It began on an ordinary night in a little town called Bethlehem, of the province of Judea, of the nation of Israel, roughly 2000 years ago. Here, a child would be born to a young couple of little means or reputation. Because there was no available lodging in that city, His birth would take place among the animals in a stable with nothing to commend Him to be anything other than a baby born in unfortunate circumstances (Luke 2:4-7) (Isaiah 53:2).
However, this ordinary night would not remain so. A short distance away, shepherds are keeping watch on their flock. They are likely cold, bored and fighting drowsiness. And then it happens! Out of nowhere there appears before them one who is referred to as “an angel of the LORD”, a messenger from God, accompanied by what is identified as the “glory of the LORD,” a supernatural light show that surrounds them, which causes them to be “very afraid”, literally terrified (Luke 2:8-9).
Now shepherds, at least good ones, were not frightened easily. Their responsibilities required them to have to deal with all forms of natural “phenomenon” and dangers in caring for the sheep. However, this far exceeded anything they had experienced up to that moment.
So, how are we, 2000 years later, to understand this fearful experience of the shepherds that is revealed as the “glory of the LORD”; an experience that would result in their “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen”, and proclaiming it to all they would encounter that most holy night (Luke 2:17-20).
Our understanding begins with our believing that the LORD being referred to here is God – the eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient, infinitely wise, infinitely powerful, infinitely good creator and sovereign ruler of the universe and all that is in it, who possesses what is referred to in this passage as His glory (Luke 2:9) (Isaiah 45:5-13).
The term glory includes in its various definitions and expressions the brightness or outshining of an object such as a star or jewel, the weightiness or superior value of something or someone, the exquisite beauty and splendor of a person, object or event.
When the Bible speaks of the glory of the Lord or the glory of God, it is speaking of the outshining, the visible manifestation or proclamation of the infinite perfections of God’s eternal being, of all that makes Him infinitely worthy of being known intimately, loved supremely, trusted explicitly, obeyed perfectly, worshiped exclusively and pursued passionately as the object of our deepest love and source of our greatest joy.
God, who exists in an eternal love relationship between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, finds His greatest joy, His greatest pleasure, His greatest satisfaction in beholding His own Glory in one another (Isaiah 42:8-9). There is none happier, nor more fulfilled, nor more satisfied than God is in God (1 Chronicles 16:25-29).
God, in creating man in His image and likeness, to live with Him in a spectacular universe and world that proclaimed His glory by its very existence (Psalm 19:1-4), did so we are told “for His glory” (Isaiah 43:7); that mankind would behold the glory of God and in doing so know and experience the eternal joys and pleasures of knowing, loving and being loved by God and one another as image bearers of God (Psalm 8:1-9) (Psalm 16:11) (Psalm 90:14).
Now, it is clearly evident that this glorious relationship with God for which man was created was lost, as the glory of God, both in the creation and in man, has been thoroughly corrupted because of sin – man’s rejection of God’s purpose for and rule over our lives, and our opposition to His glorious order and design for human flourishing and our individual happiness in Him (Romans 3:23). This has thus brought us under the judgement and wrath of God, in which we are separated – cut off from this glorious life with Him for which we were created (Isaiah 59:2). And apart from God graciously intervening, we will remain as such forever, joining the devil and his demons in what is referred to in Revelation 20:10 and Revelation 21:8 as the “lake of fire” (Romans 1:18-32) (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
Thankfully, God, who is rich in mercy and abundant in grace, determined from the foundation of the world that His glory would be most clearly and comprehensively revealed for all eternity in the person and saving work of the one announced to shepherds as “Christ the Lord”, the long awaited Messiah, who was to be called Jesus, because He would save His people from the eternal penalty of their sin, removing our spiritual blindness so that we can see the glory of God in the face of Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7)(Matthew 1:21) (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)
In the face – in the person and work of Jesus, God reveals to man the beauty of His holiness, the excellence of His infinite wisdom, the awesomeness of His majestic power, the greatness of His faithfulness, the loveliness of His humility, the preciousness of His truth, the wonder of His incredible patience, the splendor of His abundant goodness and amazing grace, the sweetness of His loving kindness and tender mercies, the blessedness of His sovereign authority, the justness of His wrath and judgment, and the perfections of His redeeming love, all of which are revealed visibly to man in the person and work of Jesus, recorded in the New Testament, so that all who “believe in Him” as He is revealed in all of His glory, will not perish under God’s judgment, but receive the gift of eternal life, the glorious life with God in which we will behold and enjoy Him in all of His glory, wherein God will now fully enjoy us in our enjoyment of Him (Psalm 37:3-4) (Hebrews 1:1-4) (John 3:16) (Zephaniah 3:17).
Throughout the Old Testament when God displayed His glory, His immediate presence to Israel, it was in the form of a supernatural light referred to as His Shekinah, which even Moses could not stand in the presence of and see God’s face due to the Holiness of God and Moses own sinful condition (Exodus 33:18-20). That is likely what the shepherds first experienced and greatly feared in Luke 2:8-9. However, this night, these lowly, sin-laden shepherds would see the glory of God face to face in the babe lying in the manger, the one prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 as “Immanuel” (“God with us” Matthew 1:23) and in Isaiah 60:1-3 and Isaiah 49:6 as the one who would bring the light of the glory of God into this glory-belittling world and salvation to His people, those who would by faith, behold His glory in the person and work of the one revealed by the angel as “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (2 Corinthians 4:6) (John 1:14). And thus, those of us who do behold His glory will rejoice with Mary in the coming of “God our Savior” (Luke 1:46-47), joining that angelic choir not just on Christmas, but all the days of our life and throughout eternity in singing from our redeemed hearts,
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Grace and Peace × to you this Christmas season and forever in “Christ our Lord. Amen.