[00:00:01] You're listening to Theology and Apologetics with Thomas Fretwell, bring Theology to Life. The Apologetics was a part of the chapter that was published in the Temple. It was to those shepherds that the announcement of the Messiah's birth came.
[00:00:46] I quoted you some of the rabbinic literature to prove that point. And we made the point that it is obviously no surprise that those shepherds who had spent their life rearing Pascal Palsov's sacrifice sheep are the first ones to actually hear the announcement of the Messiah
[00:01:00] We noted that the return of the glory to that field on that night was the first in over a 500 year absence. The announcement that the glory had returned, we made the point that the glory always showed up in Israel's history,
[00:01:11] the glory of the Lord, the Shukhinah, he was either a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire leading them through the wilderness but now at this time the glory had returned in human flesh to dwell amongst them as a manual.
[00:01:25] We read verse 10 and 11, the said, but the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.
[00:01:34] But today in the city of David there has been born for USAIDA who has Christ the Lord. And we looked at the connection to Old Testament Jewish prophecy that all of those things would have done.
[00:01:44] And then I spent a bit of time giving you another perspective that statement from the angels was also a direct reputation of the political power of that day. We spoke of Caesar or Gustus before words we looked at in that statement, our good news, Savior, Messiah and Lord.
[00:02:02] And most people are not aware that all of those descriptions are things that Caesar or Gustus claimed for himself. Caesar or Gustus, they're the emperor at the time. His second name was Commander Caesar, Son of the Divine.
[00:02:15] He considered himself to be the Son of God because his father was deified. And I read to you in descriptions that recorded the cunning of Caesar as being referred to as the good news. I read in descriptions that we have that cool Augustus for Savior of the worlds.
[00:02:31] I read to you in descriptions that talk about Caesar's appearance as heralding a new age, a messianic age. And I read to you many statute edications that refer to him as God or Gustus. And the point we made that was Caesar is not the Son of God.
[00:02:45] Caesar is not the Savior of the world. Jesus did not usher in the new age. Jesus has birthed in that. And this was what I think is going on behind the scenes here in this announcement to the shepherd. So let's continue now and pick this up in verse 12.
[00:03:02] Luke chapter 2, verse 12, It says, this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby, wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger. So here the shepherds are given away to identify this newborn Savior that they've just been told about.
[00:03:18] And in Bethlehem, they would find a baby wrapped in clothes in a manger. And this would have been like we mentioned last time most likely a cave in the hill country of Judea where animals would shelter with a small
[00:03:30] trough feeding trough in there which would have been the manger. Now this is likely nothing like they may have expected the birth of the king. God incarnate in human flesh coming down to this earth seems like we should have more pomp and ceremony.
[00:03:45] Maybe a little bit more like what we watched yesterday, but there were no grand palaces, no poor, no ceremony, no dignitaries, no mighty men and leaders of the earth. Just a baby on a cold night born amongst the animals.
[00:03:57] Called the people's Savior, the people's king, born amongst the people, the humblest of beginning for such a person. Verse 13, and suddenly they repaired with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
[00:04:12] Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. So now the shepherds are upon being given this sign for the Savior, by the angel who appeared to them suddenly, with the angel now appear a whole host of heaven.
[00:04:28] The heavenly host of the multitudes, this must have been quite a scene. One angel was probably enough, that is said they were afraid of one angel. And now the heavens open and they see this whole heavenly host praising God. It must have been amazing.
[00:04:41] The monumental day in God's salvation history has arrived and really it deserved an angelic choir to come and announce it. And notice what was the first thing that this heavenly host does is they say, Glory to God in the highest.
[00:04:55] You see these serents of God, these angelic messengers, and I like to think that these are most lighten the same angelic choir that's sung when the creation of the earth, which says Job tells us doesn't it that the angel's sung when God created the earth.
