Luke 2:8

The meanest circumstances of Christ's humiliation were all along attended with some discoveries of his glory, to balance them, and take off the offence of them; for even when he humbled himself God did in some measure exalt him and give him earnests of his future exaltation. When we saw him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, we were tempted to say, "Surely this cannot be the Son of God." But see his birth attended, as it is here, with a choir of angels, and we shall say, "Surely this cannot be the Son of God." But see his birth attended, as it is here, with a choir of angels, and we shall say, "Surely it can be no other than the Son of God, concerning whom it was said, when he was brought into the world, Let all the angels of God worship him," Heb 1:6.

We had in Matthew an account of the notice given of the arrival of this ambassador, this prince from heaven, to the wise men, who were Gentiles, by a star; here we are told of the notice given of it to the shepherds, who were Jews, by an angel: to each God chose to speak in the language they were most conversant with.

I. See here how the shepherds were employed; they were abiding in the fields adjoining to Bethlehem, and keeping watch over their flocks by night, Luk 2:8. The angel was not sent to the chief priests or the elders (they were not prepared to receive these tidings), but to a company of poor shepherds, who were like Jacob, plain men dwelling in tents, not like Esau, cunning hunters. The patriarchs were shepherds. Moses and David particularly were called from keeping sheep to rule God's people; and by this instance God would show that he had still a favour for those of that innocent employment. Tidings were brought to Moses of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, when he was keeping sheep, and to these shepherds, who, it is probable, were devout pious men, the tidings were brought of a greater salvation. Observe, 1. They were not sleeping in their beds, when this news was brought them (though many had very acceptable intelligence from heaven in slumbering upon the bed), but abiding in the fields, and watching. Those that would hear from God must stir up themselves. They were broad awake, and therefore could not be deceived in what they saw and heard, so as those may be who are half asleep. 2. They were employed now, not in acts of devotion, but in the business of their calling; they were keeping watch over their flock, to secure them from thieves and beasts of prey, it being probably in the summer time, when they kept their cattle out all night, as we do now, and did not house them. Note, We are not out of the way of divine visits when we are sensibly employed in an honest calling, and abide with God in it.

II. How they were surprised with the appearance of the angel (Luk 2:9): Behold, an angel of the Lord came upon them, of a sudden, epestē - stood over them; most probably, in the air over their heads, as coming immediately from heaven. We read it, the angel, as if it were the same that appeared once and again in the chapter before, the angel Gabriel, that was caused to fly swiftly; but that is not certain. The angel's coming upon them intimates that they little thought of such a thing, or expected it; for it is in a preventing way that gracious visits are made us from heaven, or ever we are aware. That they might be sure it was an angel from heaven, they saw and heard the glory of the Lord round about them; such as made the night as bright as day, such a glory as used to attend God's appearance, a heavenly glory, or an exceedingly great glory, such as they could not bear the dazzling lustre of. This made them sore afraid, put them into great consternation, as fearing some evil tidings. While we are conscious to ourselves of so much guilt, we have reason to fear lest every express from heaven should be a messenger of wrath.

III. What the message was which the angel had to deliver to the shepherds, Luk 2:10-12. 1. He gives a supersedeas to their fears: "Fear not, for we have nothing to say to you that needs be a terror to you; you need not fear your enemies, and should not fear your friends." 2. He furnishes them with abundant matter for joy: "Behold, I evangelize to you great joy; I solemnly declare it, and you have reason to bid it welcome, for it shall bring joy to all people, and not to the people of the Jews only; that unto you is born this day, at this time, a Saviour, the Saviour that has been so long expected, which is Christ the Lord, in the city of David," Luk 2:11. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed; he is the Lord, Lord of all; he is a sovereign prince; nay, he is God, for the Lord, in the Old Testament, answers to Jehovah. He is a Saviour, and he will be a Saviour to those only that accept him for their Lord. "The Saviour is born, he is born this day; and, since it is matter of great joy to all people, it is not to be kept secret, you may proclaim it, may tell it to whom you please. He is born in the place where it was foretold he should be born, in the city of David; and he is born to you; to you Jews he is sent in the first place, to bless you, to you shepherds, though poor and mean in the world." This refers to Isa 9:6, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. To you men, not to us angels; he took not on him the nature of angels. This is matter of joy indeed to all people, great joy. Long-looked for is come at last. Let heaven and earth rejoice before this Lord, for he cometh. 3. He gives them a sign for the confirming of their faith in this matter. "How shall we find out this child in Bethlehem, which is now full of the descendants from David?" "You will find him by this token: he is lying in a manger, where surely never any new-born infant was laid before." They expected to be told, "You shall find him, though a babe, dressed up in robes, and lying in the best house in the town, lying in state, with a numerous train of attendants in rich liveries." "No, you will find him wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger." When Christ was here upon earth, he distinguished himself, and made himself remarkable, by nothing so much as the instances of his humiliation.

IV. The angels' doxology to God, and congratulations of men, upon this solemn occasion, Luk 2:13, Luk 2:14. The message was no sooner delivered by one angel (that was sufficient to go express) than suddenly there was with that angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts; sufficient, we may be sure, to make a chorus, that were heard by the shepherds, praising God; and certainly their song was not like that (Rev 14:3) which no man could learn, for it was designed that we should all learn it. 1. Let God have the honour of this work: Glory to God in the highest. God's good-will to men, manifested in sending the Messiah, redounds very much to his praise; and angels in the highest heavens, though not immediately interested in it themselves, will celebrate it to his honour, Rev 5:11, Rev 5:12. Glory to God, 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, but the honour of all effectually secured and advanced. Other works of God are for his glory, but the redemption of the world is for his glory in the highest. 2. Let men have the joy of it: On earth peace, good-will toward men. God's good-will in sending the Messiah introduced peace in this lower world, slew the enmity that sin had raised between God and man, and resettled a peaceable correspondence. If God be at peace with us, all peace results from it: peace of conscience, peace with angels, peace between Jew and Gentile. Peace is here put for all good, all that good which flows to us from the incarnation of Christ. All the good we have, or hope, is owing to God's good-will; and, if we have the comfort of it, he must have the glory of it. Nor must any peace, and good, be expected in a way inconsistent with the glory of God; therefore not in any way of sin, nor in any way but by a Mediator. Here was the peace proclaimed with great solemnity; whoever will, let them come and take the benefit of it. It is on earth peace, to men of good-will (so some copies read it), en anthrōpois eudokias; to men who have a good-will to God, and are willing to be reconciled; or to men whom God has a good-will to, though vessels of his mercy. See how well affected the angels are to man, and to his welfare and happiness; how well pleased they were in the incarnation of the Son of God, though he passed by their nature; and ought not we much more to be affected with it? This is a faithful saying, attested by an innumerable company of angels, and well worthy of all acceptation, That the good-will of God toward men is glory to God in the highest, and peace on the earth.

V. The visit which the shepherds made to the new-born Saviour. 1. They consulted about it, Luk 2:15. While the angels were singing their hymn, they could attend to that only; but, when they were gone away from them into heaven (for angels, when they appeared, never made any long stay, but returned as soon as they had despatched their business), the shepherds said one to another, Let us go to Bethlehem. Note, When extraordinary messages from the upper world are no more to be expected, we must set ourselves to improve the advantages we have for the confirming of our faith, and the keeping up of our communion with God in this lower world. And it is no reflection upon the testimony of angels, no nor upon a divine testimony itself, to get it corroborated by observation and experience. But observe, These shepherds do not speak doubtfully, "Let us go see whether it be so or no;" but with assurance, Let us go see this thing which is come to pass; for what room was left to doubt of it, when the Lord had thus made it known to them? The word spoken by angels was stedfast and unquestionably true. 2. They immediately made the visit, Luk 2:16. They lost no time, but came with haste to the place, which, probably, the angel directed them to more particularly than is recorded ("Go to the stable of such an inn"); and there they found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. The poverty and meanness in which they found Christ the Lord were no shock to their faith, who themselves knew what it was to live a life of comfortable communion with God in very poor and mean circumstances. We have reason to think that the shepherds told Joseph and Mary of the vision of the angels they had seen, and the song of the angels they had heard, which was a great encouragement to them, more than if a visit had been made them by the best ladies in the town. And it is probable that Joseph and Mary told the shepherds what visions they had had concerning the child; and so, by communicating their experiences to each other, they greatly strengthened one another's faith.

VI. The care which the shepherds took to spread the report of this (Luk 2:17): When they had seen it, though they saw nothing in the child that should induce them to believe that he was Christ the Lord, yet the circumstances, how mean soever they were, agreeing with the sign that the angel had given them, they were abundantly satisfied; and as the lepers argued (Kg2 12:9, This being a day of good tidings, we dare not hold our peace), so they made known abroad the whole story of what was told them, both by the angels, and by Joseph and Mary, concerning this child, that he was the Saviour, even Christ the Lord, that in him there is peace on earth, and that he was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, and born of a virgin. This they told every body, and agreed in their testimony concerning it. And now if, when he is in the world, the world knows him not, it is their own fault, for they have sufficient notice given them. What impression did it make upon people? Why truly, All they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds, Luk 2:18. The shepherds were plain, downright, honest men, and they could not suspect them guilty of any design to impose upon them; what they had said therefore was likely to be true, and, if true, they could not but wonder at it, that the Messiah should be born in a stable and not in a palace, that angels should bring news of it to poor shepherds and not to the chief priests. They wondered, but never enquired any further about the Saviour, their duty to him, or advantages by him, but let the thing drop as a nine days' wonder. O the amazing stupidity of the men of that generation! Justly were the things which belonged to their peace hid from their eyes, when they thus wilfully shut their eyes against them.

VII. The use which those made of these things, who did believe them. 1. The virgin Mary made them the matter of her private meditation. She said little, but kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart, Luk 2:19. She laid the evidences together, and kept them in reserve, to be compared with the discoveries that should afterwards be made her. As she had silently left it to God to clear up her virtue, when that was suspected, so she silently leaves it to him to publish her honour, now when it was veiled; and it is satisfaction enough to find that, if no one else takes notice of the birth of her child, angels do. Note, The truths of Christ are worth keeping; and the way to keep them safe is to ponder them. Meditation is the best help to memory. 2. The shepherds made them the matter of their more public praises. If others were not affected with those things, yet they themselves were (Luk 2:20): They returned, glorifying and praising God, in concurrence with the holy angels. If others would not regard the report they made to them, God would accept the thanksgivings they offered to him. They praised God for what they had heard from the angel, and for what they had seen, the babe in the manger, and just then in the swaddling, when they came in, as it had been spoken to them. They thanked God that they had seen Christ, though in the depth of his humiliation. As afterwards the cross of Christ, so now his manger, was to some foolishness and a stumbling-block, but others saw in it, and admired, and praised, the wisdom of God and the power of God.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

ANGELIC ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS--THEIR VISIT TO THE NEWBORN BABE. (Luk 2:8-20)

abiding in the fields--staying there, probably in huts or tents.

watch . . . by night--or, night watches, taking their turn of watching. From about passover time in April until autumn, the flocks pastured constantly in the open fields, the shepherds lodging there all that time. (From this it seems plain that the period of the year usually assigned to our Lord's birth is too late). Were these shepherds chosen to have the first sight of the blessed Babe without any respect of their own state of mind? That, at least, is not God's way. "No doubt, like Simeon (Luk 2:25), they were among the waiters for the Consolation of Israel" [OLSHAUSEN]; and, if the simplicity of their rustic minds, their quiet occupation, the stillness of the midnight hours, and the amplitude of the deep blue vault above them for the heavenly music which was to fill their ear, pointed them out as fit recipients for the first tidings of an Infant Saviour, the congenial meditations and conversations by which, we may suppose, they would beguile the tedious hours would perfect their preparation for the unexpected visit. Thus was Nathanael engaged, all alone but not unseen, under the fig tree, in unconscious preparation for his first interview with Jesus. (See on Joh 1:48). So was the rapt seer on his lonely rock "in the spirit on the Lord's Day," little thinking that this was his preparation for hearing behind him the trumpet voice of the Son of man (Rev 1:10, &c.). But if the shepherds in His immediate neighborhood had the first, the sages from afar had the next sight of the new-born King. Even so still, simplicity first, science next, finds its way to Christ, whom

In quiet ever and in shade

Shepherds and Sage may find--

They, who have bowed untaught to Nature's sway,

And they, who follow Truth along her star-pav'd way.

KEBLE

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk_2:8-9

In the same country shepherds

The shepherds and the Magi at the cradle of Christ

(with Mat_2:1-12).

I. THE SHEPHERD COMES FIRST TO THE CRADLE OF CHRIST, BUT THE SAGE COMES TOO; THE JEW FIRST, BUT ALSO THE GENTILE. Here we have--

1. A prophecy that, as in His cradle the Lord Jesus received in a figure the homage of the entire world, so at last, in happy, glorious fact, He will receive the adoration of all kindreds and tribes, drawing all men unto Himself by virtue of His cross.

2. A consolation, viz., that even the poorest, the simplest, the least gifted and accomplished, find a welcome from Him, and may Lake rank among the very first in His kingdom.

3. A lesson--that whatever may be the distinctions which obtain among us elsewhere, we are all one in the service of Christ, and should use our several gifts for each others good,--the shepherd singing his song to the sage, and the sage telling the story of his star to the wondering shepherd.

II. WE MAY LEARN FROM THE STORY THAT IT IS NOT SO MUCH IN THE NUMBER AND MAGNITUDE OF OUR GIFTS, AS IN THE USE WE MAKE OF THEM, THAT OUR TRUE WELFARE AND HAPPINESS CONSIST. The shepherds, ignorant men, condemned to a life of hard toil and scanty fare, tied and bound by the claims of their craft, with few opportunities for joining in the public worship of the Temple, or for listening to the instructions of the Rabbis. Yet, at the bidding of the angel, they leave their flocks, and hasten to Bethlehem to verify the good tidings. The wise men from the East had, in some sort, even fewer advantages and aids than the shepherds. No direct message from heaven was vouchsafed to them. They see a new sign in the sky. They believe that it foretells the advent of some great one upon the earth. How hard it must have been for them to leave the luxuries and honours, and, above all, the scientific pursuits of the Persian palace, in order to encounter the toils and perks of a long and hazardous journey, on the mere chance of finding their conclusion verified! What a noble faith in their scientific inductions, or in the inward leading of God, is implied in their encountering so great a risk or so slight a chance of being bettered by it!

III. If it be true that our place in Christs service and regard depends on our fidelity in using our gifts rather than on the abundance of our gifts, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT THE ONLY GENUINE FIDELITY IS THAT WHICH LEADS US FORWARD AND UPWARD. The sages and the shepherds were men who looked before as well as after, men who knew little and were aware of it, or men who knew much and yet accounted that much but little compared with what God had to teach. Let us be followers of them, ever looking for more truth while we walk by the truth we know. And, walking in the light we have, it will grow larger and purer; using the gifts we possess, more will be added unto us. (S. Cox, D. D.)

The shepherds

1. The time, the place, the tidings, the listeners, are all in unison. The shepherds were on historic ground. On those same slopes, on those same hill-sides, David of old had fed his fathers flocks, and it was from those same fields that he went forth at Gods command to exchange his shepherds crook for the royal sceptre, and his lowly dress for the purple of a king. It was on these fields, rich with precious memories, that the shepherds lay. It was night, and the sky was cloudless. Hill and dale slept under the beauty of the clear moon, and the quiet flocks were gathered to the shelter of the fold. To such a scene came the first tidings of the worlds peace. Not to mans busy haunts, where even in the hush of night the cry of sorrow is heard, and the trouble in mans heart goes on, but to those peaceful folds, sleeping in the bosom of the voiceless hills. The home of peace is not in the worlds great centres, but among the shaggy woods and grassy vales and solemn hills. And when the angels came with their messages of peace to earth they came to such a scene as that. They did not choose the Temple in Jerusalem, and from its lofty pinnacle flash their glory on a slumbering city--that would have been at variance with the character of their message, and discordant with the unostentatious spirit of their King.

