Luke 2:13
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:
And suddenly
The phrase "And suddenly" captures the immediacy and unexpected nature of the event. In the Greek, the word "ἐξαίφνης" (exaiphnes) conveys a sense of abruptness and surprise. This sudden appearance emphasizes the divine intervention and the breaking into the ordinary world with extraordinary revelation. It reminds us of the unpredictable nature of God's actions and His ability to intervene in human history at any moment.

there appeared
The Greek word "ἐγένετο" (egeneto) is used here, which means "came into being" or "happened." This indicates that the event was not just a vision or a dream but a real occurrence. The appearance of the heavenly host is a tangible manifestation of the spiritual realm intersecting with the physical world, underscoring the reality of the spiritual dimension and God's active presence in the world.

with the angel
The presence of "the angel" refers back to the angel who had just announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. This angel is likely Gabriel, who is often associated with delivering important messages from God. The angel's role as a messenger highlights the importance of the announcement and the divine authority behind it. The angel serves as a bridge between heaven and earth, bringing God's message to humanity.

a great multitude
The phrase "a great multitude" translates from the Greek "πλῆθος πολύ" (plēthos polu), indicating an innumerable company. This multitude of angels signifies the vastness of the heavenly host and the magnitude of the event being celebrated. It reflects the grandeur and glory of God, as well as the cosmic significance of Jesus' birth. The multitude's presence underscores the universal impact of the Incarnation.

of the heavenly host
The term "heavenly host" comes from the Greek "στρατιά" (stratia), which can mean an army or a host. This imagery of an army of angels conveys the power and majesty of God’s celestial forces. In the Old Testament, the "Lord of hosts" is a common title for God, emphasizing His sovereignty and command over all heavenly beings. The presence of the heavenly host at Jesus' birth signifies the divine endorsement and the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan.

praising God
The act of "praising God" is central to the angels' appearance. The Greek word "αἰνούντων" (ainountōn) means to extol or glorify. This praise is a response to the revelation of God's plan of salvation through the birth of Jesus. It reflects the joy and worship that the heavenly beings have for God's redemptive work. The angels' praise serves as a model for human worship, inviting us to join in the celebration of God's goodness and grace.

and saying
The phrase "and saying" introduces the content of the angels' proclamation. The Greek "λέγοντες" (legontes) indicates that what follows is a declaration or announcement. This sets the stage for the famous proclamation of peace and goodwill, highlighting the message of hope and salvation that Jesus' birth brings to the world. The angels' words are not just a song but a divine message that encapsulates the essence of the Gospel.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Angel
A messenger from God who brings the good news of Jesus' birth to the shepherds. In the context of Luke 2, the angel serves as a divine herald, announcing the arrival of the Savior.

2. Heavenly Host
A multitude of angels who join the initial angel in praising God. The term "host" (Greek: stratia) refers to an army or a large group, emphasizing the grandeur and significance of the event.

3. Shepherds
The humble recipients of the angelic message, representing the common people to whom the good news of Jesus' birth is first announced.

4. Bethlehem
The town where Jesus is born, fulfilling the prophecy of the Messiah's birthplace. It is significant as the City of David, linking Jesus to the Davidic line.

5. Praising God
The act of worship and adoration by the heavenly host, highlighting the divine nature of the event and the glory of God.
Teaching Points
The Significance of Angelic Praise
The presence of the heavenly host underscores the importance of Jesus' birth. It is a cosmic event that warrants the attention and worship of heaven itself.

God's Message to the Humble
The announcement to the shepherds highlights God's heart for the humble and lowly. It reminds us that God's good news is for everyone, regardless of social status.

The Fulfillment of Prophecy
Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfills Old Testament prophecies, affirming the reliability of God's Word and His faithfulness to His promises.

The Joy of Salvation
The angels' praise reflects the joy and hope that Jesus' birth brings to the world. As believers, we are called to share in this joy and spread the good news.

Worship as a Response to God's Glory
The heavenly host's response to God's glory is immediate worship. We are encouraged to cultivate a heart of worship in response to God's work in our lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the appearance of the heavenly host in Luke 2:13 enhance our understanding of the significance of Jesus' birth?

2. In what ways does the announcement to the shepherds reflect God's character and His approach to humanity?

3. How can we see the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the events surrounding Jesus' birth, and why is this important for our faith?

4. What can we learn from the angels' response to God's glory, and how can we apply this to our own worship practices?

5. How does the joy expressed by the heavenly host challenge us to live out and share the joy of the gospel in our daily lives?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 9:6
This prophecy speaks of the birth of a child who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, connecting to the announcement of Jesus' birth as a fulfillment of prophecy.