[00:05:09] And now we see the angel singing again, as almost we see this new creation happening that would come through Jesus Christ. The greatest mystery of all mysteries God becoming man, all happening now in this small city of Bethlehem outside of Jerusalem.
[00:05:23] Heaven's choir came down to sing as the same time, Heaven's King was coming down to say, lost man. But notice, all glory is given to God. The angels make no mistake, they know the correct order of things.
[00:05:38] This was significant because Israel in their history if you remember one of their big sins was they kept string from God and they lost the glory of the Lord.
[00:05:47] The glory of the Lord departed from the temple and now the glory of the Lord has returned in the form of a child, a savior a king. And the angels are seen glorifying and praising God for this what else can they do by bringing glory to God.
[00:06:01] This is really the highest occupation of those who are servants of the Lord. The angelic servants but also I would say for us too, as servants of the Lord. One of the titles that we are given when we become Christians is that we are servants of the Lord.
[00:06:15] The highest priority of a servant of the Lord exactly what these angels do, bring glory to God. You remember the sin when the glory first came to Israel in the temple that amazing sin where Solomon is doing that prayer,
[00:06:28] the ark of the covenant is placed in the holy of Hose, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the musicians, they all came forward and look what it says in second chronicles.
[00:06:36] It says in Unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord. And they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and symbols, instruments of music, and they praised the Lord saying,
[00:06:50] for he indeed is good who's loving kindness is everlasting. And then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
[00:07:03] Kind of a similar scene, the glory of the Lord comes down and people sing praise and glorify God. Now we're seeing the same again later in history, the glory of the Lord is once again come down this time in encased in flesh, in the child from Nazareth.
[00:07:20] And once again now the heavenly host are praising and glorifying God. Jesus always has that effect. He warrants that sort of praise, he should bring glory. The Psalmist also says, teach me your way, O Lord. I walk in your truth.
[00:07:34] You night my heart to fear your name and I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with all my heart and will glorify your name forever for your loving kindness towards me. His grace. This has always been the desire and highest perrogative of the saints.
[00:07:51] From Corinthians 6, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Who you have from God and that you are not your own for you have been brought with a price therefore glorify God in your body.
[00:08:04] This theme of glorifying God is from start to finish in the scriptures. And when we glorify Him, what I mean by that is we acknowledge His greatness and His splendor and we praise Him for it. Make sure that all praise He's directed towards Him.
[00:08:20] And when He says that we have been brought with a price glorified God in your bodies, this is referring to the fact that our lives, our bodies, what we do in this world should testify to that fact.
[00:08:30] Just as the angels now were given glory to Jesus Christ, our lives as servants should also give glory to Jesus Christ.
[00:08:37] Just like the hymn right to the phony cause we wrote, to God be the glory of great things He has done so loved He the world that He gave us His Son.
[00:08:45] Now why do we do this? Why should the glory of God be such a concern for the saints? Yes, obviously because God is worthy of such glory.
[00:08:53] But one day we know that the whole earth will be filled with that glory as Habakkuk said, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
[00:09:02] And we are about building to that momentous time in a little bit now before we get there. We read the hybrastly prayer of Jesus John 17, where we see Jesus pray to His Father. You read that prayer.
[00:09:17] What is His chief concern in that prayer? There's very first words, John 17, one. Jesus spoke these things, lifting up his eyes to heaven. He said, Father, the hour has come glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.
[00:09:31] You see, that is His chief concern. But Son be glorified therefore the Father is glorified. He goes on. I glorified you on the earth.
[00:09:39] Having accomplished the work you have given me to do now, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was.
[00:09:48] The glory of the Lord is central to the mission of the Messiah and thus it is central to the mission of the Messiah's body, His Church. Nine times in that one prayer alone, Jesus mentions the glory of glorifying the Lord.
[00:10:02] And when you come to the Revelation, the final book in the Bible, it is no surprise that as we are dead into that end,
[00:10:09] we've just studied this for the last couple years. As you get to the end of the Bible, the grand story of redemption is coming to its end.