2. And that humble shepherds were the first to receive the glad tidings is as instructive as it is strange. The event itself was unparalleled, and the simple announcement of it was destined, like a stone cast into the still lake, to extend its influence in ever-widening circles; yet it was to men lowly and obscure, without worldly place or power of any kind, that the first proclamation was made. In the worlds view it would have been deemed an utter waste to brighten the sky with angels, and pour down from the steeps of glory cataracts of tumultuous song, for a few poor shepherds. But no consideration speaks more real comfort to our hearts than this. It shows us plainly that there is no respect of persons with God; that in His eye the loftiest and the lowliest are as one.

3. But not only was the message of the angels given to shepherds, it was given to them while they were pursuing their work. Idle men do not receive visions. It is not in the working up of spiritual ecstasy, but in the sober and honest discharge of lifes duties, that we are most likely to find God and be found of Him.

4. The shepherds were sore afraid. But their fear soon gave place to action. When the angels had gone away, they said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see--not if the thing is come to pass, but--this thing which is come to pass. They did not arise and go because they doubted, but because they believed. Ah! it was a grand journey of faith--this of the shepherds from the sheep-folds to the manger, worthy to be inserted in the eleventh of Hebrews. What is our attitude towards the Divine announcements?

5. Having seen the Infant Saviour, they immediately made known their story, first to Mary, who kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, and then to the busy crowd of travellers bustling about the inn. No sooner had they found Christ for themselves, than they made it known abroad that they had found Him.

6. But we do not part company with them here. We are told in the twentieth verse that they returned--returned to their ordinary work, to their flocks and folds, to those vales and hills from which they had come, now for ever bright to them with something of the angels glory, and there, in their own quiet life, they fought the good fight, and kept the faith. God does not call every man to be an apostle. He wants preachers in private as well as in public. He wants the glad tidings to be told in sheepfolds, and in markets, and in shops, as much as in places set apart for the proclamation. And if for you the world has been transfigured, and common things have received the impress of heaven by the vision of Gods salvation, then in the place where your daily lot is cast, in the sphere of your common duties and labours, stand forth a witness for righteousness and for God, preach tile gospel of peace and salvation to the sin-stricken, sorrow-laden men and women all around you. (H. Wonnacott.)

This angel is the first evangelist

He is a type of what gospel-preaching should be.

1. His message is good news. The gospel not a threat nor a law, but news of salvation.

2. To all the people--not merely to an elect few. To all classes--not merely to the intelligent and refined.

3. The cause of this joy proclaimed is the advent of Christ, i.e., the Messiah, the Anointed One, the great High Priest who makes atonement for the past sins of His people; a Saviour because He saves His people from their sins themselves.

4. The attestation of His Divinity (Luk_2:12). The evidence of His Divinity is His love--the fact that He is placed under all the limitations of humanity Php_2:5-8).

5. Notice also the first approach of the Divine message always produces fear in the heart (verse 9), and the message of the gospel to the affrighted heart is ever the same, Fear not.

6. The convert becomes at once a preacher to others (verse 17).

7. The shepherds publish. Mary ponders. Both the active and the meditative temperament have a place in the Church of Christ. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)

Highest and lowest brought together

The shepherds were chosen on account of their obscurity and lowliness to be the first to hear of the Lords nativity, a secret which none of the princes of this world knew. And what a contrast is presented to us when we take into the account who were the messengers to them. The angels who excel in strength, these did Gods bidding towards the shepherds. Here the highest and lowest of Gods rational creatures are brought together. The angel honoured a humble lot by his very appearing to the shepherds; next he taught it to be joyful by his message. (J. H. Newman.)

Finding the Lord in daily duties

The wise woman of Medina went long pilgrimages to find the Lord, but in vain; and, despairing, she returned to her daily duties, and when there engaged she found the Lord she had elsewhere sought in vain. (See Trenchs Poems.)

Dignity bestowed on those following their daily calling

Moses received his credentials as the legate of the Almighty and the lawgiver of a new nation while keeping the flocks of Jethro. Gideon threshed wheat by the wine-press when the angel brought him his commission, and the enemies of Israel fled before the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Saul going to seek his fathers asses found a kingdom for himself; and Samuel waited to anoint David while they fetched him from those few sheep in the wilderness. Elisha was ploughing when Elijah passed by and cast the mantle of prophecy upon him, and Amos among the herdmen of Tekoa saw Gods judgments upon Philistia and Tyre. It was while Zacharias executed the priests office before God in the order of his course that the angel Gabriel brought him joy and gladness, and all mankind the earnest of a new and glorious dispensation--and the first mortals that ever heard the sons of God shouting for joy were a band of shepherds watching their flocks on the Judean hills. (Amelia S. Barr.)

Joy often follows fear

Learn in the first place from this that a scene that may open in darkness and fright may end in the greatest prosperity and advantage. These shepherds were alarmed and startled; but how soon their consternation ended in exultation and jubilee. Those shepherds may in their time have had many a fierce combat with wolves, and seen many strange appearances of eclipse, or aurora, or star-shooting. But those shepherds never saw so exciting a night as that night when the angel came. And so it often is that a scene of trouble and darkness ends in angelic tones of mercy and of blessing. That commercial disaster that you thought would ruin you for ever, made for you a fortune. Jacobs loss of Joseph opened for him the granaries of Egypt for his famine-struck family. Saul, by being unhorsed, becomes the trumpet-tongued apostle to the Gentiles. The ship splitting in the breakers of Melita sends up with every fragment on which the two hundred and seventy-six passengers escape to the beach the annunciation that God will deliver His ambassadors. The British tax on tea was the first chapter in the Declaration of American Independence. Famine in Ireland roused that nation to the culture of other kinds of product. Out of pestilence and plague the hand of medical science produced miracles of healing. It was through bereavement you were led to Christ. The Hebrew children cast into the furnace were only closeted with the Son of God walking beside them, the flames only lighting up the splendour of His countenance. And at midnight, while you were watching your flocks of cares, and sorrows, and disappointments, the angel of Gods deliverance flashed upon your soul, crying, Fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. If I should go through this audience to-day, I would find that it was through great dark-hess that you came to light, through defeat that you came to victory, through falling down that you rose up, and that your greatest misfortunes, and trials, and disasters have been your grandest illumination. (Dr. Talmage.)

The shepherds an honourable calling

Hunters and warriors make a great figure in the world; but he that feeds the sheep is more honourably employed than he who pursues the lion. The attendance of man upon these innocent creatures, which God hath ordained for his use, is an employment which succeeded to the life of Paradise. The holy patriarchs and servants of God were taught to prefer the occupation of shepherds. Their riches consisted in flocks and herds; and it was their pleasure, as well as their labour, to wait upon them in tents, amidst the various and beautiful scenery of the mountains, the groves, the fields, and streams of water O happy state of health, innocence, plenty and pleasure--plenty without luxury, and pleasure without corruption! How far preferable to that artificial state of life; into which we have been brought by over-strained refinement in civilization, and commerce too much extended; when corruption of manners, unnatural, and consequently unhealthy, modes of living, perplexity of law, consumption of property, and other kindred evils, conspire to render life so vain and unsatisfactory, that many throw it away in despair, as not worth having. A false glare of tinselled happiness is found amongst the rich and great, with such distressing want and misery amongst the poor, as nature knows nothing of, and which can arise only from the false principles and selfish views and expedients of a weak and degenerate policy. (Wm. Jones.)

Several of the most gracious Divine manifestations, and most interesting discoveries, concerning the Messiah, were made under the Old Testament, to men who followed this occupation, as, e.g., to Abraham, Moses, David. In like manner, a singular honour was now preparing for the shepherds of Bethlehem, who, from the reception they gave the heavenly message, and the part they afterwards acted, appear to have been believing and holy men, whom Divine grace had taught and prepared to welcome a coming Saviour. (James Foote, M. A.)

Tending flocks by night

It is only in the cool months that sheep feed through the day. In the greater part of the year they are led out to pasture only towards sunset, returning home in the morning, or if they be led out in the morning they lie during the hot hours in the shade of some tree or rock, or in the rude shelter of bushes prepared for them (Son_1:7). They are taken into the warmth of caves or under other cover during the coldest part of winter; the lambs are born between January and the beginning of March, and need to be kept with the ewes in the field, that the mothers may get nutriment enough to support the poor weak creatures, which cannot be taken to and from the pasturage, but must remain on it. That many of them die is inevitable, in spite of the shepherds utmost care, for snow and frost on the uplands, and heavy rain on the plains, are very fatal to them. Nor is their guardian less to be pitied. He cannot leave them day or night, and often has no shelter. At times, when on his weary watch, he may be able to gather branches enough to make a comparatively dry spot on which to stand in the wild weather, but this is not always the case. I have heard of the skin peeling completely from a poor mans feet from continued exposure. By night, as we have seen, he has often, in outlying places, to sleep on whatever brush he may gather; his sheepskin coat, or an old rug or coverlet, his only protection Perhaps it fared thus with the shepherds of Bethlehem, eighteen hundred years ago, when they were abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. (C. Geikie, D. D.)

Attend to your own business

The business of these shepherds that night was staying out of doors to watch their sheep. It was while they were attending to their business that they had a visit from the angels. If they had been at home, or out at a party, or even in a prayer-meeting, when they ought to have been in that sheep-field on the Bethlehem hillside, they would have missed a sight of the angel of the Lord. If they had been playing on harps at a sacred concert, or ornamenting pottery for a synagogue fair, or even carrying an offering up to the temple at Jerusalem, when sheep-watching was their duty, they would not have heard that song of the angels, or seen the glory of the Lord round about them, or received first of all the good tidings for a lost race. The best place in all the world to be is at the post of duty. Nowhere else can such blessings, temporal or spiritual, be fairly looked for. If the Lord has a good gift or a glad message to one of His children, He sends it to the place where the child ought to be found. If the child is not there, he fails of getting what he might have had to rejoice over. Day or not--night and day, be where you belong. If your duty calls you to stay at home, stay there, and never suppose that you can have a bigger blessing anywhere else. If your duty calls you to be on a steamer, or a railway car, out in the streets or the fields, at a party or a prayer-meeting, in a store or a factory, at a concert or a church-service, in the home of a friend to give counsel or cheer, or in a dwelling of poverty to administer relief, be there, at whatever cost or risk is demanded, and understand that it is safest and best for you to be there only. (Sunday School Times.)

Shepherds fit persons to receive the gospel message

The news of Christs birth is a message for an angel to deliver, and it had been news for the best prince on earth to receive. Yet it fell not out amiss that they to whom it first came were shepherds; the news fitted them well. It well agreed to tell shepherds of the yearning of a strange Lamb, such a Lamb as should take away the sins of the world; such a Lamb as they might send to the Ruler of the world for a present--Isaiahs Lamb. Or, if ye will, to tell shepherds of the birth of a Shepherd. Ezekiels Shepherd: Behold, I will raise you a Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd (1Pe_5:4); the Great Shepherd (Heb_13:20); the Good Shepherd that gave His life for His flock (Joh_10:11). And so it was not unfit news for thepersons to whom it came. (Bp. Lancelot Andrewes.)

The annunciation to the shepherds

Who the angel was, we are not told. Quite probably it was the same angel who had already made annunciation to Zacharias in the temple, to Mary at Nazareth, to Joseph in his slumber--even the same Gabriel, Strength of God, who, five centuries before, had made annunciation to the exile by the Ulai. The glory of the Lord which shone round about these shepherds was doubtless that same miraculous effulgence in which Deity had been wont in the earlier ages to enshrine Himself, and which the rabbins called the Shechinah. Diversified as well as extraordinary were the appearances of that Shechinah in ancient days. It had gleamed as a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life; it had flickered as a lambent flame in the brier-bush of Horeb; it had hung as a stupendous canopy over the mountain of the law; it had hovered as a glittering cloud above the cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat; it had marshalled the hosts of Israel for forty years, towering like a pillar of cloud by day and like a pillar of fire by night; it had filled the temple of Solomon, flooding it with a brightness so intense that the priests could not enter to minister; it was to be the radiant cloud which should enfold out of sight the ascending Lord; it will be the great white throne on which that ascended Lord will descend when He returns in the pomp of His second advent. But never had it served a purpose so august and blissful as on this most memorable of nights when, after centuries of eclipse, it suddenly reappeared and shone around the astonished shepherds. Well might the effulgent cloud now return, as though in glad homage to the Incarnation; for on this night is born He who is to be His own Churchs true pillar of fire-cloud, to marshal her through sea and wilderness into the true promised land. Oh, since the day was as the night when Jesus Christ died, let us be grateful that the night was as the day when Jesus Christ was born. But where shall we find this mighty Deliverer? How shall we know Him when we see Him? The sign is twofold. The first sign is this: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Christ of God might have descended an archangel, glittering with celestial emblazonry. And it is a sign as powerful as simple. Had He descended otherwise, we might not have believed so easily in the reality of the Incarnation. We might have said that He was an angel. But when we behold Him a helpless little Babe, we feel that the Incarnation was no acting--no phantom. We feel that Deity has in very truth come down within our sphere, linking His fortunes with ours, taking our life, like ourselves, at its germ as well as at its fruit, sharing with us the cradle as well as the grave, the swaddling clothes of Mary of Bethlehem as well as the burial linen of Joseph of Arimathea. But the angel gives a second sign: Lying in a manger. Not, then, in choice apartments of an inn, not in sumptuous nurseries of the opulent, not in palaces of royalty, was the King of kings and Lord of lords to be cradled; but in a crib, amid the beasts of the stall. And this was to be one of the secrets of his kinghood. In fact, all society is built up from below. The roof is most, dependent upon the foundation than the foundation upon the roof. Nearly all, if not quite all, the movements which have changed the thinking and determined the new courses of the world have been upward, not downward. The great revolutionists have generally been cradled in mangers, and gone through rough discipline in early life. Civilization is debtor to lowly cradles, and unknown mothers hold a heavy account against the world.--Ecce Deus, by Joseph Parker, D.D. (G. D. Boardman.)

By night

Wherefore at night this Babe of Glory was born that He might turn the night into day. (Bishop Hacker.)

Philosophy discovered by humble men

The heathen make much ado, and relate it not without admiration, by what mean and almost despised persons the deep knowledge of philosophy was first found out and brought to light. As Protagoras earning his living by bearing burdens of wood; and Cleanthes no better than a Gibeonite, fain to draw water for his liberty. Chrysippus and Epictetus mere vassals to great men for their maintenance, yet these had the honour to find out the riches of knowledge for the recompense of their poverty; but the day shall come that these philosophers will wonder that they found out no more than they did, and be astonished that silly shepherds were first deputed to find out one thing more needful than all the world beside, even Jesus Christ. Tiberius propounded his mind to the Senate of Rome, that Christ, the great Prophet in Jewry, should be had in the same honour with the other gods which they worshipped. (Bishop Hacker.)

The Good Shepherd that giveth His life for His sheep, would first be manifested to those good shepherds that watched over their sheep. (Bishop Hacker.)

Surely these shepherds had heavenly meditations in their minds, and were most religiously prepared, when His ambassador of heaven did approach unto them. And you, my beloved, I speak to one with another, if that innocency and harmlessness were in you that was in them, you would think many a time that a Divine beam did shine upon your soul, and that you had your conversation with angels. (Bishop Hacker.)

