Luke 2:8–20

The story of the shepherds has become so well known through hymns and carols that we are perhaps in danger of missing its full meaning. Shepherds as a class were not held in much esteem in those days. These were the men who took night duty. They were unskilled compared with the men who cared for the sheep by day. To these extremely humble and unknown men the angels appeared. Heaven's secret about the arrival of the Saviour was disclosed to such nobodies as these!

Compare this chapter with Matthew 2. There the scene is set among the great ones in Jerusalem — Herod the king, his courtiers, chief priests and scribes. They know nothing of this marvellous event for months afterwards. God shows no partiality, but He does have regard for humility and integrity of heart before Himself. So He passed by the important people in Jerusalem and sent a delegation of angelic beings to wait on a small group of despised night watchmen, so that they might be let into the secret of heaven's ways. These shepherds were a few of the godly remnant waiting for the Messiah, as their later words and actions show us.

Some poor men were faithfully carrying out their hard labours, far from the restless activity of an ambitious and sinful world. They receive the first news of the Lord's presence on earth. The God of Israel did not look for the great among His people, but had regard for the poor of the flock.

The men of Beth-shemesh were busy, and worthily so, harvesting their grain when the ark appeared. In the same way, the shepherds of Bethlehem were faithfully guarding their flocks by night when the rejoicing angels told them of the birth of the infant Saviour. "The devil visits idle men with his temptations; God visits industrious men with His favours," as Matthew Henry put it. Gideon was busy threshing wheat when the angel of the Lord appeared to him.

From earliest times the calling of the shepherd had been linked with faith. The thought of sacrifice stands out here, along with the tender care that reminds us of the true Shepherd of His sheep. Abel, Jacob and David were all shepherds and men of faith. These nameless shepherds here clearly belong to the same company. It is to such men that heaven will make known its wonderful secret… And it is fitting that this truth should be announced in the shepherds' ears, for only by sacrifice could it be made good.

The angel does not choose distinguished rulers to hear his marvellous announcement. He chooses shepherds who kept watch over their flock in the night. This beautifully shows the grace of God. For He is the Shepherd of Israel who never slumbers nor sleeps, watching alone while the world is unaware.

Everything here is small, and the people are hidden, but God has come in. It is all behind the passing greatness of the world, which only carries it out. The empire displays its worldwide power, and this is what brings Jesus' birth to Bethlehem. Yet all the people involved are small and insignificant — Jesus, Mary, the shepherds. But nowhere in all the history of Israel do we find God so near as in this darkest time of the people. Blessed truth! Nowhere else does He share His grace so closely. It was hidden, yet deeper and truer, with more personal heart in it.

Has it struck the reader that the first thing said out of heaven to men after the birth of Christ was "Fear not"? Does it not suggest that His coming as a Baby was meant to remove all fear from our hearts? It was meant to remove all suspicion from us. It was meant to help us see that His attitude towards us, after our four thousand years of sin, was still friendly, loving, gracious. It is so hard for fallen man to believe anything but the lie that deceived him at the beginning. He cannot credit the living God he has sinned against with any kindly attitude towards him.

A sense of God's presence produces the true fear of God in the soul. At that very moment the gospel comes and takes the fear away. So at once the angel says, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy." Here is the gospel preached for the first time on the plains of Bethlehem.

The shepherds are filled with fear in the presence of the glory, but the angel says to them, "Fear not." A multitude of the heavenly host then appears in their sight, but they do not fear. Instead they go into the city with joy, repeat the news, and return with praise. It is very happy for us to know that the presence of the glory need not alarm us. Nature fears, but the voice that speaks from heaven makes the soul bold. So we learn that joy and praise, not fear, suit the presence of the glory.

Some poor men were doing their hard work faithfully, far from the restless activity of an ambitious and sinful world. They receive the first news of the Lord's presence on earth. The God of Israel did not look for the great among His people, but had regard for the poor of the flock.

The great joy of the message centred on this: He had come as Saviour. They had had the Lawgiver and the prophets, but now the Saviour had arrived, and He was so great a person as Christ the Lord. This good news was for "all the people" — not "all people." For the moment a wider circle than all Israel is not in view.

