One of the most fascinating accounts in the Christmas narrative is when the angel appears to the shepherds. The fact that a messenger from God would appear to shepherds is most interesting indeed. For you see, the shepherds are like you and me. They represent sinful man. The New American Commentary says, “One should not romanticize the occupation of shepherds. In general shepherds were dishonest (Sanh. 25b) and unclean according to the standards of the law. They represent the outcasts and sinners for whom Jesus came. Such outcasts were the first recipients of the good news.”[1] In verse 9 it mentions that “the glory of the Lord shone round about them”. The glory of the Lord is synonymous with the presence and power of God. It is my heart’s desire that we would experience the glory of the Lord. That He would show us His glory. In this historical account of the angel’s appearance to the shepherds we see several truths concerning the glory of the Lord.
The glory of the Lord comes unexpectedly. In verse 8 we find the shepherds hard at work keeping the flock. They were simply doing their job faithfully. There is a lesson to be learned here for you and I. The key to experiencing the glory of God falling upon us is faithfulness. God moves often in unexpected ways and times. The glory of the Lord cannot be manufactured. We cannot create His glory. His glory falls when we are faithful in spiritual disciplines and to the cause of Christ. If we want to experience true revival, if we want to experience His glory; we must keep watch. We must stay faithful in our personal walk with God and with the task to which He has called us to. There have been many times over the years when I walked into church on a normal Sunday planning to participate in the normal routine of worship and preaching. However, God showed up and had other plans. Sometimes it started with a song or testimony. Sometimes it would come in the middle of the sermon or during the invitation. Yet, God showed up unexpectedly. The key is not to manufacture a move of God, but to stay faithful week in and week out and at a time when we least expect it, God will show up and do something special in our midst.
The glory of the Lord brings fear. In verse 9 we see that the immediate reaction of the shepherds was fear. No doubt they were paralyzed with fear at what they saw. After all, you would be too. If an angel appeared to you and the glory of God surrounded you, there would most certainly be an element of fear. Think about it. You and I are dirty sinners. We are unworthy of His presence. When God shows up, our initial reaction is often fear because we realize how unholy we are compared to Him.
The glory of the Lord brings joy. The fear that we initially experience when the glory of the Lord falls, is quickly turned to joy as we embrace His presence. In verse 10 the angel reassures the shepherds that everything is okay and they bring a message that will bring great joy to all people. There is nothing more joyful than being the presence of God.
The glory of the Lord brings good news. The angel in verses 10-12 announces the good news that the Savior has come. The glory of God is always centered on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When the glory of God falls upon us, the Gospel will be preached. For it is God’s desire that we know the Gospel and live the Gospel and that others will come and believe the Gospel. The Gospel always accompanies the glory of God.
The glory of the Lord brings rejoicing. In verses 13-14 we see that a great multitude of angels appear and they sing a song of praise to the Lord. When the glory of God falls, the Gospel is preached resulting in the lost being saved, which results in great rejoicing amongst God’s people. I love those times when people respond to the Gospel and the church celebrates together. There is nothing like God’s people lifting their voices in praise!
The glory of the Lord brings confirmation. In verses 15-16, the shepherds leave their task of watching over their flocks and they go to Bethlehem to see for themselves what the angel had told them. When they got there, they see the babe lying in a manger. The first ones to see Jesus other than Mary and Joseph are lowly and rough shepherds, the outcasts of society. As they look upon Jesus, they realize that what the angel told them was true. The messiah has come. The Savior of the world is born! God will never show us His glory without confirmation. As sinful men, it is imperative that we test the spirits to see if they are of God. I have been in situations before when I could tell that what was taking place was manufactured, it was not real. However, I have been in other situations where I knew it was real as it was confirmed in my heart. How do you know if a ‘spiritual’ or ‘emotional’ experience is truly of God? How can we confirm whether or not we are experiencing an outpouring of God’s presence? It is when Jesus is seen. The shepherds received their confirmation when they saw Jesus in the manager. You know it is real when Jesus is lifted up. Any exciting and emotional experience in the church that does not have Jesus as the center of attention is not of God. An outpouring of God’s presence will always be focused on the person of Jesus Christ. The true test is whether or not Jesus is lifted up and the gospel is preached.
The glory of the Lord ignites evangelism. It is noted in verse 17 that after the shepherds saw Jesus, they “made known abroad” what was told to them by the angel. How do we know if we have truly been in the presence of the Lord? How do we know if the glory of God did indeed fall upon us? How do we know that we have experienced true revival? We know when we can’t keep it to ourselves. Real revival will always result in greater evangelistic fervor. The real test after a special experience in the church is found weeks later. It is measured by the evangelism that it ignites. If it does not cause God’s people to evangelize the lost, then revival never happened, it was just an emotional experience. The glory of God will always ignite evangelism.
The glory of the Lord brings wonder. The final thing we see concerning the glory of God is the wonder that it brings. In verses 18-20 we see that all who heard the preaching of the shepherds were amazed at the change they saw in their lives. The scripture also says that Mary pondered these things. As a result of seeing Jesus, the lives of the shepherds were turned upside down and they could not help but to tell the world what they saw and experienced. This brought wonder to all who heard. You see, if we have truly experienced the glory of God, it will impact us in such a way that the world around us will look upon us with wonder. They will be attracted to the church in order to experience God’s glory for themselves. When the glory of God falls upon a church, the community around them is changed. Things will never be the same again.
This is my prayer. That the glory of God would fall upon us. That we would experience His glory and that such an experience would change the world around us.
[1] Stein, R. H. (1992). Luke (Vol. 24, p. 108). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
Pastor Chris Noland 