Bible Study Series: Luke 2:8-21. The incarnation (Jesus becoming a human) is a time of celebration and awe. It has been called the greatest miracle.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 2:8-21
8 Shepherds were in the field where they were living outdoors and watching over their flock at night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them. They were very afraid. 10 And the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! For look! I announce to you the good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people, 11 because today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the town of David. 12 And this is a sign for you: you shall find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest!
And upon earth peace among people with whom he is well pleased.”
15 And it happened that the angels departed from them into heaven. The shepherds said to each other, “Let us go all the way to Bethlehem and see this word which has happened, which the Lord made known to us.” 16 They hurried off and discovered Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the feeding trough. 17 And looking, they understood the word which was spoken to them about this child. 18 And everyone who heard marveled at what was spoken to them by the shepherds. 19 And Mary treasured and pondered these words in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they heard and saw, just as it was spoken to them.
21 And when the eight days were completed to circumcise him, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Comments:
The birth narratives do not originate in pagan literature, but in Genesis. The next parallels between Gen. 11-21 and Luke 1:5-2:52 are amazing. Luke shaped his historical and true narrative according to the first book of the Bible.
Luke’s Birth Narrative: Pagan Myth or Sacred Story?
8-9:
Scholars say that from the Greek wording here the shepherds guarded their flock in shifts. It makes sense just on a human level. No one can stay awake all day and all night.
The angels who are about to appear came from heaven. The shepherds were groundlings who lived out of doors. The distance could not be greater, but God ordained that the first announcement about the birth of the Messiah would come to these lowly earthlings. Shepherds did not have the highest status in first-century Israel, certainly not for the religious leaders. So it is an act of grace and love that God sent his angel and then his heavenly army to them, to announce the good news and then sing a choir song.
“angel”: an angel, both in Hebrew and Greek, is really a messenger. Angels are created beings, while Jesus was the one who created all things, including angels (John 1:1-4).
Here is a multi-part study of angels in the area of systematic theology, but first, here is a summary list of the basics:
Angels:
(a) Are messengers (in Hebrew mal’ak and in Greek angelos);
(b) Are created spirit beings;
(c) Have a beginning at their creation (not eternal);
(d) Have a beginning, but they are immortal (deathless).
(e) Have moral judgment;
(f) Have a certain measure of free will;
(g) Have high intelligence;
(h) Do not have physical bodies;
(i) But can manifest with immortal bodies before humans;
(j) They can show the emotion of joy.
Angels: Their Duties and Missions
Angels: Their Names and Ranks and Heavenly Existence
Angels: Their Origins, Abilities, and Nature
“the glory of the Lord”: God’s glory is connected to the shining light of heaven. It is stunning that he shares it with us. Here we have a glimpse of what God’s Son, now lying in the feeding trough, gave up when he obeyed his Father, to become a man. He did not lay aside his divine attributes, but he did give up the glory and status of heaven, just for us. Yes, he was still God in the flesh, even as a baby, but his full deity was hidden behind his humanity. The glory of the Lord was associated with the tabernacle and the later temple: 1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chr. 5:7; Ps. 63:2). “Surprisingly, that glory does not appear in the temple in nearby Jerusalem. Nor does it shine around the manger and the newborn child. Instead, it appears in an open field to lowly shepherds faithfully keeping watch over their sheep.” (Garland, comments on 2:8-9).
1. The Glory of God in the Old Testament
2. What Is the Glory of God in the New Testament?
3. What Does the Glory of God Mean to Us?
My comment that says he did not lay aside or lose his divine attributes was looked at here:
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
“they were very afraid”: the Greek reads, “They feared a great fear.” The doubling up of words amplifies its meaning and force.
Let’s become a little more definite. BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it defines the verb as follows: (1) “to be in an apprehensive state, be afraid”; people can become “frightened.” “Fear something or someone.” (2) “to have a profound measure of respect for, (have) reverence, respect”; a person like God or a leader can command respect.
The Shorter Lexicon says adds nuances (1) “be afraid … become frightened … “fear something or someone” (2) “fear in the sense of reverence, respect.”
Either the first or second definitions work here, but I prefer the second ones. There is nothing wrong with have a reverential fear of God or his angels or his manifest glory.
10:
The angel had to tell them not to be afraid, just as Gabriel had to do with Zechariah (1:13) and Mary (1:30). See v. 9 for more comments on afraid.
“look!”: it is an updated translation of the older “behold!” It could be translated as “Look!” It is the storyteller’s art to draw attention to the people and action that follows. “As you, my audience, sit and listen to me read this Gospel, listen up! Look!
