Great Joy For All People
Through our Advent series, we are seeing a story of when man wasn’t or isn’t faithful; God was and is. This is a powerfully important truth for us today. Joyfully, it is a truth for all people. Rachel Gilson talks about how the joy of Christmas is for all people as she reflects on Luke 2:8-20.
“The overwhelming tone of this passage is joy. God has sent his Son to earth, and heaven’s celebration spilled down to the world with praise and stunning glory. And to whom does the joyful announcement come? Not the most glorious of humanity, but rather to the most normal, mundane, and even earthly. The text reeks of animals, being watched by the shepherds to the feeding troughs that cradled Jesus. Christmas is a stunning picture of the gospel: God did not abandon his creation, but went a great distance, at great cost, to personally redeem it.
Luke records a variety of responses to the proclamation. Understandably, the first feeling of this effort fear as they are confronted by creatures so unlike themselves but their fear was sooner replaced by eagerness. After all, first coming was not like the second will be. While the second coming of Christ will usher in the judgment of all, this first was an offer of joy to all people, which would result in true and lasting peace for those who responded to it.
The shepherd’s diligence to seek out this sign was rewarded with finding the family, just as the Angel had said. But the shepherds did not keep the news to themselves. They were just as diligent in reporting what they had been told as they were inventing out the child. This is the heart of gospel proclamation: hearing it for ourselves, experiencing that God has kept his word, and sharing the very good news of sure salvation with others.
Those who heard the shepherd testimony were amazed. This doesn’t necessarily mean they comprehend did the full gravity of what the angels had told the shepherds about the infant: Savior, Messiah, Lord. Perhaps, hearing only average shepherds (and not an angelic host) and seeing only a common newborn, the glory was too obscured for some. Yet God calls us to live by faith in him, not by sight.
Mary, for her part, took it all to heart, turning it over in her mind. And the shepherds rounded out their spontaneous missionary journey by praising and glorifying God. Christ the Lord, our Savior, took on human nature for us and came to be our peace. May our response today – like the shepherds – resound in joy, praise, and glory!”[1]
[1] From Christianity Today’s 2021 Advent Reader – Emphasis added.