In the end Luke does proclaim the saving grace that goes out to all men. But he begins within the strict limits of Israel. He shows God faithful to His people, and willing to carry out all His promises if they would receive Jesus. But they would not. So God was morally right to turn from the Jews who despised Him to the Gentiles.

Are we not too much afraid of joy? There is much to sadden in life: our failures as believers, the state of the world, the confusion of the church, the small number of believers, the vast crowds who are indifferent. We should feel all this deeply. Still the angel's words stand and proclaim "great joy to all the people."

If men had not believed the news, angels had; if earth is indifferent, heaven is not. The heavenly hosts, so to speak, break all bounds. They join this angelic messenger who announced the glad fact... They never saw Him before. The heavenly hosts came trooping down to earth with deep joy. Heaven is full of ecstasy, and why? Because the unsolved riddle of four thousand years is now made clear. How is man to be saved?

A multitude of the heavenly host gathered with the angel. The angel of the Lord addressed the shepherds. The angelic choir seemed not to notice them. It was completely absorbed in praising God. They could not keep silent, for glory to God, and blessing to men, would result from that child's birth.

A multitude of this heavenly host greeted the divine Saviour's birth as man with delight and no jealousy. They praised God and said, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men. Here we see them as the native inhabitants of heaven, gathered as if for a festival, rejoicing in the results of grace for men on earth.

Scripture never mentions singing except in connection with redemption. It never even says that angels sing... It is only therefore redeemed ones who can sing, and we learn from this the true character of Christian song. It should express the joy of salvation — the praise and gladness that knowing redemption produces in the soul.

It is not exactly good will toward men, which is the point here. The word expresses God's good will and complacency in men... For the Son of God became, not an angel, but really a man, according to Hebrews 2. He did not take up the cause of angels, or concern Himself with it. It was men He took up.

The means of this are not pointed out here. They are redemption, the destruction of Satan's power, the reconciliation of man by faith, and the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth with God. Everything depended on the Person and presence of Him who was born. All was wrapped up in Him. The state of blessing was born in the birth of that child.

It would not be only "Glory to God below," but "in the highest" — through the whole universe of God, and above all in its highest places. Glory to God at last, everywhere. On earth there had been nothing but war against God, and among men confusion, misery, and rebellion. Now it is "on earth, peace." Nothing less than this would follow from the birth of the Messiah, though not all at once.

It is important to see first of all that God is glorified. Sin has been dealt with. Sins have been dealt with. The cross has judged the prince of this world. Death itself has been conquered. These are only a few of the things Christ has done. Every promise of God is fulfilled in Him. Man has been recovered in reconciliation for God. All that God ever wanted for the delight of His heart of love is centred in the blessed Man in whose face the glory of God now shines.

The point here is not exactly good will toward men. The word expresses God's good will and delight in men... For the Son of God became, not an angel, but truly a man, as Hebrews 2 says. He did not take up the cause of angels, or concern Himself with them. It was men He took up. But much more appears here: it is God's delight in man now that His Son has become a man.

Revisers, with the editors, adopt "peace to men of good pleasure."

The prophets said again and again that peace would mark the long-awaited kingdom. God presented the fulfilment of it to the nation in a Saviour, Christ the Lord, born to them in the city of David... But the One whose coming could have brought in peace was rejected. The peace He offered was taken from the earth, and can now only be celebrated as peace to be established in heaven. The fact was that He, in whom all the fullness was pleased to dwell, had to lay the only possible ground for peace in such a world by the blood of His cross.

Sadly, peace on earth did not follow at once after this announcement, but man is to blame for this. God has offered peace to men from His heart, in the person of His Son. But they have refused His Son. The world cannot know peace until it receives the Prince of Peace. Such peace is certain, but it lies in the future.

We read in Colossians that the day is coming when God will reconcile all things to Himself, but we read further that believers are already reconciled. We have been brought into the good of this because we know the One who has brought glory to God in the highest. We know the One who will bring about peace on the earth: He is the Prince of Peace. And we know the One in whom God expresses His good pleasure toward men. Because we know this Person in our hearts, we have been brought into reconciliation.

