday, we meditated on the song of the angels in Luke 2:14, which tells the story of Jesus' birth. This meditation has taught us the song of the angels in honor of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Sunday 2012 and I hope and pray that we continue to honor Him through praise and worship on coming Christmas day as well future Christmas days until the Lord's second coming. I thought three things about this song of the angels:
The first thing I thought about was the good news of great joy that some shepherds heard.
Look at Luke 2:10 – “But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.” Do you know what the good news of great joy these shepherds have heard? The message is written in verse 11: “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” In other words, the good news of great joy that the shepherds heard from the angels was the birth of baby Jesus. Why is the birth of baby Jesus the good news of great joy? The reason is because the baby Jesus is our Savior and Christ the Lord (v. 11). If we look at Matthew 1:21, which tells the story of the birth of baby Jesus as well, we see an angel of the Lord telling Joseph: “"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." What we can see here is that Jesus is the One who will save His people from their sins. The reason why new news of the birth of the baby Jesus that the shepherds heard from the angels was the good news of great joy was because Jesus is the Savior who came save them from their sins. Also, the birth of the baby Jesus is the news of great joy for them because Jesus is the Christ Lord they had been waiting for. In Matthew chapter 2 we can see that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem (v. 1) and referred baby Jesus as “King of the Jews” (v. 2). Also, we see King gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people and inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born (v. 4). They said to him “In Bethlehem of Judea” and quoted Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” In other words, the birth of the baby Jesus was the news of great joy for the shepherds because the Lord Jesus Christ is the true King and their Shepherd. Isn't it interesting that the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced the good news of the great joy of the birth of the baby Jesus, the Savior and the Lord Christ, who not only saved them from their sins, but made them people of God to rule over them and to lead them to Heaven? For shepherd, hearing the news of the birth of the true Shepherd Jesus through the angels was the good news of great joy for them.
The Lord is telling this good news of great joy to us as well. Especially to us who celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus today, H is again telling us this good news of great joy: “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11). We must hear this good news of great joy. We must open our hearts and ears to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is our Savior who came to earth to save us from our sins. He is also our Christ Lord. He reconciled us to God and made us His children and His people. He is our King who rules over us. I hope and pray that we all hear the good news of great joy of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and celebrate His birth.
The second thing I thought about was the praise that the many angels sang to God.
Look at Luke 2:13-14: “And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Can you imagine the multitude of angels praising God together? In verse 13, the Bible says, “the angel a multitude of the heavenly host.” Here, “the heavenly host” refers to the collective appearance of angels. This word "the heavenly host" appears in verse 15 and it is translated as “the angels” (Park). The Bible describes that “a multitude” of these angels appeared suddenly and we don’t know how many. Especially, when we look at Revelation 5:11, what Apostle John saw and heard in vision seems to be unimaginable number of angels with our limited mind: “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.” These unaccountable numbers of the angels gathered together and praised God in Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” What is the core of this song? We can think of two things: (1) Unaccountable numbers of the angels praised God for the Savior Jesus Christ being obedient to His Father till He died on the cross in order to complete His redemptive work and thus glorying God, (2) They praised God for the peace that would be given to those who are pleased with God as a result of the redemptive work of the Savior Jesus Christ. After all, the multitude of the angels praised God for the work of redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is the glory of God and the peace of God.
Isn’t this the praise we will sing before the throne of God when we are ascended to Heaven? What song is “the song of Moses, the song of the Lamb” in Revelation 15:3? It is the song of victory in which God fought against death and Satan through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the song of salvation in which God saved us from eternal death. On the day of His Second Coming, all of God's chosen people will be transformed into a glorious body like an angel and come to God's throne and praise the song of Moses, the song of the Lamb, the song of victory, and the song of salvation. I hope and pray that with this hope in Christ, we all can praise God as much as we can as long as we live in this world and until our last breath.
The third and last thing that I thought about was the shepherd's response.