The first to see Christ at His final advent

There are two sorts of persons noted for finding out Christ more eminently than others, the shepherds before all others after He was born, and Mary Magdalen the first of all men and women, as far as we read, after His resurrection. The shepherds were vouchsafed their blessing, because they watched by night, a hard task if you consider the time of the year; and Mary was so prosperous because she rose very early in the morning to seek her Lord. It is hard to say whether ever she slept one wink for care and grief, since the Passion of our Saviour; and God knows who shall be the first that finds Him at His second coming in Glory, when He shall come also like a thief in the night; but whosoever he be, this I am sure of, he must be none of them that sleep in gluttony(that are heavy with surfeiting and drunkenness, with chambering and wantonness, he must watch or be fit to waken to find the Lord. (Bishop Hacker.)

A watchful shepherd

Suffer not your eyelids to shut, but sift and shake your own heart; examine yourself, remember what a blessing it is to be a watchful shepherd, that an angel of comfort may come and sing salvation unto you. (Bishop Hacker.)

A flock to look after

To include you all, every man and woman in the application, suppose you are nobodys keeper but your own; why be watchful and prudent over the safety of your own soul; and when I have spoke that word, your soul, I perceive instantly that you have a whole flock to look to, and it is all your own, the affections and passions Of your mind, them I mean; it you bridle their lust and wantonness, if they do you reasonable service, you have a rich flock, sheep that shall stand upon the right hand of God: if they usurp and fill you full of uncleanness, they are a flock of goats, that shall be condemned unto the left. What says Cato of our affections? They are to be governed like a flock of sheep, you may rule them altogether so long as they follow and keep good order, but single one out alone, and it will be unruly and offend you; as who should say all our affections must be sanctified to God, the whole flock; let one passion have leave to straggle and all will follow it to destruction. Let the watchfulness of the heart especially be fixed upon this flock, the desires, the passions over all that issues out of the soul (Bishop Hacker.)

1. The Lord did put on this glorious apparel, even a robe of light to express the Majesty of His Son, who was born to save the world.

2. This lightsome apparition about the shepherds, a type of the light and perspicuousness which is genuine and proper to the gospel.

3. The dark night was brightened with a shining cloud at our Saviours nativity, to signify that He should be a light of consolation to them that sate in the dark night of persecution and misery. The most obscure things shall be made manifest unto His light, and the thoughts of all hearts shall be revealed unto Him.

4. No sooner was the world blest with the birth of this holy Child, God and Man, but the angels put on white apparel, the air grows clear and bright, darkness is dispelled; therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and walk as children of the light; the earth Should be more innocently walked on to and fro, because Christ hath trod upon it; our bodies kept clean in chastity, because He hath assumed our nature and blessed it.

5. A glimpse of some celestial light did sparkle at His birth to set our teeth on edge to enjoy Him who is Light of lights, very God of very God, and to dwell with Him in that city which hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the Glory of God did enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. I conclude with St. Paul (Col_1:12). (Bishop Hacker.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 2:8. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field — Here we see, that as Abraham and David, to whom the promise of the Messiah was first made, were shepherds, so the completion of this promise was first revealed to shepherds. Keeping watch over their flocks by night — Which it was necessary they should do, to guard against the wolves and other beasts of prey, common there. The original words, φυλασσοντες φυλακας της νυκτος, may be more literally rendered, watching the watches of the night. These watches were four; the first is mentioned, Lam 2:19; the second and third, Luk 12:38; and the fourth, Mat 14:25; being the morning watch. It seems there was a considerable number of the shepherds together here, for the expression implies that they watched by turns according to these divisions of the night. “As it is not probable,” says Dr. Doddridge, “that they exposed their flocks to the coldness of winter nights in that climate, where, as Dr. Shaw (Trav., p. 379) has shown, they were so very unwholesome, it may be strongly argued from this circumstance that those who have fixed upon December for the birth of Christ have been mistaken in the time of it.” The birth of Christ has been placed in every month of the year. The Egyptians placed it in January — Wagenseil, in February — Bochart, in March — some mentioned by Clement of Alexandria, in April — others, in May — Epiphanius speaks of some who placed it in June — and others who supposed it to have been in July — Wagenseil, who was not sure of February, fixed it probably in August — Lightfoot, on the 15th of September — Scaliger, Casaubon, and Calvisius, in October — others, in November. But the Latin Church, being infallible in judgment, and supreme in power, has settled the matter by declaring that he was born on the 25th of December. See Labbæi, Concil. Fabricii, Bibliot. Antiq., cap. 10. It is happy for us that the particular day and hour, or even year, in which he was born is not necessary to be ascertained in order to our salvation; nor at all material to true religion. It is sufficient for us to know that he was born, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, assumed our nature, and in consequence thereof is become an all-sufficient Saviour and Redeemer, in whom whosoever believeth, with a right faith, shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 10.—

APPEARANCE OF ANGELS TO THE SHEPHERDS—SHEPHERDS’ VISIT TO JESUS, Luk_2:8-20.

At hand—The gentile Magi were brought from afar, but these shepherds are brought from nigh. The former as star gazers were led by the star; the latter as shepherds were brought to the chief shepherd. And these were brought from the same fields of Bethlehem where David the typical shepherd fed his flocks, to visit David’s royal son.

8. Abiding in the fields—Probably both day and night in the open air.

Keeping watch.—That is taking watch by turns.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

B. The first Gospel upon Earth. Luk_2:8-12

8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, [and, καὶ] keepingwatch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the [an] angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid.10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great 11joy, which shall be to all [the] people.13 For unto [to] you is born this day, in the cityof David, a Saviour, which [who] is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you [12and this shall be the sign to you, τοῦτο ὑμῖν τὸ σημεῖον.]; ye shall find the [a] babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes,14 lying15 in a16 manger.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk_2:8. Keeping watch over their flock by night, φυλάσσοντες φυλακάς.—The expression seems to indicate, that they were stationed at various posts, and perhaps relieved one another. On the authority of Lightfoot, ad Luc. ii. 8, many commentators have remarked, that the Jews were not accustomed to drive their cattle to pasture after the first half of November, and that we have, in this verse, indirect evidence of the worthlessness of the tradition which has assigned the 25th of December as the day of our Lord’s birth. It is well known that this date was chosen on account of the contemporary natalis invicti solis, without finding any other support in the gospel. On the other hand, however, we might contend that, from Luk_2:8 alone, it cannot be deemed impossible that the birth of our Lord should have occurred in winter. This winter may have been less severe than usual. Several travellers (e.g., Rauwolf, Reisen 1, p. 118) inform us, that in the end of December, after the rainy season, the flowers bloom and the shepherds lead out their flocks again. Besides, these shepherds may have formed an exception to the general rule, whether from poverty, or as being servants. The Lord Himself, in the first night of His life oh earth, did not rest on roses. It is also worthy of note, that the ancient Church, to whom the peculiarities of the climate of Palestine were certainly known, was never hindered in its practice of celebrating the Nativity on the 25th of December by the consideration of Luk_2:8. May not the difficulty, then, be more imaginary than real?

[Note on the Date of the Nativity of Christ.—The fact mentioned by Luke, that the shepherds pastured their flock in the field of Bethlehem, is of itself not inconsistent with the traditional date of our Saviour’s birth. Travellers in Palestine differ widely in their meteorological accounts, as the seasons themselves vary in different years. But Barclay, Schwartz and others who give us the result of several years’ observations in Jerusalem, agree in the statement that during the rainy season from the end of October to March there generally occurs an interregnum of several weeks’ dry weather between the middle of December and the middle of February, and that during the month of December the earth is clothed with rich verdure, and sowing and ploughing goes on at intervals. Schubert says that the period about Christmas is often one of the loveliest periods of the whole year, and Tobler remarks, that the weather about Christmas is favorable to the feeding of flocks, and often most beautiful. The saying of the Talmudists, that the flocks were taken to the fields in March and brought home in November, had reference to the pastures in the wilderness far away from the cities or villages. Comp. on this whole subject S. J. Andrews: The Life of our Lord upon the Earth, p. 16 ff.

But while the statement of Luke cannot disprove the tradition of the Nativity, it can as little prove it. This tradition is itself of late origin and of no critical value. The celebration of Christmas was not introduced in the church till after the middle of the fourth century. It originated in Rome, and was probably a Christian transformation or regeneration of a series of kindred heathen festivals, the Saturnalia, Sigillaria, Juvenalia, and Brumalia, which were celebrated in the month of December in commemoration of the golden age of universal freedom and equality, and in honor of the unconquered sun, and which were great holidays, especially for slaves and children. (See my Church History, N. Y., vol. ii. p. 395 ff.) In the primitive Church there was no agreement as to the time of Christ’s birth. In the East the 6th of January was observed as the day of His baptism and birth. In the third century, as Clement of Alexandria relates, some regarded the twentieth of May, others the twentieth of April, as the birth-day of our Saviour. Among modern chronologists and biographers of Jesus there is still greater difference of opinion, and every month, even June and July (when the fields are parched from want of rain), have been named as the time when the great event took place. Lightfoot assigns the Nativity to September, Lardner and New-come to October, Wieseler to February, Paulus to March, Greswell and Alford to the 5th of April, just after the spring rains, when there is an abundance of pasture, Lichtenstein places it in July or December, Strong in August, Robinson in autumn, Clinton in spring, Andrews between the middle of December, 749, to the middle of January, 750 A. U. On the other hand, Roman Catholic historians and biographers of Jesus, as Sepp, Friedlieb, Bucher, Patritius, also some Protestant writers, defend the popular tradition, or the 25th of December. Wordsworth gives up the problem, and thinks that the Holy Spirit has concealed the knowledge of the year and day of Christ’s birth and the duration of His ministry from the wise and prudent to teach them humility.

The precise date of the Nativity can certainly be no matter of vital importance, else it would have been revealed to us. It is enough for us to know that the Saviour was born in the fulness of time, just when He was most needed, and when the Jewish and Gentile world was fully prepared for this central fact and turning point in history. For internal reasons the 25th of December, when the longest night gives way to the returning sun on his triumphant march, is eminently suited as the birth-day of Him who appeared in the darkest night of sin and error as the true Light of the world. But it may have been instinctively selected for this poetic and symbolical fitness rather than on historic grounds.—P. S.]

Luk_2:9. And, lo, an angel.—The whole narrative is evidently designed to impress us with the sudden and unexpected manner of the angelic apparition; while, at the same time, it is not denied that the susceptibility of the shepherds for the reception of the heavenly message may have been enhanced by their waiting for the redemption of Israel, their mutual discourse, and their sojourn, in the quiet solemn night, beneath the starry heavens. Meanwhile, the first preacher of the gospel stands suddenly before them.—The glory of the Lord which shone round them (δό ξα Κυρίου περι έλαμψεν αὐτούς), is the כְּבוֹד יהוָֹה, already known to them from the Old Testament. And it was the sight of this that filled them with fear.

Luk_2:9. And they were sore afraid or feared greatly (ἐφοβήθη σαν φόβον μέγαν).—The fear which we so often find mentioned in the sacred narrative, when man comes into immediate contact with the supernatural and the holy (comp., e.g., Luk_5:8; Luk_24:5), is not to be wholly attributed to the fact, that such contact was unexpected, and still less to a conviction of moral impurity before God, only. It seems rather, that the old popular belief, that he who had seen God would die (Jdg_13:22), had by no means disappeared even after the Babylonian captivity. This belief might also have been strengthened by traditional remembrance of the cherubim with the flaming sword at the gate of Eden. In any case, this superstitious fear is surely a better ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας before God, than the incredulous scepticism of modern days concerning any angelic visitations.

Luk_2:10. To all the people.—Namely to Israel, to whom they belonged, as is expressed with the same particularity, Luk_1:33; Mat_1:21. The announcement of this truth to the shepherds, indirectly intimates, that other pious Israelites were soon to hear from them of the birth of their King. In Luk_2:17 we are told of the first fulfilment of this indirect command.

Luk_2:11. Christ, the Lord.—Not the Christ of the Lord, as He is called Luk_2:26, but the Messiah, who equally with the Jehovah of the Old Testament, bears the name Κύριος (com. Luk_23:2, and Act_2:36). The intimation that He was born in the city of David would recall Micah 5, which, according to Mat_2:5, was in those days universally understood to refer to Messiah.

[Alford: “This is the only place where these words (Χριστός and Κύριος) come together. In Luk_23:2, we have Χρ. βασιλέα, and in Act_2:36, Κύριον καὶ Χρ. And I see no way of understanding this Κύριος, but as corresponding to the Hebrew Jehovah.” So also Wordsworth. This reference is the more probable, since Luke in Luk_2:9 uses Κύριος twice of Jehovah. The connection of Christ with Lord occurs also in Col_3:24, though in a somewhat different meaning, τῷ Κυρίῳ Χριστῷ δουλεύετε.—P. S.]

Luk_2:12. And this shall be the sign to you.—It happens here, as in the annunciation of the birth to Mary (Luk_1:36). A sign was vouchsafed, where none was asked,—God seeing that it was indispensably necessary, on account of the extraordinary nature of the circumstance; while Zachariah, who requested a sign, was visited with loss of speech. The sign now granted, is as wonderful as the occurrence just announced, yet one suited to the capacity of the shepherds, and at the same time infallible. The fear, as to whether they may approach the new-born King, and offer Him their homage, is dispelled by the intimation of His lowly condition, while their carnal views of the nature of His kingdom are thereby counteracted. Unless we suppose that the shepherds forthwith made inquiry in all the possible φάτναι of Galilee, whether a child had lately been born therein, we must conclude that their own well-known, and perhaps not far distant φάτνη, was the one pointed out. If they would naturally have hastened thither first, we are not left to suppose, with Olshausen, that they were led by some secret influence upon their minds. Conjectures, which give offence to the sceptical, are best avoided, when not indispensably necessary.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. This narrative may be called, The history of the first preaching of the gospel upon earth. It became Him, of whom are all things, and by whom are all things, to send such a message by the mouth of an angel. The last preaching of the gospel, the glad tidings of the last day, “Behold, He cometh again,” will also be announced with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God.

2. It will not seem without significance, to any who appreciate the symbolic element of the Scriptures, that the first announcement was made to shepherds. Jehovah had Himself borne the name of the shepherd of Israel, and the Messiah had been announced under this designation by the prophets (Psalms 23; Ezekiel 34). David had pastured his flocks in this very neighborhood; and since the rich and mighty in Jerusalem were looking only for an earthly deliverer, it was undoubtedly among these humble shepherds that the poor in spirit and the mourners would be found, to whom the Lord Himself afterwards addressed His own preaching. There is something indescribably divine and touching in the care of God to satisfy the secret yearnings of individuals, at the same time when He is occupying Himself with the eternal salvation of millions. Man overlooks the masses in the individual, or neglects the individual in the masses; God equally comprehends the interests of both in His arrangements.

3. The glory of the Lord, which shone round the shepherds, consisted not alone in the dazzling brightness of the angel, but was manifested by the fact of his appearing, at such a moment, in such a place, to such men. An angel announces the birth of Jesus; no such announcement distinguishes the birth of John; and thus it is made evident from the very first, how much the King surpasses the forerunner. But for this angelic manifestation, how could the glad tidings have been communicated with infallible certainty, and who could have been more worthy of so august a proclamation than the Word made flesh? Yet the angel appears not in the manger, but visits the shepherds in the silent night-watches, in the open field; a circumstance which powerfully testifies, that the greatness which is to distinguish the Lord’s coming is a silent and hidden greatness. He appears to shepherds: God has chosen the mean things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. He speaks too in a manner suited to their comprehension and to their need, and impresses on the first preaching of the gospel that character indelebilis of all its after-announcements: “Great joy.” Surely we can hardly fail to perceive here also, somewhat of the πολυποικιλος σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ, spoken of in Eph_3:10.