The atmosphere is charged with the miraculous and heaven touching the earth. It is joyful and serious and awe-inspiring.”
“announce … the good news of great joy”: “announces … good news.” Awkwardly but literally it means “good-news-ize,” as in “Let’s ‘good-news-ize’ them!” But here the angel announces the good news of great joy. There is something awesomely joyous about the birth of the Son of God. All angels celebrate when one sinner repents (Luke 15:10). Let’s not assume that heaven is always so serious. They know how to celebrate—and do celebrate.
“for all the people”: this is the Jewish people. By the time the Gospel, ends, however, the birth and the message will go to the whole world, even Gentiles (Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8; Acts 10).
11:
In Greek the first word in this sentence is “was born,” indicating that his birth is the central element to this story.
One of Jesus’s many titles is Savior. Titles are derived from what a person does. Jesus’s name in Hebrew means “the Lord saves.” Perfect name. This meaning is spelled out clearly in Matt. 1:21-23. To identify the Savior more clearly, the angel calls him “Christ the Lord.” God himself sent the angel with that message of clarity. God himself called him that name for the first time on earth, to signal his role and his essence. He is the Messiah and he is Lord, no less.
“was born for you”: Jesus’s birth is personal, not just for the whole people; he was born for the lowly shepherds too.
3. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was God Incarnate
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
6. Do I Really Know Jesus? Why Did He Become a Man?
2. Two Natures in One Person: He Was Human and God
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
“In the town of David”: This has Messianic overtones, as noted in v. 4.
12:
Mary wrapped Jesus in strips of cloth and laid him in the feeding trough. The scene makes one smile. The Darling of Heaven went through a lot to offer us redemption. See v. 7 for more comments. He will be wrapped in linen at his burial
13:
There was a heavenly army. In the older translations it is “hosts,” as in “the Lord of hosts” (Pss. 103:21; 148:2), but that is too vague for modern readers, and it does not correspond to the Greek very precisely. It is an army.
Pss. 103:21 and 148:2 exhort the heavenly armies to praise the Lord, and they are doing the same thing here. Since that is their ministry or mission, we mere humans should have the same one.
Bible Basics about Praise and Worship
Word Study on Praise and Worship
14:
“Glory to God in the highest”: God lives in the highest realm, his heavenly world (v. 15), which is just another dimension, not another planet.
Without a doubt and no humor intended, their music must have been in perfect pitch. It is wonderful to think about angels singing in heaven right now. We get a glimpse of other songs in Rev 4-5. And now we know some of their exact lyrics. In the past worship leaders have taken up the challenge to write their songs based on them. What about today?
“peace”: it speaks of more than just the absence of war. It can mean prosperity and well-being. It can mean peace in your heart and peace with your neighbor. Best of all, it means peace with God, because he reconciled us to him.
Let’s explore more deeply the peace that God brings.
This word in Hebrew is shalom and means well being, both in the soul and in circumstances, and it means, yes, prosperity, because the farm in an agricultural society would experience well being and harmony and growth. The crops would not fail and the livestock would reproduce. Society and the individual would live in peace and contentment and harmony. Deut. 28:1-14 describes the blessings for obedience, a man and his family and business enjoying divine goodness and benefits and material benefits.
With that background, let’s explore the Greek word, which overlaps with shalom. It is the noun eirēnē (pronounced ay-ray-nay, used 92 times, and we get the name Irene from it). One specialist defines it: “Peace is a state of being that lacks nothing and has no fear of being troubled in its tranquility; it is euphoria coupled with security. … This peace is God’s favor bestowed on his people” (Mounce, p. 503).
Do I Really Know God? He Is the God of Peace
“in whom he is well pleased”: The Greek says that it is not that humans have good will, necessarily, but God has good will for certain ones, particularly among the people of God, who will soon be the whole world of believers in Christ. One translation says, “among men of (his) good pleasure” (Culy, Parsons, and Stigall).
15:
The angels departed into heaven. As noted in the previous verse, heaven is another realm, not a planet. They probably just went upwards for the visual effects to show the shepherds that something powerful and revelatory just happened, and then they disappeared. Liefeld and Pao: “Luke does not say that the angels disappeared but that they went ‘into heaven (v. 15), an expression typical of his attention to spatial relationships.” Luke 24:51 about Jesus’s ascension: “And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.” God allowed the angels and his Son to go upward, to indicate that heaven is not of this earth, but is it not subjected to our own space and time.
The stillness of the night must have been “deafening” after the angels’ heavenly song.
“The Lord made known to us”: it must have been wonderful for these shepherds that God chose them to reveal to them or inform them with this word.