All understanding of the things of God comes from His revelation, and not from the reasonings of men. So the simple go further in spiritual understanding than the wise and clever of the earth. God acts here so as to set aside all appearance of human wisdom. This was the case with the shepherds. They hardly entered into the great purpose of the registration; but it was to them, and not to the prudent, that God revealed Himself.

The shepherds show the faith that marked them. They accepted at once the word that reached them through the angel, then their own eyes confirmed it, then they glorified and praised God.

It fixes the mind on the noun or verb, pressing it home as the important point then in the mind… In Luke 2:15 it means then now.

They are wise men, they are in earnest. There is a Saviour for them, and they have learned where they can find Him. Prudence might have said, "Don't be in a hurry, better wait till the morning, in case the wolves come and steal the sheep;" but faith said, "Let us go now."... What good would the sheep be if you missed finding the Saviour?

They did not say, "Let us go … and see if this thing has happened," but "see this thing that has happened." They came with haste and saw the Babe with their own eyes; then they bore testimony to others. They could then say, "God has said it, and we have seen it" — the divine testimony backed by personal experience. Such testimony is bound to have effect.

God shows no partiality, but He does look for humility and honesty of heart before Himself. So He passed by the important men in Jerusalem. He sent a delegation of angels to wait on a small group of despised night watchmen, so that they might be let into the secret of Heaven's ways. These shepherds were a few of the godly remnant waiting for the Messiah, as their later words and actions show us.

We cannot come into the simple joy and power of God until we accept the place of lowliness and humiliation — until the heart is emptied of what is contrary to the lowliness of Christ. These shepherds were quietly carrying out their humble duty; and that is the place of blessing.

So, in their simple way, they acted on what was made known to them, on the report of the angels; and when they had proved it true, they spread the news. In this they were anticipating the way of grace. News of such great goodness and joy could not be, and ought not to be, kept shut up in the hearts of those who first received it.

They are wise men, and they are in earnest. They are fully awakened sinners, deeply anxious and strongly moved by the news they have heard. There is a Saviour for them, and they have learnt where they can find Him. Let us go now, they say. Caution might have said, "Don't be in a hurry. Better wait till the morning, in case the wolves come and steal the sheep." But faith said, "Let us go now."

There was no unbelieving "if" with these shepherds. They did not say, "Let us go now, and see if this thing has happened." They said, "Let us go now, and see this thing that has happened." And they came to Bethlehem — not with the slow, dragging steps with which some sinners come to Jesus. "They went with haste." … They found exactly what God had told them through the angel: the Saviour as a baby lying in a manger.

The shepherds' interest was in the message. … The shepherds praised God when they found, with thankful hearts, that He had carried out His word.

This is the sign that God would give to His people, promised centuries before by the prophet's mouth — and what a sign! Here is infinite grace stooping to deepest poverty. The Creator became poorer than the lowest of all His creatures, so that He might bless all. Yet in that lowest place He was the Son of the Highest. As He lay in that setting of poverty, the multitude of the heavenly host could praise God and say, "Glory to God in the highest."

God does not show such displays of glory to human eyes every day. But He sets them before us in His word, and every day we must follow the sign He gave — follow Jesus, the baby in the manger. If He filled the eye, the ear, the heart, how we would see the effects in person, spirit, conversation, dress, house, money, and so on.

At this moment God was not concerned with the great of the earth. He was concerned with His poor and afflicted people, and these shepherds were among them. Only those whose hearts God has prepared can receive His messages. So we may be confident that these humble men were among those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

If we are guilty, we need a sacrifice. If we are in ruin, we need someone to repair us. If we have to be raised up, we need one who can and will stoop to our condition to lift us up. … This marks out the faith of the shepherds. The weakness and poverty they saw at Bethlehem did not offend them. … We must go to the blessed Lord in His humiliation before we can know Him in the way our own condition needs.