4. The Redeemer is here called Saviour, not Jesus. This name was first to be bestowed upon Him eight days later, in the rite of circumcision.—Born unto you: the word must have directed the attention of the shepherds to the fact, that a supply for the felt necessity of each individual soul was now provided. The sign granted to them is so peculiarly an exercise of their faith, that we might almost imagine we heard the new-born Saviour exclaim to those who were the first to come unto Him: “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.”

[5. From Dr. Richard Clerke (abridged): God has in every birth His admirable work. But God to be a child, Θεὸς ἐγγάστριος, God in a woman’s womb, that is the miraculum miraculorum. The great God to be a little babe (μέγας Θεὸς μικρὸν βρέφος, St. Basil); the Ancient of days to become an infant (co-infantiari, St. Irenæus); the King of eternity to be two or three months old (βασιλεὺς αἰώνων to be bimestris, trimestris), the Almighty Jehovah to be a weak man; God immeasurably great, whom heaven and earth cannot contain, to be a babe a span long; He that rules the stars to suck a woman’s nipple (regens sidera—sugens ubera, Augustine); the founder of the heavens rocked in a cradle; the swayer of the world swathed in infant bands;—it is ἔργον ἀπιστότατον, a Greek father says, a most incredible thing. The earth wondered, at Christ’s Nativity, to see a new star in heaven; but heaven might rather wonder to see a new Sun on earth.—P. S.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The “quiet in the land,” not forgotten of God.—The glory of the Lord shining in the fields of Bethlehem.—The glory of God,—1. majesty, 2. Wisdom , 3. love, 4. holiness,—seen in the angelic appearance at the birth of Jesus.—The angel a model for all preachers, the shepherds a pattern for all hearers, of the Christmas message.—The gospel, though centuries old, an ever new gospel: 1. The hearers, Luk_2:8; Luke 2. the preachers, Luk_2:9; Luke 3. the key-note, Luk_2:10; Luke 4. the principal contents, Luk_2:11; Luke 5. the sign, Luk_2:12.—No fear which may not be exchanged for great joy by the glad tidings of a Saviour; but also, no great joy can truly pervade the heart, unless preceded by fear.—The message of Christmas night, a joyful message for the poor in spirit.—The Christmas festival, a festival for the whole world; 1. this it is designed to be; 2. this it can be; 3. this it must be; 4. this it will be.—The child in the manger, 1. the Son of David; 2. the Lord of David; 3. the Lord of David because He was born His Son.—The shepherds of Bethlehem, themselves sheep of the Good Shepherd.

Starke:—With God is no respect of persons.—Majus:—The glory of the Lord, of which the proud see nothing, shines round about the lowly.—The servants and messengers of the Lord must walk in the light.—Osiander:—The birth of Christ a remedy against slavish fear.—Divine revelation does not supersede our own diligence, investigation, and research, but extends to them a helping hand.

Heubner:—Everything here turns upon, 1. Who the new-born child Isaiah 2. for whom He is born; 3. and where.—Christmas joys, a foretaste and pledge of the joys of heaven.

Harless:—In Christ is joy for all the world; viz., 1. the divine message for the lowly; 2. the consolation for the fearful; 3. the satisfying of the individual yearnings; and 4. the appearance of the Salvation of the whole world.

Palmer:—The three embassies of God: He sends, 1. His Son to redeem us; 2. His angels to announce Him; 3. men to behold Him.

Hofacker:—The extensive prospect opened to our faith at Christ’s birth: 1. How far backward; 2. how high upward; 3. how far forward, it teaches us to look!—What should a heart filled with the devout spirit of Christmas consider? 1. The excellence of the first Christmas preacher; 2. the humility of the hearers; 3. the importance of the angelic Christmas sermon.

Couard:—Unto you is born this day a Saviour: 1. A Saviour is born; 2. a Saviour is born; 3. a Saviour is born unto you; 4. a Saviour is born unto you to-day.

Van Oosterzee:—The light appearing in the night.—The birth of Jesus a light in the darkness, 1. of ignorance; 2. of sin; 3. of affliction; 4. of death.

Thomasius:—The birth of the Lord in its relation to the history of the world: 1. As the end of the old world; 2. as the beginning of the new.

Arndt:—The first Christmas sermon. Nothing less is incumbent upon us than, 1. to understand it; 2. to believe it; 3. to obey it.

Footnotes:

[13]Luk_2:10.—Παντὶ τῷ λαῷ. The omission of the article in the Authorized Version unduly generalizes the sense. The people of Israel are here meant, for whom the angelic message was first, though, of course, not exclusively, intended.

[14]Luk_2:12.—̓Εσπαργανωμένον, swathed, or wrapped up in swaddling clothes or swathing bands. The paraphrastic rendering of the English Version from Tyndale to James was perhaps suggested by that of Erasmus: fasciis involutum. See Luk_2:7.

[15]Luk_2:12.—The usual reading καὶ before κείμενον has no sufficient critical authority and was inserted to connect the two participles. Cod. Sinait. omits also κείμενον and reads simply βρέφος ἐσπαργανωμένον ἐν φάτνῃ.

[16]Luk_2:12.—The definite article τῇ before φάτνη in the text. rec. is wanting in the best authorities, also in Cod. Sin., and cancelled by the modern critical editors.—P. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luke

SHEPHERDS AND ANGELS

Luk 2:8 - Luk 2:20.

The central portion of this passage is, of course, the angels’ message and song, the former of which proclaims the transcendent fact of the Incarnation, and the latter hymns its blessed results. But, subsidiary to these, the silent vision which preceded them and the visit to Bethlehem which followed are to be noted. Taken together, they cast varying gleams on the great fact of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Why should there be a miraculous announcement at all, and why should it be to these shepherds? It seems to have had no effect beyond a narrow circle and for a time. It was apparently utterly forgotten when, thirty years after, the carpenter’s Son began His ministry. Could such an event have passed from memory, and left no ripple on the surface? Does not the resultlessness cast suspicion on the truthfulness of the narrative? Not if we duly give weight to the few who knew of the wonder; to the length of time that elapsed, during which the shepherds and their auditors probably died; to their humble position, and to the short remembrance of extraordinary events which have no immediate consequences. Joseph and Mary were strangers in Bethlehem. Christ never visited it, so far as we know. The fading of the impression cannot be called strange, for it accords with natural tendencies; but the record of so great an event, which was entirely ineffectual as regards future acceptance of Christ’s claims, is so unlike legend that it vouches for the truth of the narrative. An apparent stumbling-block is left, because the story is true.

Why then, the announcement at all, since it was of so little use? Because it was of some; but still more, because it was fitting that such angel voices should attend such an event, whether men gave heed to them or not; and 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.

The selection of two or three peasants as receivers of the message, the time at which it was given, and the place, are all significant. It was no unmeaning fact that the ‘glory of the Lord’ shone lambent round the shepherds, and held them and the angel standing beside them in its circle of light. No longer within the secret shrine, but out in the open field, the symbol of the Divine Presence glowed through the darkness; for that birth hallowed common life, and brought the glory of God into familiar intercourse with its secularities and smallnesses. The appearance to these humble men as they ‘sat simply chatting in a rustic row ‘symbolised the destination of the Gospel for all ranks and classes.

The angel speaks by the side of the shepherds, not from above. His gentle encouragement ‘Fear not!’ not only soothes their present terror, but has a wider meaning. The dread of the Unseen, which lies coiled like a sleeping snake in all hearts, is utterly taken away by the Incarnation. All messages from that realm are thenceforward ‘tidings of great joy,’ and love and desire may pass into it, as all men shall one day pass, and both enterings may be peaceful and confident. Nothing harmful can come out of the darkness, from which Jesus has come, into which He has passed, and which He fills.

The great announcement, the mightiest, most wonderful word that had ever passed angels’ immortal lips, is characterised as ‘great joy’ to ‘all the people,’ in which designation two things are to be noted-the nature and the limitation of the message. In how many ways the Incarnation was to be the fountain of purest gladness was but little discerned, either by the heavenly messenger or the shepherds. The ages since have been partially learning it, but not till the ‘glorified joy’ of heaven swells redeemed hearts will all its sorrow-dispelling power be experimentally known. Base joys may be basely sought, but His creatures’ gladness is dear to God, and if sought in God’s way, is a worthy object of their efforts.

The world-wide sweep of the Incarnation does not appear here, but only its first destination for Israel. This is manifest in the phrase ‘all the people,’ in the mention of ‘the city of David’ and in the emphatic ‘you,’ in contradistinction both from the messenger, who announced what he did not share, and Gentiles, to whom the blessing was not to pass till Israel had determined its attitude to it.

The titles of the Infant tell something of the wonder of the birth, but do not unfold its overwhelming mystery. Magnificent as they are, they fall far short of ‘The Word was made flesh.’ They keep within the circle of Jewish expectation, and announce that the hopes of centuries are fulfilled. There is something very grand in the accumulation of titles, each greater than the preceding, and all culminating in that final ‘Lord.’ Handel has gloriously given the spirit of it in the crash of triumph with which that last word is pealed out in his oratorio. ‘Saviour’ means far more than the shepherds knew; for it declares the Child to be the deliverer from all evil, both of sin and sorrow, and the endower with all good, both of righteousness and blessedness. The ‘Christ’ claims that He is the fulfiller of prophecy, perfectly endowed by divine anointing for His office of prophet, priest, and king-the consummate flower of ancient revelation, greater than Moses the law-giver, than Solomon the king, than Jonah the prophet. ‘The Lord’ is scarcely to be taken as the ascription of divinity, but rather as a prophecy of authority and dominion, implying reverence, but not unveiling the deepest secret of the entrance of the divine Son into humanity. That remained unrevealed, for the time was not yet ripe.

There would be few children of a day old in a little place like Bethlehem, and none but one lying in a manger. The fact of the birth, which could be verified by sight, would confirm the message in its outward aspect, and thereby lead to belief in the angel’s disclosure of its inward character. The ‘sign’ attested the veracity of the messenger, and therefore the truth of all his word-both of that part of it capable of verification by sight and that part apprehensible by faith.

No wonder that the sudden light and music of the multitude of the heavenly host’ flashed and echoed round the group on the hillside. The true picture is not given when we think of that angel choir as floating in heaven. They stood in their serried ranks round the shepherds and their fellows on the solid earth, and ‘the night was filled with music,’ not from overhead, but from every side. Crowding forms became all at once visible within the encircling ‘glory,’ on every face wondering gladness and eager sympathy with men, from every lip praise. Angels can speak with the tongues of men when their theme is their Lord become man, and their auditors are men. They hymn the blessed results of that birth, the mystery of which they knew more completely than they were yet allowed to tell.

As was natural for them, their praise is first evoked by the result of the Incarnation in the highest heavens. It will bring ‘glory to God’ there; for by it new aspects of His nature are revealed to those clear-eyed and immortal spirits who for unnumbered ages have known His power, His holiness, His benignity to unfallen creatures, but now experience the wonder which more properly belongs to more limited intelligences, when they behold that depth of condescending Love stooping to be born. Even they think more loftily of God, and more of man’s possibilities and worth, when they cluster round the manger, and see who lies there.

‘On earth peace.’ The song drops from the contemplation of the heavenly consequences to celebrate the results on earth, and gathers them all into one pregnant word, ‘Peace.’ What a scene of strife, discord, and unrest earth must seem to those calm spirits! And how vain and petty the struggles must look, like the bustle of an ant-hill! Christ’s work is to bring peace into all human relations, those with God, with men, with circumstances, and to calm the discords of souls at war with themselves. Every one of these relations is marred by sin, and nothing less thorough than a power which removes it can rectify them. That birth was the coming into humanity of Him who brings peace with God, with ourselves, with one another. Shame on Christendom that nineteen centuries have passed, and men yet think the cessation of war is only a ‘pious imagination’! The ringing music of that angel chant has died away, but its promise abides.

The symmetry of the song is best preserved, as I humbly venture to think, by the old reading as in the Authorised Version. The other, represented by the Revised Version, seems to make the second clause drag somewhat, with two designations of the region of peace. The Incarnation brings God’s ‘good will’ to dwell among men. In Christ, God is well pleased; and from Him incarnate, streams of divine complacent love pour out to freshen and fertilise the earth.

The disappearance of the heavenly choristers does not seem to have been so sudden as their appearance. They ‘went away from them into heaven,’ as if leisurely, and so that their ascending brightness was long visible as they rose, and attestation was thereby given to the reality of the vision. The sleeping village was close by, and as soon as the last gleam of the departing light had faded in the depths of heaven, the shepherds went ‘with haste,’ untimely as was the hour. They would not have much difficulty in finding the inn and the manger. Note that they do not tell their story till the sight has confirmed the angel message. Their silence was not from doubt; for they say, before they had seen the child, that ‘this thing’ is ‘come to pass,’ and are quite sure that the Lord has told it them. But they wait for the evidence which shall assure others of their truthfulness.

There are three attitudes of mind towards God’s revelation set forth in living examples in the closing verses of the passage. Note the conduct of the shepherds, as a type of the natural impulse and imperative duty of all possessors of God’s truth. Such a story as they had to tell would burn its way to utterance in the most reticent and shyest. But have Christians a less wonderful message to deliver, or a less needful one? If the spectators of the cradle could not be silent, how impossible it ought to be for the witnesses of the Cross to lock their lips!

The hearers of the story did what, alas! too many of us do with the Gospel. ‘They wondered,’ and stopped there. A feeble ripple of astonishment ruffled the surface of their souls for a moment; but like the streaks on the sea made by a catspaw of wind, it soon died out, and the depths were unaffected by it.

The antithesis to this barren wonder is the beautiful picture of the Virgin’s demeanour. She ‘kept all these sayings, and pondered them in her heart.’ What deep thoughts the mother of the Lord had, were hers alone. But we have the same duty to the truth, and it will never disclose its inmost sweetness to us, nor take so sovereign a grip of our very selves as to mould our lives, unless we too treasure it in our hearts, and by patient brooding on it understand its hidden harmonies, and spread our souls out to receive its transforming power. A non-meditative religion is a shallow religion. But if we hide His word in our hearts, and often in secret draw out our treasure to count and weigh it, we shall be able to speak out of a full heart, and like these shepherds, to rejoice that we have seen even as it was spoken unto us.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 5

THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.- Luk_2:8-21

THE Gospel of St. Mark omits entirely the Nativity, passing at once to the words and miracles of His public ministry. St. John, too, dismisses the Advent and the earlier years of the Divine Life with one solitary phrase, how the Word, which in the beginning was with God and was God, "became flesh and dwelt among us". {Joh_1:14} St. Luke, however, whose Gospel is the Gospel of the Humanity, lingers reverently over the Nativity, throwing a variety of side-lights upon the cradle of the Holy Child. Already has he shown how the Roman State prepared the cradle of the Infancy, and how Caesar Augustus unconsciously wrought out the purpose of God, the breath of his imperial decree being but part of a higher inspiration; and now he proceeds to show how the shepherds of Judaea bring the greetings of the Hebrew world, the wave-sheaf of the ripening harvests of homage which yet will be laid, by Jew and Gentile alike, at the feet of Him who was Son of David and Son of man.

