Glory to God in the Highest
On the first Christmas, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). I wonder what could have gone on in the minds of those shepherds tending their flocks that night after encountering the angel of the Lord. Fear, wonder, awe, and excitement are a few words that come to mind. Most of all, I think there would have been the joy of receiving Good News to hear the words “today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
The shepherds heard that the long awaited Messiah of their people had been born, and they were witnesses to his birth.
Now the Messiah did offer more than what could have ever been expected. Certainly, many people of that day would have yearned to be a nation free of tyranny. The shepherds would have understand the children of Israel were living subjugated by pagan foreigners. Since the time Jerusalem fell in 587 BC, the Jewish people had, for the most part, been subjugated under the rule of pagan nations. Babylon, Medo-Persia, and then Greece all ruled over the land of Israel. Things might have looked good after the success of the Maccabean revolt, when they had gain a temporary independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the middle of the second century BC, but that freedom never lasted, and Jerusalem was under Roman rule by 68 BC.
But Christ would invite people into a kingdom that was not of this world. He would bring the Jews into their ultimate promise land. Moreover, this new kingdom would not just be for the Jews, but it would be for all people. A righteous and devout man named Simeon, who yearned for the consolation of Israel, was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before seeing the Christ. When Mary and Joseph brought the child to Jerusalem, and Simeon saw the child, he declared, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
Christ came to redeem us from sin, and it is through Him we can have peace on earth. He saves the lost, transforms their lives, and His people become the salt and light of the earth.
Merry Christmas
The shepherds heard that the long awaited Messiah of their people had been born, and they were witnesses to his birth.
Now the Messiah did offer more than what could have ever been expected. Certainly, many people of that day would have yearned to be a nation free of tyranny. The shepherds would have understand the children of Israel were living subjugated by pagan foreigners. Since the time Jerusalem fell in 587 BC, the Jewish people had, for the most part, been subjugated under the rule of pagan nations. Babylon, Medo-Persia, and then Greece all ruled over the land of Israel. Things might have looked good after the success of the Maccabean revolt, when they had gain a temporary independence from Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the middle of the second century BC, but that freedom never lasted, and Jerusalem was under Roman rule by 68 BC.
But Christ would invite people into a kingdom that was not of this world. He would bring the Jews into their ultimate promise land. Moreover, this new kingdom would not just be for the Jews, but it would be for all people. A righteous and devout man named Simeon, who yearned for the consolation of Israel, was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before seeing the Christ. When Mary and Joseph brought the child to Jerusalem, and Simeon saw the child, he declared, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
Christ came to redeem us from sin, and it is through Him we can have peace on earth. He saves the lost, transforms their lives, and His people become the salt and light of the earth.
Merry Christmas
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