Revelation 5:11-12
Describes a vision of countless angels around the throne, praising the Lamb, which parallels the multitude of the heavenly host praising God at Jesus' birth.

Psalm 148:2
Calls upon angels to praise the Lord, reflecting the role of the heavenly host in Luke 2:13.
A Multitude of the Heavenly HostJ. Service, D. D.Luke 2:13
Angelic InsightBishop Hacker.Luke 2:13
Church PsalmodyBishop HackerLuke 2:13
Multitude Pleasing to GodBishop Hacker.Luke 2:13
MusicCharles Kingsley.Luke 2:13
One Good Work Quickly Followed by AnotherBishop Hacker.Luke 2:13
Suddenly, or Spirit and UnderstandingAmerican Horniletic ReviewLuke 2:13
The Angel's SongR. Cecil, M. A.Luke 2:13
The Birth of Our LordA. Garry, M. A.Luke 2:13
The Glory of the Heavenly Host an Argument for More than Bare Necessity in the Service of GodBishop Hacker.Luke 2:13
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus ChristE. Hopkins, D. D.Luke 2:13
The Song of AngelsW. N. Lewis, D. D.Luke 2:13
The Song of the AngelsJ. Beaumont, D. D.Luke 2:13
Trust the Heavenly ForcesBishop Hacker.Luke 2:13
The Savior's Birth and Type Angel's SermonR.M. Edgar Luke 2:1-20
The Human and the Heavenly WorldW. Clarkson Luke 2:13, 14
People
Anna, Aser, Asher, Augustus, Cyrenius, David, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Phanuel, Simeon
Places
Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, Nazareth, Rome, Syria
Topics
Angel, Appeared, Army, Band, Company, Giving, Heaven, Heavenly, Host, Immediately, Messenger, Multitude, Praise, Praising, Saying, Spirits, Suddenly
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 2:13

     8440   glorifying God
     8626   worship, places

Luke 2:1-20

     2515   Christ, birth of

Luke 2:1-40

     5652   babies

Luke 2:4-16

     5099   Mary, mother of Christ

Luke 2:8-15

     4170   host of heaven

Luke 2:8-18

     5433   occupations

Luke 2:8-20

     4112   angels, messengers

Luke 2:10-14

     6704   peace, divine NT
     8665   praise, reasons

Luke 2:13-14

     4114   angels, and praise
     5335   herald
     8440   glorifying God
     8646   doxology
     9412   heaven, worship and service

Library
December 25. "I Bring You Glad Tidings" (Luke ii. 10).
"I bring you glad tidings" (Luke ii. 10). A Christmas spirit should be a spirit of humanity. Beside that beautiful object lesson on the Manger, the Cradle, and the lowly little child, what Christian heart can ever wish to be proud? It is a spirit of joy. It is right that these should be glad tidings, for, "Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." It is a spirit of love. It should be the joy that comes from giving joy to others. The central fact of Christmas is
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Was, Is, is to Come
'... The babe lying in a manger...'--LUKE ii. 16. '... While He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven...'--LUKE xxiv. 51. 'This same Jesus... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go...'--ACTS I. 11. These three fragments, which I have ventured to isolate and bring together, are all found in one author's writings. Luke's biography of Jesus stretches from the cradle in Bethlehem to the Ascension from Olivet. He narrates the Ascension twice, because it has two
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Boy in the Temple
'And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me! wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?' --LUKE ii. 49. A number of spurious gospels have come down to us, which are full of stories, most of them absurd and some of them worse, about the infancy of Jesus Christ. Their puerilities bring out more distinctly the simplicity, the nobleness, the worthiness of this one solitary incident of His early days, which has been preserved for us. How has it been preserved? If you will look over
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Simeon's Swan-Song
'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: 30. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.'--LUKE ii. 29,30. That scene, when the old man took the Infant in his withered arms, is one of the most picturesque and striking in the Gospel narrative. Simeon's whole life appears, in its later years, to have been under the immediate direction of the Spirit of God. It is very remarkable to notice how, in the course of three consecutive verses, the operation of that divine Spirit
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Shepherds and Angels
'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Angel's Message and Song
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD . And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

December the Nineteenth the Sun of Righteousness
"A light to lighten the Gentiles." --LUKE ii. 25-40. That was the wonder of wonders. Hitherto the light had been supposed to be for Israel alone; and now a heavenly splendour was to fall upon the Gentiles. Hitherto the light had been thought of as a lamp, illuming a single place; now it was to be a sun, shedding its glory upon a world. The "people that sat in darkness" are now to see "a great light." New regions are to be occupied; there is to be daybreak everywhere! "The Sun of Righteousness
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

