Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Luke 2:8-14

Allow me to read it again in the King James Version, the version most of recognize.

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. ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luk　2:8　KJV)

Luke says the "the glory of the Lord shone round about them" what exactly is the Glory of the Lord and why were the shepherds afraid? Exodus 33 verses 18 -23 Exodus 33:18 Moses said, "Please show me your glory." ¹⁹ And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰ But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." ²¹ And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." (Exo　33:18　ESV) Notice God says that no one can see His face and live but God made arrangements for Moses to see His Glory from the back. Look at Exodus 34 verse 29 Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exo　34:29　ESV) Here you see that the Glory of the Lord made Moses face shine so much Aaron and all the Israelites were afraid. From these two passages we can gather that the Glory of the Lord is bright and powerful. Look at Exodus 40 verse 34-35 Exodus 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus　40:34　ESV) The Glory of the Lord is so powerful Moses couldn’t enter the house of the Lord. Look at 2 Chronicles 7 verse 22

Here again the Glory of the Lord is so powerful the priests could not enter the Lord’s house. Turn to page 933, Acts 26 verse 13 where Paul describes His conversion experience on the road to Damascus to

King Agrippa Acts 26:13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. (Act　26:13　ESV)

This is also the Glory of the Lord; it shined brighter than the sun. Do you think we have a way to feel what it was like to experience the Glory of the Lord? I don’t think we can fully understand but I think I can give you a taste….. (turn on halogen flood lights)… Imagine sudden light brighter than the sun in the middle of the night. If that happened today people would think they were having a close encounter of the third kind. They would take a video of it with their phone and post it to YouTube. The shepherds didn’t know anything about close encounters of the third kind but they did know about the prophesy. But the prophesy said nothing about anything like this. They were terrified because they saw the full Glory of the Lord.

The angel told them "fear not" not that they shouldn’t be afraid but recognizing they were afraid and the angel told them "stop it; I have good news of great joy." The great joy was the antidote for great fear. This is God’s opportunity to go public with the good news. Back in the days of the news boys they would stand on the corner and yell "extra, extra read all about it" God out does all the news boys put together and displays the Glory of the lord and announces the good news through an angel. God chose to announce the good news to shepherds, why shepherds? After all, they are the lowest on the social ladder. King David was a shepherd out in the same fields and now the news of the birth of the one greater than David is announced to and broadcast by the shepherds. The angel announced a savior is born in the city of David.

Why is it we need a savior? John describes the creation’s fall, sin, death, and hell in one word "darkness." Creation has plunged into darkness. This creation, the world we live in no longer knows God. It’s spiritually ignorant and blind. There is evidence of God all around and His imprint on the world yet they cannot recognize its maker. Man couldn’t find God back then anymore than the world can find God now. So, creation needs to be redeemed, saved, rescued from darkness of sin and death so God needed to reveal Himself.

He revealed Himself through the Glory of the Lord in the person of Jesus Christ as a baby. Jesus Christ is the glory of the Lord in the flesh. God revealed himself to the world to rescue it from sin and death. He sent the Glory of the Lord not just to be a baby but to live the perfect life, die on a cross, rise from the dead in your place, to save the world, all of the world even lowly shepherds. You see He came to overcome darkness. Look back at John 1 verse 5. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The darkness cannot overcome Jesus Christ, the Glory of the Lord, the light. We know Jesus remains the Glory of the Lord His whole life. Remember Paul’s description of his conversion experience? Jesus, the Glory of the Lord shown all around him. Jesus is not just a baby, He was sent to save creation, you and I. He was sent to save you!

Amen