BURKITT : | Lu 2:1-7 | Lu 2:8-12 | Lu 2:13-14 | Lu 2:15-20 | Lu 2:21 | Lu 2:22-24 | Lu 2:25-28 | Lu 2:29-33 | | Lu 2:34-35 | Lu 2:36-38 | Lu 2:39-40 | Lu 2:41-42 | Lu 2:43-45 | Lu 2:46-47 | Lu 2:48 | Lu 2:49 | Lu 2:50-52 | KJV
Reference
8 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 find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. (Luke 2:8-12 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Here we have the promulgation and first publishing of our Saviour’s birth to the world: The angel said unto the shepherds, I bring you glad tidings, a Saviour is born.
Where observe, 1. The messenger employed by God to publish the joyful news of a Saviour’s birth; the holy angels, heavenly messengers employed about a heavenly work: it is worth our notice, how serviceable the angels were to Christ upon all occasions, when he was here upon earth; an angel declares his conception; a host of angels publish his birth; in his temptation, an angel strengthens him; in his agony, an angel comforts him; at his resurrection, an angel rolls away the stone from the door of the sepulchre; at his ascension, the angels attend him up to heaven; and at his second coming to judge the world, he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. And great reason there is, that the angels should be thus officious in their attendances upon Christ, who is a head of confirmation to them, as he was a head of redemption to fallen man.
Observe, 2. The persons to whom this joyful message of a Saviour’s birth is first brought, and they are the shepherds; The angel said unto the shepherds, Fear not.
1. Because Christ, the great shepherd of his church, was come into the world.
2. Because he was of old promised unto shepherds, the old patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who by their occupation were shepherds.
Observe, 3. The time when these shepherds had the honour of this revelation; it was not when they were asleep on their beds of idleness and sloth, but when they were lying abroad, and watching their flocks.
The blessings of heaven usually meet us in the way of an honest and industrious diligence; whereas the idle are fit for nothing but temptation to work upon. If these shepherds had been snoring in their beds, they had no more seen angels, nor yet heard the news of a Saviour, than their neighbours.
Observe, 4. The nature and quality of the message which the angel brought; it was a message of joy, a message of great joy, a message of great joy unto all people.
For here was born a Son, that Son a Prince, that Prince a Saviour, that Saviour not a particular Saviour of the Jews only, but a universal Saviour, whose salvation is to the ends of the earth. Well might the angel call it a message, or glad tidings of great joy unto all people!
Observe, 5. The ground and occasion of this joy, the foundation of all this good news, which was proclaimed in the ears of a lost world; and that was, the birth of a Saviour; Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Hence learn, 1. That the incarnation and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his manifestation in our flesh and nature, was and is matter of exceeding joy and rejoicing unto all people.
2. That the great end and design of our Lord’s incarnation and coming into the world, was to be the Saviour of lost sinners; “Unto you is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”