[00:10:16] It's no surprise that in that book, the glory of the Lord is mentioned more times than in any other book, in the New Testament anyway. Seventeen times you have the glory of the Lord. You see angels, you see saints, you see martyrs singing in heaven.
[00:10:29] All of them glorifying the Lord. The song of Moses, Revelation 15, the song of the Lamb, Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord, the almighty righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations.
[00:10:41] Who will not fear O Lord and glorify your name? For you alone are holy, all the nations who come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.
[00:10:52] And one day all the nations will give glory to the Lord. But what we see here happening, two thousand years ago in Bethlehem, is the beginning of that future as this king is born.
[00:11:04] Now this king was born not, he didn't get a golden carriage, he didn't get a live orchestra or national audience, he didn't get a throne, he had a manger.
[00:11:12] But what he did get was a heavenly host, the angelic choir of heaven was sent down to earth to sing praise and glorify God on his arrival because wherever Jesus goes, God is glorified.
[00:11:24] And that is the point that we have here standing out, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased.
[00:11:32] When it says in the highest you could translate that in the highest place, it's talking of the heavenly realm, contrasting it with the earth. While heaven offers praise, humans are to have peace and this is an announcement of peace.
[00:11:45] Upon those it says with whom God is pleased or some translations will read of with him, God's favour rests. This is referring to those who would accept the Messianic King.
[00:11:56] This is an announcement of peace for them. And again I would say this is a reputation of Caesar at this time.
[00:12:03] Because you remember Caesar, ushered in the greatest peace of the world, had known at that time. They called it the Paxramon or the Peace of Rome. That was Caesar or Gostus who did that.
[00:12:12] So this was a man who called himself the Son of God who brought peace to the Zer, yet this was an external peace really imposed by force and power. What Jesus is referring to here, is that what God is referring to here is something much different.
[00:12:25] Angels are speaking of really shall-on in the Hebrew sense of the term, a wholeness of being and relationship. That will one day extend to a universal peace that will cover the earth.
[00:12:37] But right now it begins with bringing peace to man's heart, bringing peace and reconciliation between God and man through the forgiveness of sins found in this one who has just been born, the King of the Jews, the Prince of Peace.
[00:12:50] Verse 15, it says when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.
[00:13:03] So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the BBS he lay in the manger and when they had seen this they made known the statement which had been told them about this child.
[00:13:16] So then just as suddenly as the angels and the heavenly host appeared it seems that they just disappear back into the heavenly realm.
[00:13:23] And I think this is amazing when you think about that if someone else arrived on that scene just after that, they might have really been no sign that anything amazing had happened.
[00:13:32] The angels were gone the dark night in the fields, the sheep, the shepherds would have been just as usual they wouldn't have known anything has happened but for those shepherds their life would never be the same again.
[00:13:43] Their lives were eternally changed from this moment on and they immediately began saying to one another let us go to Bethlehem see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.
[00:13:53] The pronouncement of the good news requires her response and I think that is just the same today.
[00:13:59] The proclamation of Jesus Christ today does require a response from everyone even if they don't think they have to make a response that in itself is a response and that will be brought to light in a future time.
[00:14:12] Verse 16 so they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph. The text is quite infatient in a hurry without hesitation without procrastination, no debating, no consulting. They heard the divine revelation and they responded.
[00:14:27] They called this as called the obedience of faith much like poor rights in Romans when he says when Christ is preached.
[00:14:33] But now is manifested by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God has been made known to all nations leading to the obedience of faith.
[00:14:44] The obedience of faith divine revelation about Jesus required response and obedience from these faithful shepherds just like it does today. Now think about this for a moment. This was divine revelation yes in the sense of an angelic announcement here.
[00:14:59] But should this not be our same response to the word of God, the word of truth when the Spirit of God speaks to us as we are reading the word.