What a sight it was that greeted their eyes! They might not have grasped the full meaning of what they saw, or the glory of the Child. Still they saw Him, and no one can doubt that they looked with adoring hearts. Scripture records not a word of anything they or Mary or Joseph said. Is it because they were feasting their eyes upon the Saviour, Christ the Lord, as He lay there in the manger?

So, in their simple way, they acted on what the angels told them. And when they had proved it true, they spread the news. In this they were anticipating the way of grace. News of such great goodness and joy could not stay, and ought not to stay, locked in the hearts of the first people who heard it.

The shepherds gave the response of faith. They did not say, "Let us go … and see if this thing has happened," but "see this thing that has happened." They came in haste and saw the baby with their own eyes. Then they told others what they had seen. They could then say, "God has said it, and we have seen it" — the divine testimony backed by personal experience. Testimony like that is bound to have an effect.

Editors read simply "made known," following one set of manuscripts. Others have "made known about the country."

They were so stirred in heart that they went at once to Bethlehem to see the thing which the Lord had made known to them. They saw, and spread far and wide the message they had been given about this child. They told it to everyone.

In their simple way they acted on what was made known to them — on the report of the angels. When they had proved its truth, they spread the news. In this they were anticipating the way of grace. News of such great goodness and joy could not be, and ought not to be, kept to the hearts of those who first received it. They made it known wherever they could.

When they had heard, found, and seen, they went and told everybody else. And what did they say? Not only that we have heard of the Saviour, but we have found the Saviour, we have seen Him. There was no hoping, or fearing, or doubting, or uncertainty. If you have found the Saviour, go and do the same. It is a sweet thing when the gospel gets into a man, and the best evidence that it has is this — he wants to tell others about it. He would like others to be as well off as himself. He cannot keep it in.

Shepherds! Who would listen to them? They were poor, ignorant men, dreamers caught up in some wild delusion. If the priests and the scribes had carried the report there might have been some reason to hear it. But shepherds? Announcing a Saviour born that day, even Christ the Lord, and He lying in a manger! Impossible, incredible, and only to be ignored.

They did not keep it to themselves. They reported what they had seen throughout the region. There would be no reason whatever for them to report such things if the report were not true. So the people who heard it were not skeptical, but wondered what all this meant.

No child had ever been born in such circumstances, or welcomed with such praise from angels. Yet nobody took any notice of what the shepherds said. The wonderful message the shepherds made known fell on dull and apathetic ears. The public effect was nil. No one seemed to care.

Shepherds! Who would listen to them! They were poor ignorant men, visionaries of some wild delusion. Had the priests and the scribes carried the report there might have been some reason in hearing it. But shepherds! They announced a Saviour born that day, Christ the Lord, and He too lying in a manger. Impossible, incredible, and only to be ignored.

To all this the shepherds gave the response of faith. They did not say, "Let us go … and see if this thing has happened," but "see this thing that has happened." They hurried and saw the baby with their own eyes. Then they told others. They could then say, "God has said it, and we have seen it." — the Divine testimony backed by personal experience. Such testimony is bound to have effect.

They did not keep it to themselves, but reported what they had seen throughout the region. It is evident there would be no reason whatever for their reporting such things if the report were not true. Therefore the people who heard it were not skeptical, but wondered what all this meant.

So, in their simple way, they acted on what the angels had reported to them. When they had proved it true, they spread the news. In this they were anticipating the way of grace. Those who first received news of such great goodness and joy could not keep it in their hearts — and ought not to. They made it known wherever they could.

The angels went back into heaven. The shepherds then went to Bethlehem to see the child. After that they spread the news of His birth. Their listeners wondered. They themselves glorified and praised God for all that they had heard and seen. Mary kept all those sayings, and pondered them in her heart. Heaven was stirred, but earth — how little it stirred! … Men wondered at what the shepherds told them, but which of them moved a step to see the child? How out of tune with heaven earth was! How little men cared about what so interested the angels!

The witness about the miracle created a sensation in the district, for we read that everyone marvelled. That is the way of man with things he can neither understand nor imitate. But such an emotion does not affect either the heart or the conscience.