It is generally supposed that these anonymous shepherds were residents of Bethlehem, and tradition has fixed the exact spot where they were favored with this Advent Apocalypse, about a thousand paces from the modern village. It is a historic fact that there was a tower near that site, called Eder, or "the Tower of the Flock," around which were pastured the flocks destined for the Temple sacrifice; but the topography of ver. Luk_2:8 is purposely vague. The expression "in that same country," written by one who both in years and in distance was far removed from the events recorded, would describe any circle within the radius of a few miles from Bethlehem as its center, and the very vagueness of the expression seems to push back the scene of the Advent music to a farther distance than a thousand paces. And this view is confirmed by the language of the shepherds themselves, who, when the vision has faded, say one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass"; for they scarcely would have needed, or used, the adverbial "even" were they keeping their flocks so close up to the walls of the city. We may therefore infer, with some amount of probability, that whether the shepherds were residents of Bethlehem or not, when they kept watch over their flocks, it was not on the traditional site, but farther away over the hills. Indeed, it is difficult, and very often impossible, for us to fix the precise locality of these sacred scenes, these bright points of intersection, where Heavens glories flash out against the dull carbon-points of earth; and the voices of tradition are at best but doubtful guesses. It would almost seem as if God Himself had wiped out these memories, hiding them away, as He hid the sepulcher of Moses, lest the world should pay them too great a homage, and lest we might think that one place lay nearer to heaven than another, when all places are equally distant, or rather equally near. It is enough to know that somewhere on these lonely hills came the vision of the angels, perhaps on the very spot where David was minding his sheep when Heaven summoned him to a higher task, passing him up among the kings.

While the shepherds were "watching the watches of the night over their flock," as the Evangelist expresses it, referring to the pastoral custom of dividing the night into watches, and keeping watch by turns, suddenly "an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them." When the angel appeared to Zacharias, and when Gabriel brought to Mary her evangel, we do not read of any supernatural portent, any celestial glory, attending them. Possibly because their appearances were in the broad daylight, when the glory would be masked, invisible; but now, in the dead of night, the angelic form is bright and luminous, throwing all around them a sort of heavenly halo, in which even the lustrous Syrian stars grow dim. Dazzled by the sudden burst of glory, the shepherds were awed by the vision, and stricken with a great fear, until the angel, borrowing the tones and accents of their own speech, addressed to them his message, the message he had been commissioned to bring: "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." And then he gave them a sign by which they might recognize the Savior Lord: "Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger."

From the indefinite wording of the narrative we should infer that the angel who brought the message to the shepherds was not Gabriel, who had before brought the good tidings to Mary. But whether or not the messenger was the same, the two messages are almost identical in structure and in thought, the only difference being the personal element of the equation, and the shifting of the time from the future to the present tense. Both strike the same key-note, the "Fear not" with which they seek to still the vibrations of the heart, that the Virgin and the shepherds may not have their vision blurred and tremulous through the agitation of the mind. Both make mention of the name of David, which name was the key-word which unlocked all Messianic hopes. Both speak of the Child as a Savior-though Gabriel wraps up the title within the name, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus"; for, as St. Matthew explains it, "it is He that shall save His people from their sins." Both, too, speak of Him as the Messiah; for when the angel now calls Him the "Christ" it was the same "Anointed" one who, as Gabriel had said, "should reign over the house of Jacob for ever"; while in the last august title now given by the angel, "Lord," we may recognize the higher Divinity-that He is, in some unique, and to us incomprehensible sense, "the Son of the Most High". {Mt 1} Such, then, is the triple crown the angel now bears to the cradle of the Holy Child. What He will be to the world is still but a prophecy; but as He, the Firstborn, is now brought into the world, God commands all the angels to worship Him; {Heb_1:6} and with united voice-though the antiphon rings back over a nine months silence-they salute the Child of Bethlehem as Savior, Messiah, Lord. The one title sets up His throne facing the lower world, commanding the powers of darkness, and looking at the moral conditions of men; the second throws the shadow of His throne over the political relations of men, making it dominate all thrones; while the third title sets up His throne facing the heavens themselves, vesting Him with a supreme, a Divine authority.

No sooner was the message ended than 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 among men in whom He is well pleased."

The Revised Version lacks the rhythmic qualities of the Authorized Version; and the wordy clause "among men in whom He is well pleased" seems but a poor substitute for the terse and clear "good-will toward men," which is an expression easy of utterance, and which seemed to have earned a prescriptive right to a place in our Advent music. The revised rendering, however, is certainly more in accord with the grammatical construction of the original, whose idiomatic form can scarcely be put into English, except in a way somewhat circuitous and involved. In both expressions the underlying thought is the same, representing man as the object of the Divine good-pleasure, that Divine "benevolence"-using the word in its etymological sense-which enfolds, in the germ, the Divine favor, compassion, mercy, and love. There is thus a triple parallelism running through the song, the "Glory to God in the highest" finding its corresponding terms in the "peace among (or to) men in whom He is well pleased on earth"; while altogether it forms one complete circle of praise, the "good-pleasure to man," the "peace on earth," the "glory to God" marking off its three segments, And so the song harmonizes with the message: indeed, it is that message in an altered shape; no longer walking in common prosaic ways, but winged now, it moves in its higher circles with measured beat, leaving a path from the cradle of the Infancy to the highest heavens all strewn with "Glorias." And what is the triplicity of the song but another rendering of the three august titles of the message-Savior, Messiah, Lord? The "Savior" being the expression of the Divine good-pleasure; the "Messiah" telling of His reign upon earth who is Himself the Prince of peace; while the "Lord," which, as we have seen, corresponds with "the Son of the Most High," leads us up directly to the "heavenlies," to Him who commands and who deserves all doxologies.

But is this song only a song in some far-distant sky-a sweet memory indeed, but no experience? Is it not rather the original from which copies may be struck for our individual lives? There is for each of us an advent, if we will accept it; for what is regeneration but the beginning of the Divine life within our life, the advent of the Christ Himself? And let but that supreme hour come to us when place and room are made for Him who is at once the expression of the Divine favor and the incarnation of the Divine love, and the new era dawns, the reign of peace, the "peace of God," because the "peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Then will the heart throw off its "Glorias," not in one burst of song, which subsides quickly into silence, but in one perpetual anthem, which ever becomes more loud and sweet as the day of its perfected redemption draweth nigh; for when the Divine displeasure is turned away, and a Divine peace or comfort takes its place, who can but say, "O Lord, I will praise Thee?"

Directly the angel-song had ceased, and the singers had disappeared in the deep silence whence they came, the shepherds, gathering up their scattered thoughts, said one to another (as if their hearts were speaking all at once and all in unison), "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us." The response was immediate: They do not shut out this heavenly truth by doubt and vain questioning; they do not keep it at a distance from them, as if it only indirectly and distantly concerned themselves, but yield themselves up to it entirely; and as they go hastily to Bethlehem, in the quick step and in the rapid beating of their heart, we can trace the vibrations of the angel-song. And why is this? Why is it that the message does not come upon them as a surprise? Why are these men ready with such a perfect acquiescence, their hearts leaping forward to meet and embrace this Gospel of the angels? We shall probably find our answer in the character of the men themselves. They pass into history unnamed; and after playing their brief part, they disappear, lost in the incense-cloud of their own praises. But evidently these shepherds were no mean, no common men. They were Hebrews, possibly of the royal line; at any rate they were Davids in their loftiness of thought, of hope and aspiration. They were devout, God-fearing men. Like their father Jacob, they too were citizens of two worlds; they could lead their flocks into green pastures, and mend the fold; or they could turn aside from flock and fold to wrestle with Gods angels, and prevail. Heavens revelations come to noble minds, as the loftiest peaks are always the first to hail the dawn. And can we suppose that Heaven would so honor them, lighting up the sky with an aureole of glory for their sole benefit, sending this multitude to sing to them a sweet chorale, if the men themselves had nothing heavenly about them, if their selfish, sordid mind could soar no higher than their flocks, and have no wider range than the markets for their wool?

"Let but a flute Play neath the fine-mixed metal; Then shall the huge bell tremble, then the mass With myriad waves concurrent shalt respond In low, soft unison."

But there must be the music hidden within, or there is no unison. And we may be sure of this, that the angel-song had passed by them as a cold night-wind, had not their hearts been tuned up by intense desire, until they struck responsive to the angel-voice. Though they knew it not, they had led their flock to the mount of God; and up the steps of sacred hopes and lofty aspirations they had climbed, until their lives had got within the circle of heavenly harmonies, and they were worthy to be the first apostles of the New Dispensation.

In our earthly modes of thinking we push the sacred and the secular far apart, as if they were two different worlds, or, at any rate, as opposite hemispheres of the same world, with but few points of contact between them. It is not so. The secular is the sacred on its under, its earth ward side. It is a part of that great whole we call duty, and in our earthly callings, if they are but pure and honest, we may hear the echoes of a heavenly call. The temple of Worship and the temple of Work are not separated by indefinable spaces; they are contiguous, leaning upon each other, while they both front the same Divine purpose. Nor can it be simply a coincidence that Heavens revelations should nearly always come to man in the moments of earthly toil, rather than in the hours of leisure or of so-called worship. It was from his shepherding the burning bush beckoned Moses aside; while Heavens messenger found Gideon on the threshing-floor, and Elisha in the furrow. In the New Testament, too, in all the cases whose circumstances are recorded, the Divine call reached the disciples when engaged in their every-day task, sitting at the receipt of custom, and casting or mending their nets. The fact is significant. In the estimate of Heaven, instead of a discount being put upon the common tasks of life, those tasks are dignified and ennobled. They look towards heaven, and if the heart be only set in that direction they lead too up towards heaven. Our weeks are not unlike the sheet of Peters vision; we take care to tie up the two ends, attaching them to heaven, and then we leave what we call the "week-days" bulging down earthward in purely secular fashion. But would not our weeks, and our whole life, swing on a higher and holier level, could we but recognize the fact that all days are the Lords days, and did we but attach each day and each deed to heaven? Such is the truest, noblest life, that takes the "trivial rounds" as a part of its sacred duties, doing them all as unto the Lord. So, as we sanctify lifes common things, they cease to be common, and the earthly becomes less earthly as we learn to see more of heaven in it. In the weaving of our life some of its threads stretch earthward, and some heavenward; but they cross and interlace, and together they form the warp and woof of one fabric, which should be, like the garment of the Master, without seam, woven from the top throughout. Happy is that life which, keeping an open eye over the flock, keeps too a heart open towards heaven, ready to listen to the angelic music, and ready to transfer its rhythm to their own hastening feet or their praising lips.

Our Evangelist tells us that they "came in haste" in search of the young Child, and we may almost detect that haste in the very accents of their speech. It is, "Let us now go across even to Bethlehem," allowing the prefix its proper meaning; as if their eager hearts could not stay to go round by the ordinary road, but like bees scenting a field of clover, they too must make their cross-country way to Bethlehem. Though the angel had not given explicit directions, the city of David was not so large but that they could easily discover the object of their search-the Child, as had been told them, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. It has been thought by some that the "inn" is a mistranslation, and that it really was the "guest-chamber" of some friend. It is true the word is rendered "guest-chamber" on the other two occasions of its use, {Mar_14:14, Luk_22:11} but it also signified a public guest-house, as well as a private guest-chamber; and such evidently is its meaning here, for private hospitality, even had its "guest-chamber" been preoccupied, would certainly, under the circumstances, have offered something more human than a stable. That would not have been its only alternative.

It is an interesting coincidence, and one serving to link together the Old and the New Testament, that Jeremiah speaks of a certain geruth, or inn, as it may read, "which is by Bethlehem". {Jer_41:17} How it came into the possession of Chimham, who was a Gileadite, we are not told; but we are told that because of the kindness shown to David in his exile by Barzillai, his son Chimham received special marks of the royal favor, and was, in fact, treated almost as an adopted son. {1Ki_2:7} What is certain is that the khan of Bethlehem bore, for successive generations, the name of Chimham; which fact is in itself evidence that Chimham was its builder, as the well of Jacob retained, through all the changes of inheritance, the name of the patriarch whose thought and gift it was. In all probability, therefore, the "inn" was built by Chimham, on that part of the paternal estate which David inherited; and as the khans of the East cling with remarkable tenacity to their original sites, it is probable, to say the least, that the "inn of Chimham" and the inn of Bethlehem, in which there was no room for the two late comers from Nazareth, were, if not identical, at any rate related structures-so strangely does the cycle of history complete itself, and the Old merge into the New. And so, while Prophecy sings audibly and sweetly of the place which yet shall give birth to the Governor who shall rule over Israel, History puts up her silent hand, and salutes Bethlehem Ephratah as by no means the least among the cities of Judah.

But not in the inn do the shepherds find the happy parents-the springtide of the unusual immigration had completely flooded that, leaving no standing-place for the son and daughter of David-but they find them in a stable, probably in some adjoining cave, the swaddled Child, as the angels had foretold, lying in the manger. Art has lingered reverently and long over this stable scene, hiding with exquisite draperies its baldness and meanness, and lighting up its darkness with wreaths of golden glory; but these splendors are apocryphal, existing only in the mind of the beholder; they are the luminous mist of an adoring love. What the shepherds do find is an extemporized apartment, mean in the extreme; two strangers fresh from Nazareth, both young and both poor; and a new-born infant asleep in the manger, with a group of sympathizing spectators, who have brought, in the emergency, all kinds of proffered helps. It seems a strange ending for an angel-song, a far drop from the superhuman to the subhuman. Will it shake the faith of these apostle-shepherds? Will it shatter their bright hope? And chagrined that their auroral dream should have so poor a realization, will they return to their flocks with heavy hearts and sad? Not they. They prostrate themselves before the Infant Presence, repeating over and over the heavenly words the angels had spoken unto them concerning the Child, and while Mary announces the name as "Jesus," they salute Him, as the angels had greeted Him before, as Savior, Messiah, Lord; thus putting on the head of the Child Jesus that triple crown, symbol of a supremacy which knows no limit either in space or time. It was the "Te Deum" of a redeemed humanity, which succeeding years have only made more deep, more full, and which in ever-rising tones will yet grow into the Alleluias of the heavens. Savior, Messiah, Lord! These titles struck upon Marys ear not with surprise, for she has grown accustomed to surprises now, but with a thrill of wonder. She could not yet spell out all their deep meaning, and so she pondered "them in her heart," hiding them away in her maternal soul, that their deep secrets might ripen and blossom in the summer of the after-years.

The shepherds appear no more in the Gospel story. We see them returning to their task "glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen," and then the mantle of a deep silence falls upon them. As a lark, rising heavenward, loses itself from our sight, becoming a sweet song in the sky, so these anonymous shepherds, these first disciples of the Lord, having laid their tribute at His feet-in the name of humanity saluting the Christ who was to be-now pass out of our sight, leaving for us the example of their heavenward look and their simple faith, and leaving, too, their "Glorias," which in multiplied reverberations fill all lands and all times, the earthly prelude of the New, the eternal Song.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

2:8 Shepherds were sometimes portrayed in Judaism as drifters and dishonest troublemakers. This stereotype was not universal, however; in the Old Testament, shepherds are usually viewed positively (e.g., Ps 23:1). Jesus came to common people such as these poor and humble peasants. • staying in the fields: This suggests warmer months of the year, perhaps March through November, though some shepherds stayed out year-round. The actual month of Jesus’ birth is unknown. • They were guarding their flocks against thieves and wild animals.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 2:8. Χώρᾳ, region) in which David also had fed his sheep.—φυλακὰς, watch [plur.]) by turns.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_2:8 f. Ποιμένες] not οἱ ποιμένες.