In other words, what did the shepherds do after hearing the good news of great joy and the praise of the angels. I thought about it in three ways:
(1) The shepherds wanted to confirm the birth of the baby Jesus, whom the Lord revealed to them.
Look at Luke 2:15-16: “When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.” After the multitude of the angels had gone into heaven, the shepherds decide to go to Bethlehem to confirm the birth of baby Jesus, the good news of great joy that Lord told them. Then they went in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as He lay in the manger. If we were these shepherds, would we have gone quickly by believing the angel's words and make a decision together to go and confirm the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ? Or we would not seek the baby Jesus because we don’t believe the good news of great joy that the angel told us? This age we live in is no longer a Christmas celebration of baby Jesus. All the world celebrates just a happy holiday with no baby Jesus. The world does not seek Jesus. The people of this world have no interest in Jesus. That’s why they don’t go quickly to find Jesus. Rather they go quickly to the world. But the shepherds in Luke chapter 2 heard the good news of great joy and quickly went to Bethlehem in search of Jesus. If any of you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, I hope and pray that you will hear the good news of great joy through today's message. The Savior Jesus Christ was crucified in order to forgive all your sins. And He rose from the dead in three days to justify you. Anyone who believes in Jesus will be saved and have eternal life. I hope and pray that you believe in Jesus.
(2) The shepherds told others what the angel told them about the baby Jesus.
Look at Luke 2:17 – “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.” The shepherds quickly went to Bethlehem, searched for the baby Jesus, saw him, and spread the word concerning what the angels told them about baby Jesus. What did they tell others? It is “the good news of great joy” that is the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. After hearing this good news of great joy through the angels, the shepherds quickly went to Bethlehem to confirm the birth of baby Jesus and then shared with others the news of the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. As I meditated on the response of these shepherds, I remembered the woman at the well in John chapter 4. The reason is because the Samaritan woman, like the shepherds, told others about Jesus. After meeting Jesus, the Messiah, she left the waterpot and went into the city and said to the men, “this is not the Christ, is it? (Jn. 4:28-29) As a result, they went out of the city and came to Jesus (v. 30). And from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him (v. 39). In Acts 4:19-20, we can see that Apostles Peter and John say before the officials, elders, and scribes: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Isn’t this, “we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heart”, the confession of the shepherds in Luke 2? The shepherds also had to tell about Jesus after seeing and hearing the birth of the Savior Jesus, the good news of the great joy, through the angels. We too should preach the good news of Savior Jesus Christ to this world. May we be able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(3) The shepherds glorified and praised God for all that they heard and saw, as the angels had told them.
Look at Luke 2:20 – “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” When the shepherds heard the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, the good news of great joy, as the angel of the Lord told them, they went and saw the baby Jesus, and then they glorified and praised God. As numerous angels praised God (v. 13), the shepherds also praised and glorified God. I hope and pray that on this Christmas Sunday, we who celebrate the birth of baby Jesus can glorify and praise God like the shepherd and numerous angels.
I have a song of praise that I remembered as I meditated on the song of the angels in Luke 2:14. The title of the song is “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” by Georg Friedrich Handel who is called ‘a Mother of Music.’ When we translated the Latin part of the lyrics of the song into English, then it is the same as the part of the song of the angels in Like 2:14 – “Glory to God in the Highest.” This is how the lyrics goes:
“Angels we have heard on high Sweetly singing o'er the plains And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains Angels we have heard on high Sweetly, sweetly through the night
And the mountains in reply Echoing their brief delight Gloria, in excelsis Deo Gloria,
in excelsis Deo Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be Which inspire your heavenly song? Gloria, in excelsis Deo
Gloria, in excelsis Deo”
Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing, Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria, in excelsis Deo Gloria, in excelsis Deo
Yeah Gloria, in excelsis Deo Angels we have heard Angels we have heard on high
Angels we have heard, oh Angels we have heard on high Angels we have heard on high
Angels we have heard on high In excelsis Deo. Amen.”
Hoping to sing the song of victory, the song of salvation before the throne of God with numerous angels and all the brethren in the Lord,
Pastor James Kim