Luke 2:8 ¶ And there were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and
they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel
said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. 11 For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign
unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger. 13 And suddenly there was with
the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men. 15 And it
came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds
said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and
Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying
which was told them concerning this child. 18
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were
told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary
kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told
unto them.
Some writers, quoting
sources like the Greek philosopher Aristotle from hundreds of years before and
the Jewish Babylonian Talmud much later, insist that shepherds held a very low
social status in the Palestine of the first century. Perhaps, as common
laborers they did but let us remember that the Jews would remember King David
was a shepherd boy who likened God to a shepherd in my late father’s favorite
Bible passage, Psalm, chapter 23. Keep in mind that the people in verse 18 wondered
at the message the shepherds delivered and the text does not say they were
shocked that the “lowly” shepherds were involved.
If you take this account
at face value as I do you will notice that the appearance or angel of the Lord,
who is also Christ, shows Himself as He is also lying in a feeding trough as a
baby. An angel is a presence, an appearance of someone who is someplace else
physically.
Isaiah 63:9 In all their
affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his
love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all
the days of old.
Judges 2:1 ¶ And an angel
of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of
Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and
I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
Acts 27:23 For there stood
by me this night the angel of God,
whose I am, and whom I serve,
And this verse,
understanding that even typically
connects two things that are the same or similar. First, for the definition of even.
Genesis 6:17a And, behold, I, even I, do bring a
flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life...
And now this verse
for my point…
Galatians 4:14 And my
temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me
as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
Notice how Christ,
talking about Himself can show that He could be in two places at one time.
John 3:13 And no man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
And even those who
trust Him.
Ephesians 2:6 And hath
raised us up together, and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
This, of course, if the
angel of the Lord here is not Gabriel who has previously been given the task of
being the spiritual world’s version of John the Baptist, heralding the first
arrival of Christ.
Christ is the long-awaited
Messiah of the Jews, Saviour of mankind.
John 4:25 The woman saith
unto him, I know that Messias
cometh, which is called Christ:
when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Notice in verses 13
and 14 the angels are not singing as in Christian mythology. They are saying
and what they are saying is not conditional as in peace to men of good will.
They are saying good will toward men.
This is not conditional. This is God’s peace being presented. See in the
following the peace between Jew and Gentile and between both as the Church and
God.
Ephesians 2:11 ¶ Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is
called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were
far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ.
14 ¶ For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained
in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were
afar
off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; 20 And are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit.
Mankind is at war
with God. He ignores or fights against God’s standard of righteousness in the
moral aspects of the Law given to Moses and the admonitions of Christ, Paul,
Peter, John, and James. Mankind is malicious, murderous, evil, and vile in his
affections and his plans. He is constantly trying to change God’s plans. He
tries to cheat death desiring to live as long as the men and women before the Flood
of Noah in this sinful flesh, change and destroy the natural world trying to
place his own twisted sense of order on it, and in some cases even deny that
the physical condition of gender and age have any bearing on him or her. Mankind
is constantly trying to control that which he can have no control over and
claim to know that which his finite man cannot know.
But, God made peace
with us. He did all the work and all we have to do is to receive His mercy, the
mercy of a God dealing with a rebellious mob. There is no chance of defeating
Him and we would not be able to exist for another moment where we able to do
that as He is the author of every heartbeat, every cell function, and every
breath. We are fools to fight our Creator.
So, He entered our
space in physical flesh like ours and suffered the consequences of our
rebellion, death and agony, and then rose again for our justification before
Himself having preached to the spirits in Hell and taken Paradise to Heaven. As
in a medieval conflict, the herald rides up and offers us peace, a peace we
only need to receive, the parts of all parties having been satisfied by God.
This is the only offer you’ll get, the only chance for your king’s mercy.
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