ἀγραυλοῦντες] staying out in the open fields; Plut. Numbers 4; Parthen. Erot. xxix. 1, and the ποιμένες ἄγραυλοι already in Homer, Il. xviii. 162.

φυλάσσ. φυλακάς] often conjoined also among the Greek writers; Plat. Phaedr. p. 240 E; Xen. Anab. ii. 6. 10, and the passages in Kypke. Comp. שָׁמַו מִשְׁמָרו̇ח, Num_1:53, al. The plural applies to the different watch-stations.

τῆς νυκτός] not belonging to φυλακάς, but: by night, definition of time for ἀγραυλ. and φυλάσσ.

According to this statement, Jesus cannot have been born in December, in the middle of the rainy season (Robinson, Pal. II. p. 505 f.), as has been since the fourth century supposed with a probable joining on of the festival to the Natales solis invicti (see Gieseler, Kirchengesch. I. 2, p. 287 f. ed. 4). Just as little can He have been born on the sixth day of January, which in the East was even earlier fixed as the festival of the birth and baptism (still other times fixed as the day of birth may be seen in Clement Al. Strom. I. p. 339 f. Sylb.). According to the Rabbins, the driving forth of the flocks took place in March, the bringing in of them in November (see Lightfoot); and if this is established at least as the usual course, it certainly is not in favour of the hypothesis (Wieseler) that Jesus was born in February (750), and necessitates precarious accessory assumptions.

ἐπέστη] Comp. Luk_24:4; Act_12:7; Act_17:5. In the classical writers it is used also of theophanies, of appearances in dreams, and the like, frequently since Homer (Il. xxiii. 106, x. 496), denoting their sudden emergence, which nevertheless is implied not in the word in itself, but in the text.

δόξα κυρίου], בְּבוֹד יְהֹוָה radiance by which God is surrounded. Comp. Ewald, ad Apoc. p. 311. Gods glorious radiance (comp. Act_7:2) had streamed down with the angel. In omni humiliatione Christi per deeoram quandam protestationem cautum est gloriae ejus divinae, Bengel.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 2:8-13 . The shepherds and the angels .

Luk 2:8 . ποιμένες , shepherds, without article; no connection between them and the birthplace. ἀγραυλοῦντες ( ἀγρός , αὐλή , here only), bivouacking, passing the night in the open air; implying naturally a mild time of the year between March and November. In winter the flocks were in fold.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The appearing of the angels: Luk 2:8-14.—“The gospel is preached to the poor.” The following narrative contains the first application of this divine method. Luk 2:8-9 relate the appearing of the angel to the shepherds; Luk 2:10-12, his discourse; Luk 2:13-14, the song of the heavenly host.

Vers. 8 and 9. Among the Jews, the occupation of keepers of sheep was held in a sort of contempt. According to the treatise Sanhedrin, they were not to be admitted as witnesses; and according to the treatise Aboda Zara, succour must not be given to shepherds and heathen.—᾿Αγραυλεῖν, properly, to make his ἀγρός his αὐλή, his field his abode. Columella (De re rusticâ) describes these αὐλαί as enclosures surrounded by high walls, sometimes covered in, and sometimes sub dio (open to the sky). As it is said in a passage in the Talmud that the flocks are kept in the open air during the portion of the year between the Passover and the early autumnal rains, it has been inferred from this narrative of the shepherds that Jesus must have been born during the summer. Wieseler, however, observes that this Talmudic determination of the matter applies to the season passed by the flocks out on the steppes, far away from human dwellings. The flocks in this case were not so.

In the expression φυλάσσειν φυλακάς, the plural φυλακάς perhaps denotes that they watched in turns. The genitive τῆς νυκτός must be taken adverbially: the watch, such as is kept by night. ᾿Ιδού (Luk 2:9) is omitted by the Alex. But it is probably authentic; it depicts the surprise of the shepherds.—᾿Επέστη does not signify that the angel stood above them (comp. ἐπιστᾶσα, Luk 2:38). It is our survenir (to come unexpectedly). We must translate, as in Luk 1:11, an angel, not the angel. This is proved by the article ὁ at Luk 2:10 (see Luk 1:13). By the glory of the Lord must be here understood, as generally, the supernatural light with which God appears, whether personally or by His representatives.

Vers. 10-12. The angel first announces the favourable nature of his message; for at the sight of any supernatural appearance man’s first feeling is fear.— ῞Ητις, “which, inasmuch as great, is intended for the whole people.”

Ver. 11, the message itself. By the title Saviour, in connection with the idea of joy (Luk 2:10), is expressed the pity angels feel at the sight of the miserable state of mankind. The title Christ, anointed, refers to the prophecies which announce this Person, and the long expectation He comes to satisfy. The title Lord indicates that He is the representative of the divine sovereignty. This latter title applies also to His relation to the angels. The periphrasis, the city of David, hints that this child will be a second David.

Ver. 12, the sign by means of which the shepherds may determine the truth of this message. This sign has nothing divine about it but its contrast with human glory. There could not have been many other children born that night in Bethlehem; and among these, if there were any, no other certainly would have a manger for its cradle.

Vers. 13 and 14. The troop of angels issues forth all at once from the depths of that invisible world which surrounds us on every side. By their song they come to give the key-note of the adoration of mankind. The variation of some Alex. and of the Latin translations, which read the gen. εὐδοκίας instead of the nom. εὐδοκία, is preferred in the modern exegesis: “peace to the men of goodwill.” In this case the song divides itself into two parallel propositions, whether the words and on earth be referred to that which precedes, “Glory to God in the highest places and on earth; peace to the men of goodwill;” or, which is certainly preferable, they be connected with what follows, “Glory to God in the highest places; and on earth peace to the men of goodwill.” In this second interpretation the parallelism is complete: the three ideas, peace, men, on earth, in the second member, answer to the three ideas, glory, God, in the highest places, in the first. Men make their praise arise towards God in the heavens; God makes His peace descend towards them on the earth. The gen. εὐδοκίας, of goodwill, may refer to the pious dispositions towards God with which a part of mankind are animated. But this interpretation is hardly natural. Εὐδοκία, from εὐδοκεῖν, to delight in, א, denotes an entirely gracious goodwill, the initiative of which is in the subject who feels it. This term does not suit the relation of man to God, but only that of God to man. Therefore, with this reading, we must explain the words thus: Peace on earth to the men who are the objects of divine goodwill. But this use of the genitive is singularly rude, and almost barbarous; the men of goodwill, meaning those on whom goodwill rests..., is a mode of expression without any example. We are thus brought back to the reading of the T. R., present also in 14 Mjj., among which are L. and Z., which generally agree with the Alex., the Coptic translation, of which the same may be said, and the Peschito. With this reading, the song consists of three propositions, of which two are parallel, and the third forms a link between the two. In the first, glory to God in the highest places, the angels demand that, from the lower regions to which they have just come down, from the bosom of humanity, praise shall arise, which, ascending from heavens to heavens, shall reach at last the supreme sanctuary, the highest places, and there glorify the divine perfections that shine forth in this birth. The second, peace on earth, is the counterpart of the first. While inciting men to praise, the angels invoke on them peace from God. This peace is such as results from the reconciliation of man with God; it contains the cause of the cessation of all war here below. These two propositions are of the nature of a desire or prayer. The verb understood is ἔστω, let it be. The third, which is not connected with the preceding by any particle, proclaims the fact which is the ground of this two-fold prayer. If the logical connection were expressed, it would be by the word for. This fact is the extraordinary favour shown to men by God, and which is displayed in the gift He is bestowing upon them at this very time. The sense is, “for God takes pleasure in men.” In speaking thus, the angels seem to mean, God has not bestowed as much on us (Heb 2:16). The idea of εὐδοκία, goodwill, recalls the first proposition, “Glory to God!” whilst the expression towards men reminds us of the second, “Peace on earth!” For the word εὐδοκία, comp. Eph 1:5 and Php 2:13.

When the witnesses of the blessing sing, how could they who are the objects of it remain silent?

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Angels themselves declare to poor shepherds (nothing regarding the pride of the mighty) the Godhead and office of the child lying in the crib.

Lodging without doors, and open in the air.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 8. There were - shepherds abiding in the field] There is no intimation here that these shepherds were exposed to the open air. They dwelt in the fields where they had their sheep penned up; but they undoubtedly had tents or booths under which they dwelt.

Keeping watch - by night.] Or, as in the margin, keeping the watches of the night, i.e. each one keeping a watch (which ordinarily consisted of three hours) in his turn. The reason why they watched them in the field appears to have been, either to preserve the sheep from beasts of prey, such as wolves, foxes, c., or from freebooting banditti, with which all the land of Judea was at that time much infested. It was a custom among the Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts, about the passover, and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain: during the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As the passover occurred in the spring, and the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our October and November, we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole of the summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields nor could he have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact, which casts considerable light upon this disputed point. See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.

The time in which Christ was born has been considered a subject of great importance among Christians. However, the matter has been considered of no moment by Him who inspired the evangelists; as not one hint is dropped on the subject, by which it might be possible even to guess nearly to the time, except the chronological fact mentioned above. A late writer makes tho following remark: "The first Christians placed the baptism of Christ about the beginning of the fifteenth year of Tiberius; and thence reckoning back thirty years, they placed his birth in the forty-third year of the Julian period, the forty-second of Augustus, and the twenty-eighth after the victory at Actium. This opinion obtained till A. D. 527, when Dionysius Exiguus invented the vulgar account. Learned and pious men have trifled egregiously on this subject, making that of importance which the Holy Spirit, by his silence, has plainly informed them is of none. Fabricius gives a catalogue of no less than 136 different opinions concerning the YEAR of Christ's birth: and as to his birth DAY, that has been placed by Christian sects and learned men in every month in the year. The Egyptians placed it in January - Wagenseil, in February - Bochart, in March-some, mentioned by Clemens Alexandrinus, in April - others, in May - Epiphanius speaks of some who placed it in June - and of others who supposed it to have been in July - Wagenseil, who was not sure of February, fixed it probably in August - Lightfoot, on the 15th of September - Scaliger, Casaubon, and Calvisius, in October - others, in November - but the Latin Church, supreme in power, and infallible in judgment, placed it on the 25th of December, the very day on which the ancient Romans celebrated the feast of their goddess Bruma." See more in Robinson's Notes on Claude's Essay, vol. i. p. 275, &c. Pope Julius I. was the person who made this alteration, and it appears to have been done for this reason: the sun now began his return towards the northern tropic, ending the winter, lengthening the short days, and introducing the spring. All this was probably deemed emblematical of the rising of the Sun of righteousness on the darkness of this world, and causing the day-spring from on high to visit mankind.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8) Shepherds abiding in the field.—The fact has been thought, on the supposition that sheep were commonly folded during the winter months, to have a bearing adverse to the common traditional view which fixes December 25 as the day of the Nativity. At that season, it has been urged, the weather was commonly too inclement for shepherds and sheep to pass the night in the open air, and there was too little grass for pasturage. In summer, on the other hand, the grass on the hills is rapidly burnt up. The season at which the grass is greenest is that just before the Passover (Mar_6:39; Joh_6:10); and, on the whole, this appears the most probable date. The traditional season, which does not appear as such till the fourth century, may have been chosen for quite other reasons—possibly to displace the old Saturnalia, which coincided with the winter solstice. It is noticeable that the earliest Latin hymns connected with the festival of Christmas dwell on the birth as the rising of the Sun of Righteousness on the world’s wintry darkness.

Keeping watch.—Literally, keeping their night-watches, as in Mat_14:25. Who the shepherds were, or why they were thus chosen as the first to hear the glad tidings, we cannot know. Analogy suggests the thought that it was an answer to their prayers, the fulfilment of their hopes, that they, too, were looking for “the consolation of Israel.” We may venture, perhaps, to think of the shepherds of Bethlehem as cherishing the traditions of David’s shepherd-life, and the expectations which, as we know from Mat_2:5, Joh_7:42, were then current throughout Judæa—that the coming of the Christ was not far off, and that Bethlehem was to witness His appearing, as thus gaining a higher spiritual receptivity than others. The statement in the Mishna that the sheep intended for sacrifice in the Temple were pastured in the fields of Bethlehem, gives a special interest to the fact thus narrated, and may, perhaps, in part, explain the faith and devotion of the shepherds. They had been rejoicing, at the Paschal season, over the spring-tide birth of the lambs of their flocks. They now heard of the birth of “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (Joh_1:29).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8–20. The Angels to the Shepherds

8. in the same country] Tradition says that they were natives of the little village Beth-zur (Jos_15:58; Neh_3:16). They were feeding their flocks in the same fields from which David had been summoned to feed Jacob, God’s people, and Israel His inheritance.

shepherds] Why these were the first to whom was revealed the birth of Him who was called the Lamb of God, we are not told. The sheep used for the daily sacrifice were pastured in the fields of Bethlehem.

abiding in the field] This does not prove, as some have supposed, that the Nativity took place in spring, for in some pastures of Palestine the shepherds to this day bivouac with their flocks in winter.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there were in the same country shepherds,.... For Bethlehem was a place of pasture: near to Ephrata, the same with Bethlehem, were the fields of the wood, Psa 132:6 and the tower of Edar or the tower of the flock, Gen 35:21 and here David kept his father's sheep, Sa1 17:15 so that we need not wonder to hear of shepherds here,

abiding in the field, watching over their flock by night: from whence it appears, that Christ was born in the night; and the (o) Jews say, that the future redemption shall be in the night; and Jerom says (p), it is a tradition of the Jews, that Christ will come in the middle of the night, as was the passover in Egypt: it is not likely that he was born, as is commonly received, at the latter end of December, in the depth of winter; since at this time, shepherds were out in the fields, where they lodged all night, watching their flocks: they were diligent men, that looked well to their flocks, and watched them by night, as well as by day, to preserve them from beasts of prey; they were, as it is in the Greek text, "keeping the watches of the night over their flock." The night was divided into four watches, the even, midnight, cock crowing, and morning; and these kept them, as the Arabic version adds, alternately, some kept the flock one watch, and some another, while the rest slept in the tent, or tower, that was built in the fields for that purpose. There were two sorts of cattle with the Jews; there was one sort which they called "the cattle of the wilderness", that lay in the fields; and another sort which they called "the cattle of the house", that were brought up at home: concerning both which, they have this rule (q),

"they do not water nor slay the cattle of the wilderness, but they water and slay the cattle of the house: these are the cattle of the house, that lie in the city; the cattle of the wilderness, are they that lie in the pastures.

On which, one of their commentators (r) observes,

"these lie in the pastures, which are in the villages, all the days of cold and heat, and do not go into the cities, until the rains descend.

The first rain is in the month Marchesvan, which answers to the latter part of our October, and the former part of November; and of this sort, seem to be the flocks those shepherds were keeping by night, the time not being yet come, of their being brought into the city: from whence it appears, that Christ must be born before the middle of October, since the first rain was not yet come; concerning this, the Gemara (s) is more large,

"the Rabbins teach, that these are they of the wilderness, or fields, and these are they of the house; they of the field are they that go out on the passover, and feed in the pastures, and come in at the first rain; and these are they of the house, all that go out and feed without the border, and come and lie within the border (fixed for a sabbath day's journey): Rabbi says, those, and those are of the house; but these are they that are of the field, all they that go out and feed in the pastures, and do not come in to remain, neither in the days of the sun, nor in the days of the rains.

