Hello everyone,
I am continuing to look at Luke 2, and continue the narrative of the birth of Jesus. In today's post we will look at the birth announcement. An angel appears to a group of shepherds in the open country nearby. They were guarding their flocks at night, when, according to verse 9, an angel of the Lord appeared to them and God’s glory shone all around them. This is our third angelic appearance in Luke. Darrell Bock points out a pattern that we see in each one, 1) the angelic appearance, 2) fear, 3) a ‘do not fear’ pronouncement, and 4) a sign. (Bock, 214.)
These shepherds are tending to their flocks at night when suddenly the Δὁζα (doxa), or glory of the Lord shone around all of them. So suddenly everything got very bright and an angel appeared. They were rightly terrified. Ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγαν (ephobathasan phobon megan) - A literal translation would be 'they feared with great fear.' Just as the angel greeted both Zechariah and Mary, he greeted these shepherds. ‘Do not fear.’ There must be something terrifying about coming face to face with an angel, yet this is not the desired effect, at least not in these instances.
The angel’s announcement begins with the word ἰδοὺ (idou) which means ‘behold.’ The Greek-English Lexicon of New Testament Words defines the word as 1) prompter of attention; behold, look, see. 2) marker of strong emphasis: see. I don’t think we have an adequate equivalent in our modern vernacular. We really use the word ‘behold’ any more. 'Look’ or ‘see’ don’t seem to carry enough weight for the circumstance. It is like ‘pay attention to this’ To me, the angel is delivering a message to these shepherds like, ‘Behold, a savior is born.” This is something they really should be paying careful attention to.
His announcement, he says, is good news εὐαγγελίζομαι (euangelidzomai) meaning 'I bring good news' and great joy χαρὰν μεγάλην (Kapan megalayn). This good news and this great joy will be for all people. So what is the good news? A savior has been born for them. The angel tells them that this savior is Christ, the Lord, and he has been born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
Bock makes an interesting point here. IN verse 11, the terms Savior (Sowtayr), Christ (Christos) and Lord (Kyrios) appear together. According to Bock this is the only place in the NT that this occurs. (Bock, 216.)
The angel gives a sign to the shepherds. They are going to find this newborn savior wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough. One would not expect to find a savior in a room for animals.
Then, unexpectedly the skies filled with angelic beings, praising God. This is what the angels said, “Glory to the Most High God. And upon the Earth, peace to those with whom His divine favor rests.” In this angelic praise, God receives doxa - the glory, praise and honor. And He deserves it. And He is called ὑψίστοις, (hypsistos), meaning 'Highest."
Also, tthe angels declare 'peace' to those who are εὐδοκίας.(eudokias) - that word can mean those who ‘are receiving his good will,’ “those on whom his favor rests,’ “those with whom he is pleased.” Bock says that ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας. Is a technical term of 1st Century Judaism, meaning God’s elect., those on whom God has poured out his favor. (Bock, 220). In my own translation, I went with, 'peace to those with whom His divine favor rests.' So those people to whom God draws near through Jesus will experience peace and the benefits that God bestows. I is a good thing to be one those people.
The angels return to heaven and the shepherds determine that they should go and see what the angels had spoken to them about. Upon reflection, how could they not? They search and find things exactly the way that the angels had described to them. The shepherds have their faith confirmed. Afterwards the shepherds tell their story and those who hear it are amazed by it.
There is a lot to be amazed at by this story. God had entered the world. That is amazing. But He has come tp bestow His peace and His favor on people like us. The is the most amazing of all.
Tom
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