December the Twenty-Fifth Christmas Cheer
"Good will toward men!" --LUKE ii. 8-20. The heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the corner to catch me at the fall. That "eye," placed in the sky of many a picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a chilling fear. That God was
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Religious Joy.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."--Luke ii. 10, 11. There are two principal lessons which we are taught on the great Festival which we this day celebrate, lowliness and joy. This surely is a day, of all others, in which is set before us the heavenly excellence and the acceptableness in God's sight of that state which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Wilderness: Temptation. Matthew 4:1-11. Mark 1:12, 13. Luke 4:1-13.
The University of Arabia: Jesus' naturalness--the Spirit's presence--intensity, Luke 2:45-51.--a true perspective--- the temptation's path--sin's path--John's grouping, 1 John 2:16.--the Spirit's plan--why--the devil's weakness--the Spirit's leading--a wilderness for every God-used man, Moses, Elijah, Paul. Earth's Ugliest, Deepest Scar: Jesus the only one led up to be tempted--the wilderness--its history, Genesis 13:10-13. 18:16-19:38.--Jesus really tempted--no wrong here in inner response--every
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Joy Born at Bethlehem
In our text we have before us the sermon of the first evangelist under the gospel dispensation. The preacher was an angel, and it was meet it should be so, for the grandest and last of all evangels will be proclaimed by an angel when he shall sound the trumpet of the resurrection, and the children of the regeneration shall rise into the fullness of their joy. The key-note of this angelic gospel is joy--"I bring unto you good tidings of great joy." Nature fears in the presence of God--the shepherds
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Christ About his Father's Business
But now I shall invite your attention, first, to the spirit of the Saviour, as breathed in these words, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" and then, secondly, I shall exhort the children of God, with all the earnestness which I can command, with all the intensity of power which I can summon to the point, to labour after the same spirit, that they too may unfeignedly say, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? " I. First, then note THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. It was
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

The First Christmas Carol
Let us turn aside, having just thought of angels for a moment, to think rather of this song, than of the angels themselves. Their song was brief, but as Kitto excellently remarks, it was "well worthy of angels expressing the greatest and most blessed truths, in words so few, that they become to an acute apprehension, almost oppressive by the pregnant fulness of their meaning"--"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." We shall, hoping to be assisted by the Holy Spirit,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Christ's Boyhood
LUKE ii. 52. And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour both with God and man. I do not pretend to understand these words. I preach on them because the Church has appointed them for this day. And most fitly. At Christmas we think of our Lord's birth. What more reasonable, than that we should go on to think of our Lord's boyhood? To think of this aright, even if we do not altogether understand it, ought to help us to understand rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Christ Child (Christmas Day. )
LUKE ii. 7. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapt him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. Mother and child.--Think of it, my friends, on Christmas day. What more beautiful sight is there in the world? What more beautiful sight, and what more wonderful sight? What more beautiful? That man must be very far from the kingdom of God--he is not worthy to be called a man at all--whose heart has not been touched by the sight of his first child in its mother's bosom. The greatest
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Music (Christmas Day. )
LUKE ii. 13, 14. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. You have been just singing Christmas hymns; and my text speaks of the first Christmas hymn. Now what the words of that hymn meant; what Peace on earth and good-will towards man meant, I have often told you. To-day I want you, for once, to think of this--that it was a hymn; that these angels were singing, even as
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Of Having Confidence in God when Evil Words are Cast at Us
"My Son, stand fast and believe in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air, but they bruise no stone. If thou are guilty, think how thou wouldst gladly amend thyself; if thou knowest nothing against thyself, consider that thou wilt gladly bear this for God's sake. It is little enough that thou sometimes hast to bear hard words, for thou art not yet able to bear hard blows. And wherefore do such trivial matters go to thine heart, except that thou art yet carnal, and regardest
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Birth of Jesus.
(at Bethlehem of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke II. 1-7. ^c 1 Now it came to pass in those days [the days of the birth of John the Baptist], there went out a decree [a law] from Cæsar Augustus [Octavius, or Augustus, Cæsar was the nephew of and successor to Julius Cæsar. He took the name Augustus in compliment to his own greatness; and our month August is named for him; its old name being Sextilis], that all the world should be enrolled. [This enrollment or census was the first step
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
(the Temple at Jerusalem, b.c. 4) ^C Luke II. 21-39. ^c 21 And when eight days [Gen. xvii. 12] were fulfilled for circumcising him [The rite was doubtless performed by Joseph. By this rite Jesus was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 16, 17); that is, he became a member of the covenant nation, and became a debtor to the law--Gal. v. 3] , his name was called JESUS [see Luke i. 59], which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Luke i. 31.] 22 And when the days of their
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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