To the shepherds, the first notice of Christ's birth was given; not to the princes and chief priests, and learned men at Jerusalem, but to weak, mean, and illiterate men; whom God is pleased to choose and call, and reveal his secrets to; when he hides them from the wise and prudent, to their confusion, and the glory of his grace: and this was a presage of what the kingdom of Christ would be, and by, and to whom, the Gospel would be preached,

(o) Tzeror Hamrnor, fol. 73. 3. (p) In Matt. xxv. 6. (q) Misn. Betza, c. 5. sect. 7. (r) Maimon. in ib. (s) T. Bab. Betza, for. 40. 1. & Sabbat. fol. 45. 2. Vid Maimon Hilch. Yom Tob, c. 2. sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Ver. 8. Keeping watch over their flock] At the tower of Edar, say some, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where Jacob, returning from Mesopotamia, stayed with his flock, after he had buried Rachel, Gen 35:21; Mic 4:8.

By night] Hence some gather that our Saviour was not born in the winter, because in winter they housed their cattle, and fed them not out doors, Pro 27:25.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The same country - Round about Bethlehem.

Shepherds - Men who tended flocks of sheep.

Abiding in the field - Remaining out of doors, under the open sky, with their flocks. This was commonly done. The climate was mild, and, to keep their flocks from straying, they spent the night with them. It is also a fact that the Jews sent out their flocks into the mountainous and desert regions during the summer months, and took them up in the latter part of October or the first of November, when the cold weather commenced. While away in these deserts and mountainous regions, it was proper that there should be someone to attend them to keep them from straying, and from the ravages of wolves and other wild beasts. It is probable from this that our Saviour was born before the 25th of December, or before what we call “Christmas.” At that time it is cold, and especially in the high and mountainous regions about Bethlehem. But the exact time of his birth is unknown; there is no way to ascertain it. By different learned men it has been fixed at each month in the year. Nor is it of consequence to “know” the time; if it were, God would have preserved the record of it. Matters of moment are clearly revealed; those which “he” regards as of no importance are concealed.

Keeping watch ... - More literally, “tending their flocks “by turns” through the night watches.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Bethlehem was a place about which were pastures for sheep, as appears from 1Sa 17:15. There were shepherds abroad in the night (for so the word signifieth) watching over their flocks; whether the phrase signifieth (as some think) successive watches, such as are kept by soldiers, and by the priests, I cannot say. This maketh some think, that it is hardly probable that our Saviour was born in December in the midst of the winter, that being no time when shepherds use in the night to be keeping their flocks in the field.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 8-20. The Bethlehem shepherds see the angels.

In the same country; that is, in the upland pastures immediately in the neighborhood of Bethlehem. Shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Why were shepherds chosen as the first on earth to hear the strange glorious news of the birth of the Savior of the world? It seems as though this very humble order was selected as a practical illustration of that which in the future history of Christianity was to be so often exemplified exaltation of the humble and meek." Mary would learn from this, the first visit of adorers to her Babe, that the words of her song (the Magnificat) would in very truth be realized. The subsequent visit of the learned and wealthy travelers from the east (Mat_2:1-12) would tell her that the words of the Isaiah prophecy were all literally, in their due order, to be fulfilled, some of them even in the unconscious childhood of her Son. (see Isa_60:3, 6 Psa_72:10) Now, among the Jews at that period shepherds were held in low estimation among the people. In the Talmud (treatise "Sanhedrin") we read they were not to be allowed in the courts as witnesses. In the treatise "Avodah-Zarah" no help must be given to the heathen or to shepherds. The Mishna (Talmud) tells us that the sheep intended for the daily sacrifices in the temple were fed in the Bethlehem pastures. This semi-sacred occupation no doubt influenced these poor toilers, and specially fitted them to be the recipients of the glad tidings. They would hear much of the loved Law in the solemn ritual of the great temple. They would know, too, that there was a rumor widely current in those days that the long-looked for Messiah was soon to appear, and that their own Bethlehem was to witness his appearing.

Vers. 8-20. The shepherds and the herald angels.

From limestone cavern, we are taken by the evangelists to the long grassy slopes which stretch to the east of the Jewish city. Hidden in some nook of these slopes rest pious shepherds. Shepherds have always been a meditative class of men, accustomed to the sweet silences of nature, and, apart from the bustle and stir of cities, invited to quiet communion with their own hearts. It would seem that these shepherds were men of the spirit of Simeon. They quickly understand the message borne to them. Calmly and promptly, they respond at once, as if it were the intimation of that for which they had been waiting. "Let us go and see." There they lie, "nursed in devout and lonely thought," unaware of the myriad myriads of the shining that hover over them. It is the moment of a pause, of a hush through nature. Lo! the angel of the Lord comes on them; in an instant a presence, a glory, is around them; and first into their hearts is poured the gospel for all the ages. Of this gospel, note:

(1) Its substance. (Ver. 11) "Born to you this day God"s gift to men, to sinners, especially to those who believe. "A Savior, which is Christ the Anointed One he of whom the prophets spoke, and whom David, the shepherd of Israel, prefigured; the Sent, not by but from God, from the depths the Divine Personality; the Son from the bosom of the Father. "Christ, the Lord the Jehovah, to whom every knee shall bow; the Ruler who shall restore the lost, and unite the scattered, and fulfill the kingdom which is righteousness and peace and joy.

(2) The character of this gospel. (Ver. 10) "Good tidings of great joy;" the most blessed message ever proclaimed one of unspeakable blessedness; a joy to which no bound can be set, which no geographical limit can measure, which no thought of class, or race, or sect can embitter; joy to all the world"s peoples.

(3) The sign the gospel. (Ver. 12) "A Babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger." The Babe is the sign of the kingdom, is the token of the King. "Except ye become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven". (Mat_23:3) And now suddenly as the sign is given, "a blaze of song spreads o"er the expanse of heaven," and "Like circles widening round Upon a clear blue river, Orb after orb, the wondrous sound Is echoed on for ever: "Glory to God on high, on earth be peace, And love towards men of love salvation and release.

The announcement of the birth is made to shepherds. Why were they selected for this great honor? Points of fitness may be traced. Was not the first blood of sacrifice (Abel"s) that of a keeper of sheep? Was not the chosen type and earthly root of the Christ a shepherd taken from the sheepfolds? Is not one of the favorite symbols of the world"s Savior the good shepherd? Is not the Savior"s work that of him who leaves the ninety and nine and goes after the sheep which is lost? Of all earthly things, are not the pastoral life and spirit the nearest correspondents to the life and spirit of the incarnate Son of God? And as to the gospel that was preached, is there not a truth in the quaint language of an old writer, "It fell not out amiss that shepherds they were; the news fitted them well. It well agreed to tell shepherds of the yearning of a strange Lamb, such a Lamb as might take away the sin of the world. Such a Lamb as they might send to the Ruler of the world for a present." Any way, it is not to supercilious Pharisee, not to Sadducee cold and dry as dust, not to Essene ascetic and separatist, not to Herodian worldly and crafty, not to the mighty or the noble that the first tidings of the great joy are brought. The first preacher is the heavenly angel, and the first congregation some lowly, simple men, who are doing their duty in the place which God has appointed to them. Thence comes the lesson to us. Heaven is always near the dutiful. They who watch faithfully what has been given to their charge, not seeking "some great thing to do," not hurried and restless in their work, but caring for the things, many or few, over which God has placed them, are close to that gate of the celestial kingdom through which there peals the music, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Two points in this portion of the narrative may be touched upon.

(1) The conduct of the shepherds when the tidings of the birth are borne to them. On the withdrawal of the heavenly vision, they say (ver. 15), "Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass." The flocks are somehow disposed of. This is a matter to be at once attended to. A word of God, a voice of the Holy Spirit in the heart, a command or duty pertaining to the heavenly life, claims precedence over all other claims. "Seek first the kingdom of God." Prompt obedience is the way of blessing. "They came with haste." Yes; "the King"s business requireth haste." Never delay. St. Paul acted in the spirit of the shepherds when, God having been pleased to reveal his Son in him, "immediately he conferred not with flesh and blood". (Gal_1:16)

(2) The conduct of Mary. The shepherds eagerly told their wonderful tale. And all the people who heard, wondered. "But Mary (ver. 19) kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart." The wonder of the people soon passed away; it was but "as the morning cloud and the early dew." Religious feelings are conserved and deepened through reflection and prayer. Blessed secret the keeping and pondering in the heart!

Vers. 8-11. Welcome news from heaven.

It is surely not without significance that this most gracious manifestation and announcement was made to these humble Hebrew shepherds "keeping watch over their flock by night." It suggests two truths which are of frequent and perpetual illustration.

1. That God chooses for his instruments the humble rather than the high. Our human notions would have pointed to the most illustrious in the ]and for such a communication as this. But God chose the lowly shepherd, the man of no account in the estimate of the world. So did he act in the beginning of the gospel. (see 1Co_1:26-29) And so has he acted ever since, choosing often for the agents of his power and grace those whom man would have passed by as unworthy of his choice.

2. That God grants his Divine favor to those who are conscientiously serving him in their own proper sphere. Not to the idle dreamer, not to the man who will do nothing because he cannot do everything of which he thinks himself capable, hut to him who does his best in the position in which God"s providence has placed him, will God come in gracious manifestation; and it is he whom he will select to render important service in his cause. But the main thoughts of this passage are these

I WELCOME TIDINGS FROM THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. "They were sore afraid." "Fear not... I bring you good tidings." Why have men always been so sore afraid in the presence of the supernatural? Why have they feared to receive communications from heaven? Something much more than a popular belief (see Jud_1:13:22) is required to account for so universal a sentiment. It is surely that sinful men are profoundly conscious of ill desert, and fear that any message that comes from God, the Holy One, will be a message of condemnation and punishment. What would be the expectation with which a camp of rebellious subjects, who had taken up arms against their sovereign, would receive a messenger from the court of the king? Had that guilty age known that God was about to announce "a new departure" in his government of the world, what ample, what overwhelming reason would it have had to apprehend a message of Divine wrath and retribution! How welcome, then, the words, "Fear not... I bring you good tidings"! Of what depth of Divine patience, of what boundless breadths of Divine compassion, do these simple words assure us!

II TIDINGS OF SURPASSING VALUE. Tidings "of great joy." The birth of the Babe in Bethlehem "that day what did it mean? It meant:

1. Deliverance from a deadly evil. To these shepherds, if they were patriotic children of Abraham, the promise of a Savior would mean deliverance from the national degradation into which Israel had sunk a spiritual as well as a political demoralization. To them, if they were earnest religious inquirers, it meant deliverance from the bondage and penalty of sin. This is the significance which the word has to us: in that day was born into the world a Savior, a Divine Redeemer, One who should save the souls of men from that which is the one curse of our humanitysin.

2. The fulfillment of a great hope. To those who then learnt that "the Christ" was born, it meant that the long-cherished hope of their nation was fulfilled, and that whatever the Messiah was to bring about was at length to be accomplished. A great national expectation has passed, with us, into a glorious hope for the human race the hope that under Christ this poor sin-stricken world will rise from its ignorance, its superstition, its godlessness, its vice, and its crime, and walk in newness of life, in the love and the likeness of its heavenly Father.

3. Restoration to our true position. That Savior is "Christ the Lord." We who have sought to rule ourselves and to be the masters of our own lives, and who have suffered so much in so many ways by this guilty dethronement and usurpation, are now to find our true rest and joy by submitting ourselves to him who is "the Lord" of all hearts and lives; in his service is abiding peace and "great joy.

III TIDINGS OF GENERAL AND OF PARTICULAR APPLICATION. These glad tidings are for "all the people," and they were for those startled and wondering shepherds. "To you is born." As we hear the angel"s words, we know that they are for all the wide world, and, whoever we may be, for us. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The message to the shepherds:

v. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

v. 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.

v. 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.

v. 11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

v. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger.

In that same country, in the neighborhood of the town of Bethlehem, there were shepherds. They were out in the fields, whether under the open sky or in booths, is immaterial. They may have constructed a rude shelter against the chilliness of the night air. They were watching the watches of the night, taking turns about in caring for the flock lest some of them stray away or be carried off by wild beasts. These flocks may well have belonged to the herds that were being driven up to Jerusalem by easy stages, to be used as sacrifices in the Temple, as one commentator has remarked. There was nothing unusual about the situation, nor were the shepherds in a superstitious state of mind. Note: The fact that the flocks were out in the open at night and not in the corral or fold does not disprove the traditional date of the Savior’s birth, as it was definitely established in 354 by Bishop Liberius. It is by no means unusual for the meadows to be in the best condition at the end of December.

While the shepherds, who belonged to the poor and lowly of the land, were thus engaged in the pursuit of their calling, a miracle of the Lord took place in Bethlehem, of which they were to receive the first news. Note: Not the great and mighty of the nation were chosen as the recipients of the wonderful tidings of the nativity of Christ, just as not proud Jerusalem, but little Bethlehem became the Lord’s birthplace, but lowly shepherds of the plains. To these a supernatural revelation was suddenly given: an angel of the Lord came upon them, he stood over against or above them. It was an unexpected apparition out of the quietness of the solemn night, beneath the starry heavens. At the same time, the glory of the Lord lighted up the space about the shepherds, from the face and form of the angel himself, as a messenger from the splendor of the heavens. And they feared a great fear. They were thoroughly frightened. Sinful man cannot endure the light from the presence of the holy God. Besides, the suddenness of the angel’s appearance caught them unawares; there was no gradual preparation of their senses for the culmination that burst upon them. But the message of the angel was reassuring with all the beauty and love of the Christmas spirit. They should not give way or remain under the domination of fear, for his is a message which is, in substance, the entire Gospel. He announces to them a great joy, in order that their hearts may be filled with that joy. And these wonderful tidings will not be confined to them alone, but are intended, and will be proclaimed, to all people. The expression is so general that it should not be applied to the people of Israel only, but properly to all nations of the world. And now the voice of the angel rises, in joyful ecstasy, to the climax of his announcement: For unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. The angel used terms with which the shepherds were familiar from their youth, in which they were wont to express their hopes for the salvation of Israel. Savior denotes such a person as perfectly frees us from all evil and danger, and is the author of perpetual salvation. And Christ or Messiah is He for whose coming the Jews looked with anxious desire, in and through whom the real believers in Israel expected the Kingdom which should last throughout eternity. Note: The true humanity and the true divinity of the newborn Babe is here clearly stated, even as the angel summarizes the prophecies of old, in calling Bethlehem the city of David. Furthermore: Christ was born a true man, to purify and sanctify our sinful conception and birth. "To help our poor, miserable birth, God has sent another birth, which had to be pure and unsullied, if it should cleanse our impure, sinful birth. That then is the birth of Christ the Lord, His only-begotten Son. And for that reason He did not want to let Him be born from sinful flesh and blood; but He should be born of a virgin. That is what the angel wishes to say with these words: ’Unto you is born. ’ Which implies: All that He is and has is yours, and He is your Savior; not only that you regard Him thus, but that He can deliver you from sin, death, devil, and all misfortune; yea, as great as He is, He is born for you, and is yours with all that He has. " And, finally: Note the word "unto you. " "As though he would say: Until now you have been captives of the devil; he has plagued you with water, fire, pestilence, sword, and who can narrate all the misfortune? And when he has tortured soul and body, eternal death threatens afterward. Unto you, the angel says, unto you that were held captive under this harmful, evil, poisonous spirit, who is the prince and God of the world, the Savior is born. The words ’unto you’ should surely make us happy. For to whom does he speak? To wood or stone? No, to men, and not to one or two only, but to all the people... We have need of Him, and for our sakes He has become man. Therefore it behooves us people that we accept Him with joy, as the angel here says: Unto you is born a Savior."

