Luke 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. I. THE SCENE. It was a fine Eastern night, not cold like one of our Decembers, with frosts or nipping gales freezing through blood and marrow. "The shepherds were abiding in the fields," i.e., making their bivouac in them. The evangelist's style seems to quiver with the sudden surprise which came upon the shepherds. "And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they feared with sore fear. And that angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, as being that which shall be to all the people of God." His message declares four things. The wondrous Child to be born is a Saviour, who conies in pity for a fallen race; Christ, who, as the Anointed One, has so long been expected; the Lord, who is Divine as well as human; in David's city, to fulfil literally the oracle of Micah, and the anticipations which might have been awakened by the Psalm that speaks of a great Priest-king in connection with Bethlehem, and God's remembrance of David's life of affliction. "And this shall be a sign unto you;" a sign, in its quiet but amazing contrast to all exhibitions of this world's royalty. "Ye shall find a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" Among the angels of heaven there was silence until the point when that angel visitant to the shepherds had touched the lowest point in the abyss of the humiliation: The armies of earth raise a shout or song. The armies of heaven (the "heavenly soldiers," as it is grandly rendered in the old English version) have theirs — but it is a song of peace. Much of that choral ode was, probably, unheard by mortal ears — lost in the heights above. One fragment alone of the song is preserved. It is a triplet. 1. "Glory to God in the highest." The angels speak from the point of view of this earth. We may understand either "Let it be," or "It is." If the former, they pray that from the bosom of humanity glory may rise to God in the highest heaven. If we understand the latter, they affirm that it does, at that moment, actually ascend. There is a little poem, possibly more beautiful in idea than in execution, which tells of a child dying in a workhouse. As her simple hymn, "Glory to Thee, my God, this night," ascends from the pallet-bed, it floats up and up, until the last faint ripple touches the foot of the throne of God. Then, wakened by the faint, sweet impulse, a new strain of adoration is taken up by angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven — a grander and a fuller "glory." Something in this way, in this passage, the angels seem to view the best adorations of this earth. 2. "On earth peace." The peace spoken of in Scripture as effected by the Incarnation, is fourfold — between God and man; between man and angels; between man and man; between man and his own conscience. It is, of course, too darkly true, that as regards one form of this peace — that between man and man — history seems a long cynical satire on the angels' words. The earth is soaking with blood at this moment, and families are in mourning for the slain in battle. Still, among Christian nations, and in the case of Christian soldiers, there are soft relentings, sweet gleams of human — or rather superhuman — love. Society, too, is full of prejudice and bitterness. In our homes there are tempers which drop vitriolic irritants into every little wound. It was a wholesome memory of the angels' song which led men to examine their souls at Christmas, and to seek for reconciliation with any between whose souls and theirs stood the veil of quarrel or ill-will. But there is something beyond this. It means enmity done away, harmony restored, not only with one's fellow-man, but with oneself. The unholy man has no true feeling of friendship, no friendly relations with himself. Worst of all, man may be in a state of estrangement from God, from Christ, from His Church, from hope — hostile in his mind, which lies immersed, and has its very existence in those evil works of his. 3. (For, understood) "Among men is good-will." It is well known from Keble's beautiful lines, and his note upon Pergolesi's setting of the Vulgate version, that some manuscripts read, "among men of goodwill." This interpretation, though it may please the fancy at first, will scarcely be accepted by the maturer judgment. (1) It is not very concurrent with St. Luke's universal aim, and constant setting forth of the bold broad sympathy of the purpose of the Incarnation. God's love, at that moment, would not be viewed by the angels as restricted to the comparatively righteous. It was a work whose result was to be offered to all our fallen race through Him who is the son of Adam. Men of goodwill, according to the Scripture use of the word, might be too high an attribute even for the elect people of God. The third line appears to give the cause and foundation of the two which precede it. The "Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes" is He who not only brings, but is personally the Truth, the Peace, the Righteousness, the Salvation, the Redemption. Just as He is the personal Peace, so is He the personal incarnate Good-will. There is glory to God in the highest. And there is peace upon earth, for God's goodwill is amongst men. It is the equivalent of Emmanuel — God with us. II. We may now OBSERVE WHERE THE ANGELS' HYMN STANDS IN THE REFORMED LITURGY. In the Roman missal it is found at the beginning of the office; with us it is taken up immediately after we communicate, just before the parting blessing. In that magnificent burst of praise, the "Angelic Hymn," or "Gloria in Excelsis," is the basis of all that follows. "Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men." "We praise Thee" for Thy greatness. "We bless Thee" for Thy goodness, thus made known to us by the voice of angels. "We worship Thee" in our hearts, with beseeming outward reverence. "We glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty" — glorifying and giving thanks with the confession of the mouth. Then we address the sacrificed Son, the Lamb, who is also our God. "O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us." It is thus indicated that He is the subject of the angelic song, that to Him there is glory in the highest, with the Father and the Holy Ghost. "Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father." We worship with angels — in angels' words. We worship them not. Therefore into the texture of our eucharistic "Gloria in Excelsis" is woven a golden thread from another New Testament song — the poem of victory upon the sea of glass. A psalmist had exclaimed, "They shall praise Thy name, great and terrible; holy is it. Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and worship at the mountain of His holiness; for holy is the Lord our God." The writer of the Apocalypse hears it applied to Jesus. And His believing Church incorporates this into her golden commentary of praise upon the "Gloria in Excelsis." "Thou only art holy, O Christ." Only He is holy of Himself: of His holiness we have all received. To an ignorant and superstitious woman, now many years ago, a kindly visitor read the Gospels, with little but the most simple commentary, and without a single word of controversy. A day or two before her death, the poor woman mentioned a dream which she had, valuable only because it appeared to be the reflection of her waking thoughts. She seemed to be in a vast and magnificent church, thronged with thousands upon thousands. High in the distance rose a glorious altar, with a living form towering above it — the Lamb as it had been slain; below, down to the rails which separated the altar from the body of the church, were orders of angels, stoled and vested priests, the Virgin-mother. Moved by some impulse, one after another came to the chancel-gate, and was either received inside with a burst of joy that filled the distance, or sorrowfully sent away. At last the dying woman presented herself in her turn. Sternly, yet not without a tone of regret, a priest put her back, and said, "You cannot pass." Sweetly, with tender sorrow, an angel whispered, "Alas! I cannot help you." With trembling voice, the mother of Jesus told her that "her prayers could not open those gates, nor open a way to the eternal presence of her Son." Then, with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, the woman was turning away, to wander she knew not where, when suddenly the form above the altar — not white, and wan, and stirless, like the crucifix, but living and glorious — stood by the guarded gate. And He opened it, and bade her come in and fear not. "For," said He, "those who come unto Me I will not cast out." And a glorious music arose in the distance. In the same spirit, in this hymn, we pass by saints and angels, and raise our chant, "Thou only art holy." None holy, and therefore none tender as Christ. In thanksgiving for angels' food we borrow angels' words. The song of angels is our communion song. May it not also be made our communicant's manual? For instance, let us take that single line, "on earth peace." That man who did something to insult or injure me — that, perhaps, very wretched woman, with her bitter tongue and cutting jeer — have I forgiven her for Christ's sake? This evil peevish temper, which embitters the fountains of family life, have I set about sweetening it? Am I trying to improve it? This dark hopelessness of God's forgiveness, this despair of the power of God's Spirit to help and sanctify, this unbelief in grace, as if an apostle's pen had never written, "How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" this unbelief in the power of the Cross, this faithlessness which turns the bread of the sacrament into a stone in our bands, and makes us too deaf to hear "for thee!" again and again- is this passing away? Am I ready to take Him at His own word? If not, I cannot really join in the "Gloria in Excelsis." I have nothing to say to one line, at least, of the blessed triplet — "On earth peace" — and therefore the whole harmony is untuned for me. The first "Gloria in Excelsis" died away over Bethlehem. What then? "It came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, then the men, even the shepherds, said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem." The men, the "shepherds" (so the Evangelist seems to say), represent the whole race of men. Even so, the Church keeps unending Christmas, keeps a new Christmas with every communion. The shepherds did their simple work of announcement. "They made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child;" while Mary, with her deeper and more reflective nature, "kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Then "the shepherds returned, glorifying God" for His greatness, and "praising Him" for His goodness, laying the foundation for their glorification and praise "upon all the things which they bad heard and seen, as it was told unto them." The glory and music of angels did not tempt them from their work, but made them do it more gladly upon their return. There was more of heaven about it. So will it ever be with those who seek Him faithfully, and join truly in the "Gloria in Excelsis." (Bishop Wm. Alexander.) 1. Glory to God in the highest. This glory arises from three sources — the matter of the gospel, the manner of its dissemination, and the effects it has produced upon the hearts and habits of men. 2. Glory to God arises from the manner and success of the dissemination of the Word of God, as well as from its matter and contents. 3. Glory is given to God from the effects which this gospel produces among men. In the experience of many it already begins a new heaven and a new earth. II. "On earth peace." Let us first ascertain the nature of this peace, and secondly, the way in which the Word of God promotes it, in order that we may be able to seek peace also, and pursue the right way of hastening on its reign. There is the peace of ignorance, but this is the peace of delusion. There is peace from compromise, but this is the peace of hell. True peace between man and God, or between man and man, can flourish on true principle, and on nothing else. Let us briefly glance at a few features of this goodwill; next, at the way in which God exerts it, and lastly, infer the manner in which we also should show goodwill toward our fellowmen. It is a distinctive goodwill. Why did God pass by the angels that fell, and throw the arms of love around the children of men? It was also an undeserved goodwill. Before the Saviour came we lifted up no cry for the interposition of the mercy of God. Such is God's goodwill, and such His way of showing it. God will show His goodwill to the sinner, just by showing him his sin and his peril. If you saw a brother asleep, amid the darkness of night, enjoying the most delightful dreams, and at the same hour the house on fire around him, would you show him more goodwill by leaving him undisturbed, or by rousing him rudely from his sleep, and pointing his eye to the danger of his situation? This is God's way of manifesting His goodwill to men. (J. Gumming, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.WEB: "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." |
    |