16:
How did they find the family so quickly in a crowded town during a census? Maybe a star hovered above the public shelter (see Matt. 2:9-10). Or maybe they just looked. I wonder if they split up, and when one of them found it they shouted for the others in a town at sleep. Amusing to think about.
17:
“looking”: I was tempted to translate it as “looking in,” which fits the context.
18:
Evidently lots of people were milling around the birthplace. Why not? The shepherds may have made a ruckus when they came on the scene and woke people up. Or maybe they told everyone on their way there or on their way back—or all of the above options. The people marveled when they heard about the angels and the heavenly army singing. They marveled when they heard about the town of David and the Messianic undercurrent of David’s hometown.
19:
“Mary”: Here it is Mariam (Miriam), and this Semitic word indicates an early source.
Totals for the mother of Jesus:
Luke also uses Mariam in 1:27, 30, 34, 38. 39, 46, 56, 2:5, 16, 19, 34; Maria in 1:41.
Matthew uses Maria in 1:16, 18, 20, 2:11 and Mariam in 13:55.
Mark uses Maria in 6:3.
“treasured”: It could be translated as “protect, defend” (Mark 6:20); “be saved, preserved” (passive in Matt. 9:17; Luke 5:38); “hold, treasure” (Luke 2:19) Those are the only verses where the verb appears. The latter meaning is best for 2:19. It is in the imperfect verb tense, meaning she was treasuring and pondering (participle) these things in her heart. It was continuous. She was trying to see the whole picture by putting the pieces together. She is the excellent exemplar of those who hear the word and hold on to it in a good and honest heart and bear fruit with endurance (see Luke 8:15) (Garland, comment on 2:19-20).
“pondered”: in Mary’s heart she placed all the words together and treasured and pondered them. She was mulling things over.
20:
The shepherds imitated the angels. They too glorified and praised God. Luke’s message is clear. If the angels and lowly shepherds—two classes of beings very distantly separated by heaven and earth— praised and glorified God, then so should we.
21:
The verse is translated literally. Of course they circumcised him. Jesus was born “under the law” (Gal. 4:4), so that he would redeem those under the (old) law—the old Sinai covenant.
Circumcision was the sign of the covenant (Gen. 17). Jesus was born under the law (Gal. 4:4), so he had to be circumcised. Before he died, however, he will have launched his new covenant (Luke 22:19-20). Gen. 15 established the unconditional land grant, and Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him or credited to him as righteousness (15:6). Many scholars say this covenant is being re-fulfilled today, as Jews settle in their ancient homeland of Israel.
Does the Land of Israel Belong to Jews Today by Covenant?
That may be, but the sign of covenant—circumcision—has been replaced because believers in the Messiah are not circumcised, except a circumcision for the heart (Rom. 2:25-29).
One Decisive Difference Between Sinai Covenant and New Covenant
The verb for conceived was used for Elizabeth’s conception (Luke 1:24) and Mary’s conception (1:31).
Apparently, Luke is very keen to tell his readers that God named his Son through the agency of the angel. When the Son of God was in his preincarnate state, he was not named Jesus, unless the three persons of the Trinity foresaw what his name would be at his conception and his birth and went ahead and referred to the Son as “Jesus,” but the Scripture is silent on that one point. But the Bible is not silent about his name as a baby and forevermore. As noted, his name means “the Lord saves” (see v. 11).
The bigger point is that he is the Messiah, the Savior, and the Lord.
“Messiah”: the Greek word is Christos, and in Hebrew it is Meshiach, both meaning the Jesus is the Anointed One, who gives his anointing to all who are born again, who saves everyone who repents, and he is the Lord of their lives when they surrender to his Lordship, and then the result is that he will lead them towards growth in holiness and good works to help people.
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
I urge all Bible teachers to stop teaching that Jesus got his divine attributes “lopped off” or “trimmed down” and yet was still full deity. It makes more sense to say that he was full deity, yet his divine nature was hidden behind his humanity. His humanity was added to his deity. He lost the environment of heaven, but his divine attributes remained intact at his incarnation.
The main post you should click on for more information:
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
GrowApp for Luke 2:8-21
1. Has God ever told you to “fear not”? What were the circumstances? Why does he need to do this while we live on earth?
2. Jesus is called the Savior and Christ the Lord. This announcement brought good news of great joy. What do those three titles mean in your life? Have they brought you great joy at least in some moments of your life, even during trials? Please study James 1:2-4.
RELATED
Luke’s Birth Narrative: Pagan Myth or Sacred Story?
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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