[00:15:08] From bicting us. Now we may read a story like this and we may think well there is no way that those shepherds could have done anything but a bit of obedience followed the Lord.
[00:15:18] But is this not when we read the word of God, it's not the same God that inspired that angelic announcement that inspired his word.
[00:15:25] The Bible does teeth but it is a revelation breathed out by the same God who sent those angelic messages. It is, it's the same God, it's the same divine inspiration that we have there.
[00:15:34] Yet how easily do we walk away from revelation, divine revelation when we read the word? When the Spirit convicts us when we are reading the word but we do not act on our convictions.
[00:15:45] For me that would be no different if those shepherds off of these angels came to them and gave them this divine revelation, they sat back down around their fire, put another drink on, cook some food and they said to themselves,
[00:15:55] I'll just check it out later and worry about it, we'll deal with that another time a little bit down the road.
[00:16:00] The stimulants will we do when we read the word of God that divine revelation that breathed out inspired text that God has for us and it convicts us. We can feel the Spirit speaking to us and we say, no I'm already to deal with that now.
[00:16:14] Let's just the same as if the shepherds sat back down as if nothing happened. It's a very similar thing, we should challenge us all, we should have the same response, what did they do?
[00:16:23] No, without hesitation they responded in the obedience of faith to the divine message and that is what we should do. They rushed there with a sense of urgency and it says they found Mary and Joseph and the baby still in the animal traffic, still in the manger there.
[00:16:40] And I think about that, what a sight that must have been. This swirl of contrast that must have been going through this shepherds head at this time.
[00:16:47] They just been in this dark field at night the skies had been opened the glory of the Lord had shone around them, they've seen this mighty angel, give this message that a Savior had been born and then the heavens opened even more and then a whole host of angelic choir came down and they were phrasing God, what a glorious scene that must have been.
[00:17:06] And that was just angel, but now they told that the king is finally here, the Savior has come and they travel to Bethlehem, Bethlehem was a poor town as it was anyway.
[00:17:15] But they're not even in one of the houses in Bethlehem, they go up to one of the manger's, the animal's, stables in Bethlehem. They've seen the glory of the Lord and now they first lay eyes on the king, the king of glory.
[00:17:28] And what do they see? Here he is, the majestic one in these squalid conditions really amongst the animals, amongst the filth that would have been there as a helpless newborn child.
[00:17:41] I can't really imagine what that must have been like trying to process that sort of information yet this is what God prophesied would occur.
[00:17:49] This was the long awaited fulfillment of thousands of years of messianic prophecy that these faithful people would have been waiting for and they were the first to see it. Verse 17, when they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this child.
[00:18:06] You see, they go and they tell Mary and Joseph what they'd heard about this child. Mary and Joseph there, they're still in this manger with this newborn child.
[00:18:14] These shepherds come with this wonderful fantastic story that the angels would have had appeared to us and told us what is going to happen, thought this child is going to do to the earth.
[00:18:23] That itself must have been amazing. They would have talked about this as good news. This is the gospel. This is great joy for all people. This is the Savior of the world.
[00:18:34] And you could say that really in effect they became the first evangelist here for the good news of Jesus. They were the first people to tell someone else about the coming of Jesus Christ at this time, that's a monumental event.
[00:18:47] Verse 18, it says, and it all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds, but Mary treasured all these things pondering them in our heart.
[00:19:00] You could imagine the response from this little crowd that was probably in this manger at this time. It says they wondered after these things, sheer wonder and amazement at everything that it transpired here today.
[00:19:13] And I like this because you could think of it like this from the very beginning of Jesus' life on this earth incarnate on this earth. He has caused people to wonder and amazement.
[00:19:25] Jesus still does that today. You don't have to travel far to hear stories of people being amazement at the wonder of Jesus Christ.
[00:19:32] Now for Mary particularly think of Mary in this situation, this must have caused her to wonder above all else, knowing that she was the one that was going to have to pick up this child,
[00:19:41] real him as a young baby, yet at the same time this was the savior of the world. What a responsibility her head must have been going crazy at this time.