The testimony given to the shepherds moved them towards the Person. If the truth of these things moves our hearts towards Christ, praising God will mark us too.

They made it known wherever they could. "But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart." A deeper feeling, no doubt, was at work in her mind. The time had not come for spreading the gospel that was in store; the basis for it had not even been laid. But she must have been deeply interested in the wonders around her — she weighed it all, and treasured it all up in her heart.

Mary was a quiet, meditative, reflective soul. Chosen for such a mission, and with such a charge, it could scarcely be otherwise. With even the faintest sense of the character of her Child she must have been filled with awe in the presence of God, and speech would be almost out of place.

Understanding is of the heart (Matt. 13:15). It was in her heart that Mary kept the deep sayings about the Christ, and in secret she kept pondering them so that she might eventually understand (Luke 2:19, 51).

Luke would have learned this from Mary herself. Compare Mark 14:72, "when he thought on it," which Mark would similarly have learned from Peter.

Mary again is pondering things in her heart; so chapter 2:51. How everything is in littleness, and a hidden people, but God has come in. It all lies behind the passing greatness of the world, which only carries it out... But nowhere in all the history of Israel do we find God so near as in this darkest time for the people. Blessed truth! Nowhere are there such intimate communications of His grace — only it was in a hidden way, but a deeper and truer one, that is, with more of personal heart in it.

Men wondered at what the shepherds told them, but which of them moved a step to see the child?

Roving thoughts hinder meditation. In meditation the heart must fix on the object. Worldly Christians are like mercury, which can never be made to settle. Their thoughts rove up and down and will not fix, like a bird that hops from one branch to another and stays nowhere... In meditation there must be a settling of the thoughts upon the object: "Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

As she guarded these sayings and meditated on them, we may be sure that the Spirit of God gave her some perception of their meaning, to sustain, guide and comfort her in the years to come... But we recall again the Lord's reply to a woman who called out from the crowd, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!" He answered, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" This blessedness is open to every one of God's people.

Faith was at work in those simple Israelites to whom the angel of the Lord was sent. They rejoiced in the blessing fulfilled before their eyes. That blessing confirmed the grace God had shown in announcing it to them. The words "as it had been told them" add their own testimony of grace to all that we enjoy through the lovingkindness of God.

They did not say, "Let us go … and see if this thing has happened," but "see this thing that has happened." They came in haste and saw the Baby with their own eyes. Then they bore witness to others. They could then say, "God has said it, and we have seen it" — God's testimony backed by their own experience… As for the shepherds, they caught the spirit of the angels, glorifying and praising God. So on this great occasion there was praise on earth as well as praise in heaven. We venture to think that the praise of these humble men below had a note in it that was missing from the praise of God's mighty angels above.

Could we think of any position further from religious greatness than a few shepherds sitting in a field at night, keeping their sheep? No church official was with them, and no one to teach them religious phrases. Yet from those shepherds there came a song of glory and praise to God. They were ordinary people, as we are. But the angel's message about the greatness of Christ — "Christ the Lord" — had touched their hearts. That message moves them towards that glorious Person. Their hearts were so filled with what they saw in Him that they returned "glorifying and praising God."

Some poor men were faithfully doing their hard work, far from the restless activity of an ambitious and sinful world. These men receive the first news of the Lord's presence on earth. The God of Israel did not look for the great among His people, but had regard to the poor of the flock.

After confirming the news they had heard, the shepherds gave testimony towards people (verse 17), and responded towards God (verse 20). Is this not the normal effect on all who have truly grasped something of His glory? He was the One wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

As they returned to their work, the shepherds were full of praise to God. Their eyes had confirmed what their ears had heard.

Should not our own affections be fully in tune with those who in that day poured out their hearts' appreciation of God's Christ? "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen." Simeon's heart overflowed. With the Baby in his arms he lifted up his voice in response to God — "My eyes have seen Your salvation." And the aged Anna "at that very moment gave thanks likewise to the Lord." Her heart responded first to God. Then, filled with appreciation of this glorious Christ, she had to go and speak of Him to all.