Third Song of Christmas - Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
Luke 2:8-15
I know that some of you reading this may have never been camping in your life. However, I am going to ask you to use your imagination - maybe from movies or TV shows you’ve seen. For those who have been camping, you can easily relate to this scene. Imagine you are camping in a beautiful meadow on a cloudless night. The stars seem so close you can almost touch them. You are sitting around the campfire eating “smores” and enjoying the cool night air. Then, suddenly, an actual angel of God appears right before you. What is your reaction? Is it fear? Is it unbelief? Is it awe? That scene is exactly what happened to the shepherds in Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth.
Let’s read probably the most familiar of Luke’s four Christmas songs. It is so familiar to us because every year we watch Christmas plays about it and sing it aloud—Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Glory to God in the highest! Here is the way Luke told the story.
“In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger." Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!” (Luke 2:8-14 CSB)
What is the primary function of angels? Why did God create them? You would think that with over 300 references to angels in the Bible, we would know a lot about them. But we don’t! We do know, however, from biblical references that they have three primary functions. Angels were God’s messengers to humans. Before Jesus came, when God wanted to communicate with people, he often used angels. These creatures represented God himself. We also know that they exist to praise God. The book of Revelation reveals thousands of angels praising God in heaven. The third function that we know about them is that they protect. In Genesis alone, angels protected Hagar, Lot and his family, and young Isaac.
In this appearance before the shepherds, an angel acted as God’s messenger and brought good news for everyone—news directly from God himself! Then before departing other angels joined him, amassing a great choir and filled the night sky with praises to “God in the highest heaven.”
Luke tells us that after settling the shepherd’s nerves, the angel begins his announcement with, “I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” The good news (euaggelizó in Greek - from which we get the word evangelism) is for all people. Not just the wealthy, those with status, or those who had lived a righteous life. It was for all people! This is solidified by the fact that the angel appears to shepherds - men who were on the bottom rung of society in that day. Shepherds were considered “unclean” in Jewish culture because they did not wash according to Jewish law. This meant that were not permitted to enter the temple. Not only were shepherds engaged in a smelly, dirty, and nomadic profession, they were considered to be unreliable witnesses in matters of law. If you were a shepherd who witnessed a crime, you were unworthy to give testimony in a court of Jewish law.
This brings up the question, “What about King David? Wasn’t he a shepherd?” Yes, but he was a dedicated son who cared for his father’s flock. The shepherds in Luke’s account of Christ’s birth were most likely “hired shepherds.” They were the kind of shepherds that Jesus refers to in John 10:12 as a “hired hand.” It was to these “bottom-rung,” smelly, unreliable ruffians that the angel brought the amazing message of good news to all people. And what wonderful news it was! A child was born! But not just any child. The Christ child! The child that the angel used three revealing titles to describe.
Savior - In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth, we are told that an angel appeared to Joseph and said of Mary, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21 CSB). Every human being from the time Adam and Eve sinned has been “infected with a sin gene.” We need someone or something to save us from ourselves. Now, a Savior was here! The One who would save people from their sin.
Messiah—The Christ-child was also called the Messiah—God’s anointed one. The angel was proclaiming that this child was “The One!” The long-awaited one God had personally selected and anointed to save not only the people of Israel but also the entire world. Little did these shepherds know that this child, born in a manger, was even beyond being God’s Anointed; he was Immanuel—God with us.
Lord - The word used here is “kurios,” which means owner, master, or ruler. The angel’s announcement communicated that Jesus was the one who would “rule over the house of David forever” (Isaiah 9:7). Not in the way that almost everyone expected, however. His rule would not be political or geographical. He would rule over the hearts and minds of all humanity.
Then, a multitude of angels joined the single angel who brought the message to the shepherds and did what angels were created to do. They filled the night sky with praise to their and our Creator. Their voices rang out in unity the phrase we know so well—“Gloria in Excelsis Deo!” Glory to God in the highest!
This heavenly choir then added, “Peace on earth to people he favors!” Not peace for a country troubled by turmoil, unrest, and division—similar to ours. But peace deep inside the hearts and lives of people. Peace that stills the swirls of fear, doubt, and anxiety. Peace for anyone who leans into the presence of the Christ-child who became the man crucified for our sin. Peace as God looks on us with favor because of our faith.
Oh, to be there on that night! To have heard that angelic choir sing “Gloria in excelsis Deo!” To have heard the wonderful announcement of our Savior’s birth. But we were there! We are there! Luke’s story drops us in the middle of the shepherds watching their flocks. God’s love drops us in the middle of life, praising him in the highest. He lets us experience peace beyond understanding as we live today. For He is indeed Immanuel—God with us!