In order that the shepherds may not be misdirected or go astray in the overcrowded city, the angel gives them specific directions how they may find the Child and recognize Him at once. He would be found wrapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in the crib of a stable. Those directions were as explicit and exact as any that could be given, since there would be no other child in such poor and lowly circumstances as this one, the Savior of the world.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here we have the promulgation and first publishing of our Saviour’s birth to the world: The angel said unto the shepherds, I bring you glad tidings, a Saviour is born.

Where observe, 1. The messenger employed by God to publish the joyful news of a Saviour’s birth; the holy angels, heavenly messengers employed about a heavenly work: it is worth our notice, how serviceable the angels were to Christ upon all occasions, when he was here upon earth; an angel declares his conception; a host of angels publish his birth; in his temptation, an angel strengthens him; in his agony, an angel comforts him; at his resurrection, an angel rolls away the stone from the door of the sepulchre; at his ascension, the angels attend him up to heaven; and at his second coming to judge the world, he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. And great reason there is, that the angels should be thus officious in their attendances upon Christ, who is a head of confirmation to them, as he was a head of redemption to fallen man.

Observe, 2. The persons to whom this joyful message of a Saviour’s birth is first brought, and they are the shepherds; The angel said unto the shepherds, Fear not.

1. Because Christ, the great shepherd of his church, was come into the world.

2. Because he was of old promised unto shepherds, the old patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who by their occupation were shepherds.

Observe, 3. The time when these shepherds had the honour of this revelation; it was not when they were asleep on their beds of idleness and sloth, but when they were lying abroad, and watching their flocks.

The blessings of heaven usually meet us in the way of an honest and industrious diligence; whereas the idle are fit for nothing but temptation to work upon. If these shepherds had been snoring in their beds, they had no more seen angels, nor yet heard the news of a Saviour, than their neighbours.

Observe, 4. The nature and quality of the message which the angel brought; it was a message of joy, a message of great joy, a message of great joy unto all people.

For here was born a Son, that Son a Prince, that Prince a Saviour, that Saviour not a particular Saviour of the Jews only, but an universal Saviour, whose salvation is to the ends of the earth. Well might the angel call it a message, or glad tidings of great joy unto all people!

Observe, 5. The ground and occasion of this joy, the foundation of all this good news, which was proclaimed in the ears of a lost world; and that was, the birth of a Saviour; Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Hence learn, 1. That the incarnation and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his manifestation in our flesh and nature, was and is matter of exceeding joy and rejoicing unto all people.

2. That the great end and design of our Lord’s incarnation and coming into the world, was to be the Saviour of lost sinners; "Unto you is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE SHEPHERDS

8-20. “The shepherds were at that time tenting out, and keeping watch over their flock through the night.” This fact refutes the popular idea of the birth of our Savior taking place in midwinter, thus locating Christmas, December 25th. In the summer time, sheep lie in the shade through the heat of the day, and graze at night; whereas during the winter, they sleep in the night and graze in daytime. If it had been midwinter, the shepherds would not have been out with their flocks at night, but in houses, caves, or kraals. The critics have settled on April 5th as the Christmas. I doubt not but they are correct. “Behold the angel of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were affrighted with a great fear.” The shepherds’ field, where these notable events took place, is in full view of Bethlehem, perhaps a couple of miles east. The angel said to them: “Fear not; for, behold, I proclaim to you good tidings of great’ joy, which shall be to all the people: for this day a Savior is born unto you, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.” Bethlehem was generally known as the city of David as it was the home of Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David. “And this shall be the sign to you: you shall find an infant, wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” The English uses the article, and reads, “The babe,” which is incorrect; the article is not in the Greek, whereas it destroys the meaning. A babe lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths, was really the sign designated by the angel. It was a sure sign, good enough; as you might travel round the world and not find it. “And immediately there was a multitude of the heavenly host along with the angel, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will among men.” When the lonely angel had revealed the news to the shepherds, his testimony was corroborated by a multitude, praising God, and shouting the beautiful doxology, “Glory to God in the highest.” All the glory of human salvation belongs to God, as it is utterly impossible for any of us ever to bring Him under the slightest obligation to show us mercy. Christ, by His own atonement, made peace on earth with every human being, not only appertaining to God, but one another. There was no reason why peace with God and every human being should not cover the whole earth, and flood every soul with the heavenly prelibation. The wonderful work of Christ actually has brought good will to every soul and every home, not only toward all the world, but toward God. No reason why the whole earth should not be filled with the glory of God, since Christ has swept every difficulty away.

“And it came to pass, when the angels departed from them to heaven, and the men [i.e., the shepherds] said to one another, Let us go even unto Bethlehem, and let us see this thing which has taken place, which the Lord has made known unto us. And they, hastening, came and found both Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.” See the contrast between verse twelve, where infant and manger both occur without the article, as the shepherds knew nothing about the circumstances, and the event and finding an infant wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger, was to be the sign to them that the angel’s testimony was true. Now having come, they find an infant lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths, as the angel had said, thus literally verifying the angel’s testimony. Now in verse sixteen the Greek article occurs both with infant and manger, because the sign of the angel being verified, they know now that they have found the identical infant, precluding all possibility of mistake. “And seeing they knew with certainty concerning the word which was spoken unto them” about this little child; i.e., the sign given by the angel being now literally verified, assures the shepherds beyond all doubt as to the identity of the babe.

“And all those hearing were astonished concerning those things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.” See how God honored these shepherds above all the aristocrats, princes, and potentates of the earth by really making them the first witnesses to His Incarnate Son, and the first heralds of the best, greatest, and most wonderful tidings that ever rang in mortal ears. In all ages, the people who herd the flocks day and night have, as a rule, been poor, humble, and ignorant.

19. “Mary kept all these words, laying them up in her heart.” She saw how the testimony of the shepherds corroborated the annunciation of Gabriel at her humble home in Nazareth nine months preceding. The meaning of heart is spiritual rather than mental. Mary, under the illuminations of the Holy Spirit, kept rigid spiritual cognizance of everything appertaining to her child.

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things which they heard and saw, as was spoken to them.” There is no doubt but these shepherds were not only godly men, like Simeon and Anna looking for the Messiah, but that they enjoyed an extraordinary depth of spiritual illumination, and were thus prepared for the exalted honor conferred. We see they had the grace of humility too copious to imbibe spiritual pride, even over this exalted encomium, as they return betimes to their waiting flocks. As they have no fences in that country, all stock are herded, and there is this day much of it there.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XI. Proclaimed by Angels].

XI. THE BIRTH OF JESUS PROCLAIMED BY ANGELS TO THE SHEPHERDS. (Near Bethlehem, B. C. 5.) cLUKE II. 8-20.

c8 And there were shepherds in the same country [they were in the same fields from which David had been called to tend God's Israel, or flock] abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. [When the flock is too far from the village to lead it to the fold at night, these shepherds still so abide with it in the field, even in the dead of winter.] 9 And an angel of the Lord stood by them [He stood upon the earth at their side, and did not float above them in the heavens, as he is usually pictured. His standing upon the earth shows a fuller fellowship and sympathy with men--comp. Act_1:10], and the glory of the Lord shone round about them [The Shechinah, or bright cloud, which symbolizes the divine presence ( Exo_24:16, 1Ki_8:10, Isa_6:1-3, Rom_9:4). It was seen by the three apostles upon the mount of transfiguration ( Mat_17:5), by Stephen ( Act_7:55), and by Paul-- Act_22:6-11]: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy [Christianity is a religion of present joys, and leads onward to joy eternal] which shall be to all the people: 11 for there is born to you [born as a gift to us-- Joh_3:16] this day in the city of David a Saviour. [the angel omits the name of [30] Jesus, but gives the meaning of his name], who is the Christ [Messiah is the Hebrew and Christ is the Greek for our English word "anointed." Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed. Jesus held all these three offices for all our race for all eternity] the Lord. 12 And this i is the sign [The token by which to identify the child. A babe in a manger was not ordinary sight] unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. ["What fearful odds! What a strange contrast! Idolatry on the throne (in the person of Augustus Cæsar), and the founder of a new religion and a new empire lying in a manger!"] 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude [The event was too important to be heralded by any one angel. All heaven was interested in the departure of its Prince, and marveled at the grace of the Father who sent him-- 1Pe_1:12] of the heavenly host [God's army ( 1Ki_22:19, Psa_103:20, Psa_103:21). The Deity is called "God of Sabaoth"; that is, God of hosts or multitude ( Rom_9:29, Jam_5:4, Dan_7:10, Rev_5:11, Rev_5:12); but at this time God's army appeared to announce the coming of eternal peace] praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest [in the highest heavens-- Job_16:19, Psa_148:1], And on earth peace among men [The angels invoke blessing on God and peace upon man. Peace between God and man, and ultimately peace between man and man] in whom he is well pleased. [The love of God is shed abroad upon all, even the vilest of sinners ( Rom_5:8, 1Ti_1:15); but his peace comes upon those who have accepted his Son, and in whom he is therefore especially well pleased ( Rom_9:11). Peace is the unfailing apostolic salutation toward Christians ( Rom_1:7, 1Co_1:3, 2Co_1:2, etc.), and is attainable in the highest degree by Christians only-- Joh_14:27, Joh_16:33, Col_3:15, Phi_4:7.] 15 And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known [31] unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about the child. [They were the first evangelists. Among the heralds of Christ we note one great prophet, John the Baptist, and one learned Pharisee, Paul; the rest are shepherds, fishermen, and publicans, yet their gospel has triumphed over the wisdom of men ( 1Co_1:26-29, 2Co_4:7). The shepherds were moved to publish by the same spirit which actuated the lepers at Samaria-- 2Ki_7:9.] 18 And all that heard it wondered [the gospel story excites wonder; the more we ponder it the more wonderful it becomes] at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these sayings [The silence of Mary contrasts with the talkativeness of the shepherds. But is the duty of Christians both to ponder and to publish], pondering them in her heart. [Only Mary could know the fact here stated; and the statement indicates that Luke got the opening parts of his Gospel from the mother of our Lord. She had much to think about. The angelic messages to Zacharias, to herself, and to the shepherds were full of significance, and her mind would search diligently to comprehend the fullness of their meaning. In her quiet thoughtfulness the beauty of the Virgin's character shines forth-- 1Pe_3:4.] 20 And the shepherds returned [they did not make this glorious occasion an excuse for neglecting their humble duties], glorifying [because of the greatness of that which had been revealed] and praising God [because of the goodness of that which he revealed] for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them. [Jesus came in exactly the same manner in which his coming had been spoken of or described by the angels a few hours before; and also just as his coming had been spoken of or described by the prophets centuries and centuries before. God's word holds good for eternity as truly as for one day. The shepherds doubtless passed to their reward during [32] the thirty years which Jesus spent in seclusion prior to his entering upon his ministry. But the rest of their commonplace life was now filled with music of praise, and their night watches lit by the glory of God, which could never entirely fade away.]

[FFG 30-33]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. There were shepherds. The fields around Bethlehem have been for four thousand years the resort of shepherds. There David had cared for his flocks. Keeping watch. To guard their flocks from robbers and wild beasts, and to keep them from straying.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

An angel of the Lord

"An angel from the Lord" or "An angel who served the Lord"

appeared to them

"came to the shepherds"

the glory of the Lord

The source of the bright light was the glory of the Lord, which appeared at the same time as the angel.

translationWords

shepherd

flocks

angel

lord

glory

fear

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

8–20. THE ANGELS TO THE SHEPHERDS

8. ποιμένες. Shepherds at this time were a despised class, so that in this instance first πτωχοὶ εὐαγγελίζονται. Luk 7:22 (Meyer). Why these were the first to whom was revealed the birth of Him who was called the Lamb of God we are not told. The sheep used for the daily sacrifice were pastured in the fields of Bethlehem.

ἀγραυλοῦντες. This does not prove, as some have supposed, that the Nativity took place in spring, for in some pastures of Palestine the shepherds to this day bivouac with their flocks in winter. See, however, Robinson, Bibl. Res. II. 505, who thinks that this would not be possible at Bethlehem in the rainy season of December. On the other hand, we cannot estimate the extent to which the climate may have altered.

ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ. Tradition says that they were natives of the little village Beth-zur (Jos 15:58; Neh 3:16). They were feeding their flocks in the same fields from which David had been summoned to feed Jacob, God’s people, and Israel His inheritance.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] Mr. Greswell has made it highly probable (Diss. x. vol. i.) that our Lord was born on the evening of (i.e. which began) the 5th of April, the 10th of the Jewish Nisan: on which same day of April, and the 14th of Nisan, He suffered thirty-three years after. Before this time there would be abundance of grass in the pastures—the spring rains being over: but much after it, and till after the autumnal equinox again, the pastures would be comparatively bare: see note on Joh 6:10.

ἀγρ.] spending the night in the open field.

φυλ. φυλακὰς τ. ν., either, keeping watch by night, or, keeping the watches of the night. The former seems most probable: and so Meyer and Bleek: see ref. Xen., and add Alexis in xv. 58, p. 700—ὁ πρῶτος εὑρὼν μετὰ λυχνούχου περιπατεῖν Τῆς νυκτός, ἦν τις κηδεμὼν τῶν δακτύλων.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8-14. The Angelic Proclamation to the Shepherds: πτωχοὶ εὐαγγελίζονται (7:22). It was in these pastures that David spent his youth and fought the lion and the bear (1Sa 17:34, 1Sa 17:35). “A passage in the Mishnah (Shek. 7:4; comp. Baba K. 7:7, 80a) leads to the conclusion that the flocks which pastured there were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and accordingly, that the shepherds who watched over them were not ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances and their manner of life, which rendered strict religious observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. The same Mischnic passage also leads us to infer that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before the Passover—that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly greatest” (Edersh. L. & T. i. pp. 186, 187). For details of the life of a shepherd see D.B. art. “Shepherds,” and Herzog, Pro_2 art. “Viehzucht und Hirtenleben.”

8. ἀγραυλοῦντες. Making the ἀγρός their αὐλή, and so “spending their life in the open air”: a late and rare word, whereas ἄγραυλος is class. This statement is by no means conclusive against December as the time of the year. The season may have been a mild one; it is not certain that all sheep were brought under cover at night during the winter months.

It is of the flocks in the wilderness, far from towns or villages, that the often quoted saying was true, that they were taken out in March and brought home m November. These shepherds may have returned from the wilderness, and if so, the time would be between November and March. But the data for determining the time of year are so very insufficient, that after minute calculation of them all we are left in our original uncertainty. Among those who have made a special study of the question we have advocates for almost every month in the year. The earliest attempts to fix the day of which we have knowledge are those mentioned (and apparently condemned as profane curiosity) by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. 1:21 sub fin.). In his time some took April 21, others April 22, and others May 20, to be the day. What was unknown in his time is not likely to have been discovered afterwards respecting such a detail. December 25th cannot be traced higher than the fourth century, and it seems to have been adopted first in the West. We must be content to remain in ignorance as to the date of the birth of Christ. See on ἐφημερίας 1:5; D. of Chr. Ant. art. “Christmas”; Andrews, L. of our Lord, pp. 12-21, ed. 1892.

φυλάσσοντες φυλακάς. The plural refers to their watching in turns rather than in different places. The phrase occurs Num 8:26; Xen. Anab. 2:6, 10; but in LXX τὰς φυλακὰς φυλ. is more common; Num 3:7, Num 3:8, Num 3:28, Num 3:32, Num 3:38, etc. Comp. Plat. Phædr. 240 E; Laws, 758 D. The fondness of Lk. for such combinations of cognate words is seen again ver. 9, 7:29, 17:24, 22:15, and several times in the Acts. See on 11:46 and 23:46. We may take τῆς νυκτός after φυλακάς, “night-watches,” or as gen. of time, “by night.” See Blass, Gr. p. 199.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.