[00:19:48] And it says she treasured these things pondering them in our heart. What does this mean? What role is this going to play?
[00:19:54] And one of the wonderful things that you know about Mary as we studied her a few weeks back as she was faithful when she heard the news that she was going to give birth to the Messiah.
[00:20:04] You'll study Mary throughout the gospels we will as we go through. You'll see that right up until the last day she is faithful to the Lord.
[00:20:10] She's a wonderful woman of faith and she's one of the last ones that watching him as her house son is being crucified in that respect. But she knew this was the king of glory that this was the savior and she is faithful.
[00:20:21] And I like the voice says it here, this she wonders on these things. She ponders them and she treasures them in our heart. The announcement that the angelic announcement, the divine revelation about Jesus Christ, she treasured it and she pondered it in our heart.
[00:20:36] And I think about that again if I could make that same analogy that we still have divine revelation from the Lord. That's what the word of God claims to be. And that's why we also have the command that we should treasure the word of God.
[00:20:49] You said, you're word I have treasured where in my heart we should hide it in our hearts just like Mary did so that we can ponder it, chew on it think about it.
[00:20:56] And ultimately have the same effect we should be in awe amazed and wonder at the word of God. The story of redemption that we have all coming from this beginning here of this child.
[00:21:08] This is going to last us. First 20, the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen just as had been told them. We think about this, how did we begin this dilemma?
[00:21:20] The angels appeared and they were glorifying and praising God. They tell people of Jesus and now it's the shepherd's turn to glorify and praise God.
[00:21:28] Their first encounter with Jesus, with the Emmanuel, with God incarnate with the Savior and it causes entry praise and glorify God. What did we say?
[00:21:36] The main thing of the servant of God is to bring glory to him through our lives through our praise. We direct praise towards him. And they left from their first encounter with Jesus, they returned with a song in their heart.
[00:21:50] And that's your how it should be with us too, who will the time? Jesus should do that in our lives. And what I love about this is again, like we said, Jesus still causes people to wonder and amazement today.
[00:22:02] And Jesus still has this effect on people he puts a song in their heart, he causes them to glorify and praise him. I think it's telling that it was not the religious leaders in Jerusalem at this time who were praising him.
[00:22:14] It was the outcasts, the shepherds in a field and Bethlehem, they got to witness the dawn of a new era.
[00:22:20] When I was having this thought as I was watching or thinking about some of the coronation things, you know that famous part of the ceremony where they hand a Bible to the monarch and they say, this is the greatest treasure on earth.
[00:22:31] I love that part of the ceremony. However, the person who did that, the person from the Church of Scotland and they're talking about the Bible being the authority.
[00:22:40] If you know anything about where the Church of Scotland is right now, that is the very last thing that that church represents is the authority of the Word of God.
[00:22:46] The rank hypocrisy in that act too, going on there. So it's almost like this double standard going on. Now yes, I want people's heart focused toward the Word of God and we do fully believe.
[00:22:56] It is one of the greatest gifts that we have. But if it doesn't actually cause us to glorify and praise the Lord, to understand that it is divine revelation.
[00:23:05] And therefore it is the highest authority in our lives, then it's not having the effect that is intended to. It should cause us to live glorifying God and praising Him. The announcement that a pronouncement of Jesus Christ can have no other effect, glory to God in the highest.
[00:23:23] Now those words in Latin are Gloria in Excel says, Dear, you may know that phrase because it's a very famous Him. It's sung all over the world today.
[00:23:31] I'm going to just end by reading you to the words of that Him that come from that first line that we read there.
[00:23:37] It says, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you. We give thanks for your great glory, Lord God heavenly king, O God almighty Father.
[00:23:52] Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
[00:23:59] You take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer, you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
[00:24:06] For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the most high Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen. You've been listening to theology and apologetics. This podcast is supported by your generous donations.
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