Luke 2:8-14
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): The term, “behold,” always marks the importance of that to which it is prefixed. But here the precise view in which the tidings claim our attention is distinctly specified: They are a matter of exceeding joy—and universal joy.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Christ was sent to manifest the Father, and with a message of grace to this sinful world.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): The nativity of our Saviour was published first by one angel, but it must be celebrated by a multitude of angels, who appear praising God.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The angels sang something which men could understand—something which men ought to understand—something which will make men much better if they will understand it. The angels were singing about Jesus who was born in the manger. We must look upon their song as being built upon this foundation. They sang of Christ and the salvation which He came into this world to work out. And what they said of this salvation was this—they said first, that it gave glory to God.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Now is come the highest degree of glory to God, by the appearing of His Son Jesus Christ in the world. He, by His life and death on the cross, will glorify God’s attributes—justice, holiness, mercy, and wisdom—as they never were glorified before. Creation glorified God, but not so much as redemption.
C. H. SPURGEON: If salvation glorifies God, glorifies Him in the highest degree and makes the highest creatures praise Him, this may be added—that doctrine which glorifies man in salvation cannot be the Gospel. For salvation glorifies God. The angels were no Arminians—they sang, “Glory to God in the highest.” They believe in no doctrine which uncrowns Christ and puts the crown upon the head of mortals. They believe in no system of faith which makes salvation dependent upon the creature and which really gives the creature the praise. For what is it less than for a man to save himself, if the whole dependence of salvation rests upon his own free will? No, my Brethren—the glad tidings that made the angels sing are those that put God first, God last, God in the midst, and God without end in the salvation of His creatures—it puts the crown wholly alone upon the head of Him that saves without a helper.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Let God have the honour of this work: “Glory to God in the highest—Whose kindness and love designed this favour, and Whose wisdom contrived it in such a way as that one divine attribute should not be glorified at the expense of another.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Yes! the whole glory is God’s; because it is all founded in God; carried on in God; completed in God; and man is but the receiver of the mercies. Oh! that this was well understood by men!
CHARLES SIMEON: Who is there that does not need the merit of His atonement and the efficacy of His grace? And who is there to whom they are not freely offered? There is not one on earth who can be saved without them; nor is there one, however abandoned, who may not, by a believing application to the Saviour, be interested in them. Well therefore may they be called good tidings “to all people;” since they are so to all of every age, and of every description: and well may the prophet call on the whole creation to shout for joy—“Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel,” Isaiah 44:23.
C. H. SPURGEON: Secondly, it gave peace to man.
J. C. RYLE: Now is come to earth the peace of God which passeth all understanding—the perfect peace between a holy God and sinful man, which Christ was to purchase with His own blood—the peace which is offered freely to all mankind—the peace which, once admitted into the heart, makes men live at peace one with another, and will one day overspread the whole world.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): It seems strange, doesn’t it?—to hear those words ringing down through the ages, when you think of the awful condition which prevails in the earth today. Look where you will, there is no peace. Look at the lands abroad; there is war. Look over our own land; there is strife between Capital and Labour, and between different groups. There is misery and wretchedness everywhere—unrest on every hand. Yet the angel said, “Peace, goodwill toward men.”
C. H. SPURGEON: I do not see God honoured. I see heathen bowing down before their idols. I mark the Romanist casting himself before his relics and the ugly figures of his images. I look about me and I see tyranny lording it over the bodies and souls of men. I see God forgotten. I see a worldly race pursuing mammon…I see ambition riding like Nimrod over the land, God forgotten, His name dishonoured. I hear the cannon’s horrid roar—not yet have they turned the sword into a plowshare and the spear into a pruning hook! War still reigns. Is this all that the angels sang about? And while I see wars to the ends of the earth, am I to believe that this was all the angels expected? Ah, no, Brethren. The angels’ song is big with prophecy—Christ the Lord will come again, and when He comes, He shall cast the idols from their thrones. He shall dash down every heresy and every shape of idolatry. He shall reign from pole to pole with illimitable sway. He shall reign, when like a scroll, yonder blue heavens have passed away.
CHARLES SIMEON: And “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): This was done to confirm our faith as truly as that of the shepherds. Among men, the testimony of “two or three witnesses,” is sufficient to remove all doubt. But here is a heavenly host, with one consent and one voice bearing testimony to the Son of God. What then would be our obstinacy, if we refused to join with the choir of angels, in singing the praises of our salvation, which is in Christ?
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): It was fitting that angel voices should attend such an event, whether men gave heed to them or not; because, recorded, their song has helped a world to understand the nature and meaning of that birth. The glory died off the hillside quickly, and the music of the song scarcely lingered longer in the ears of its first hearers; but its notes echo still in all lands, and every generation turns to them with wonder and hope.
C. H. SPURGEON: When the angels sang this there was an echo through the long aisles of a glorious future. That echo was—“Hallelujah! Christ the Lord God Omnipotent shall reign.” I will say no more, except to wish everyone of you, the happiest Christmas you ever had.
CHARLES SIMEON: Make it a season of holy joy; a very anticipation of heaven itself.
