8. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, shepherds in the same country a watch over their flock by night. by night over their flock. an stood by and keeping 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them : 1and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; Fear not : for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 2 which shall be to all IO. for there is born to you the people: II. 3 For unto you is born this day in the city of Da'vid a Saviour, 5 which is Christ the Lord. 12. And this shall be a is the a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 1 Luke 1: 12. 2 Vs. 31, 32; Matt. 28: 19; Mark. 1:15; Luke 24: 47. 4 Matt. 1: 21. 5 Matt. 1: 16; Luke 1: 43. 6 Gen. 28: 12; Psa. 103: 20, 21. a Or, the night watches. IV. An Angel announces the Glad Tidings. — Vs. 8-12. 8. Shepherds abiding in the field. Near Bethlehem. "It was in these pastures that David spent his youth and Sam. 17: 34, 35). — Int. Crit. Com. Keeping watch Thieves, wild beasts, and the dangers of the rough precipices form the chief reasons for a night-watch over the flock.". - Prof. Isaac Hall. There are no detached farmhouses in Palestine, as with us, but the farmers live in villages, and hence would have to abide in the fields to watch their flocks. In December in Palestine, says Schaff, the fields are often clothed with rich verdure. 9. And, lo, the angel (not the, but " an angel) of the Lord (one sent from heaven) came upon them. Rather, as R. V., "stood by them." And the glory of the Lord. The radiant brightness which in all ages has been the best symbol and manifestation of God's nature, expressing wisdom, love, power, purity, mystery, eternity, omnipresence. "The light that never was on sea or land.” This accompanied the angel, and showed him to be the authorized divine messenger. And they were sore afraid. Literally, feared a great fear. "The universal consciousness of sin and of unfitness for the eternal world makes all mankind afraid of any unexpected disclosure of the spiritual world or revelation of the nearness of God.". - Abbott. Any sudden manifestation of a great but unknown power produces this effect. - 10. Good tidings. The word from which our word "gospel" comes. They announced the best news the world had ever heard, the news of the Saviour who would fill the whole world with heavenly glory, like that then shining on the field of Bethlehem. To all people. To all ages, all nations, all classes, all colors. The gospel is the universal religion, as broad as the human race; and the joy is more intense to each one because it is for all. II. For unto you is born. a Saviour. One who should save them from their sins, their worst and most dangerous enemies. "Jesus means Saviour. Christ. The Anointed One, the Messiah, whom they had long been hoping and praying for. He is called "Anointed" because he had been divinely set apart for this work, as kings and high priests were set apart by anointing with oil. The Lord. The King of kings and the Lord of lords. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you, that the words spoken were true; and a guiding sign, like the sign to the wise men, showing how they might know what child was the one referred to. Vs. 13, 14. V. The Angel Chorus of Welcome. 13. And suddenly, as when the eyes of Elisha's servant were opened to see the mountains around him filled with angelic chariots and horses of fire. A multitude of the heavenly host. The angelic choirs, the cherubim and seraphim, who knew most about the value of the salvation brought to men. All heaven was moved with joy. If there was joy among the angels over one sinner that repented (Luke 15: 7, 10), how much more over the coming into the world of one who was to save countless hosts, to redeem a whole world! COMPARE the angel faces filling the whole space around the Madonna di San Sisto, "and melting away in an abyss of golden glory," in Raphael's famous picture, and the 1 2 3 good will 14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace' among men in whom toward men. he is well pleased. as were gone 15. And it came to pass, when the angels away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. that 2 Isa. 57: 19; Luke 1: 79; Rom. 5: 1. 3 John 3:16; Eph. 2: 4, 7. I Luke 19: 38; Eph. 1: 6. glory of angels surrounding the figure of Christ in The Enthroned Madonna by Ambrogio Borgognone. See Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, pp. 49, 50. The song of the angels, the Gloria in Excelsis, consists of two strains of three members each. 14. Glory to God. For the coming of Jesus was the highest expression of God's glory, the fulness of his nature, his love, his goodness, which passed before Moses when he asked to see God's glory. The phrase expresses both the fact and the desire that all should recognize God's glory. FIRST STRAIN. In the highest. (1) In the highest strains. Only the most exquisite music and song are worthy to express this theme. (2) In the highest heavens. The glory shines and the praise sounds to the highest heavens. It is the noblest song and the brightest glory even there. (3) In the highest degree. The plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, so infinitely wise, so infinitely loving, manifests God's glory more than all the wonders of creation, "when all the sons of God shouted for joy." For the souls of the saved shall "shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars for ever and ever"; even when the stars are faded, and the heavens shall be no more. SECOND STRAIN. And on earth peace. Including all welfare and prosperity and blessing. That which belongs to heaven, which makes heaven what it is, all conceivable good to body and to soul, is coming to earth through Jesus Christ, and has come in no small degree. Where Christ is most perfectly received, there already is the most of heavenly peace. This strain accords with the first clause of the Lord's Prayer. ILLUSTRATION. PEACE. Toward the close of the War of 1812 the country was shrouded in deep gloom; the harbors were blockaded, commerce destroyed, products moldering in the warehouses, the currency depreciated. In February a ship drew near to New York, bringing the commissioners from Ghent, and the news that the treaty of peace was signed. Men rushed breathless to the city shouting, "Peace, peace!" From house to house, from street to street, amid waving torches, all went shouting, Peace, peace!" More joyful is the news of peace brought from God by the angels. We, too, should not keep silence, but repeat the news of peace till all the world shall hear. 66 Good will toward men. Jesus expresses God's feelings toward men. He does not hate them for their sins; he is not repelled by their abominations so repulsive to his nature; but he loves them in spite of all, and does all that divine love and wisdom and power can do to save them from sin and its consequences. These are the glad tidings which comfort and draw us and save us who are conscious of our sins, who know that punishment follows sin by a divine law. What the world needed to know was that God had good will toward all men; that the holy God loved this sinful, rebellious, unworthy world, lying in darkness and the shadow of death; that the Father loved his wandering, prodigal children, all defiled with sin. To bring this message, to publish the glad tidings that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life," this was worthy of the whole host of angel messengers to bring to man. And this is the marvel to mortals revealed, VI. The Shepherds Listen, Seek, and Find.— Vs. 15-20. 15. Let us now go. At once, without delay. So should we ever seek the Saviour. The shepherds had so much faith in the angel's message that they proceeded to investigate and see for themselves. 16. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. 17. And when they had seen it, they made known was told spoken to saw it, them concerning this child. about abroad concerning the the saying which 18. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. spoken unto 19. 1 But Ma'ry kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. sayings, pondering them 20. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even it was as told spoken unto them. IV. 51; Gen. 37: 11; Luke 1: 66. 16. They came with haste. Showing their zeal and ardor, as well as faith. We can never find the Saviour too soon. And found everything just as the angels had told them; and they then knew that the angel's message was true. SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS. 17. They made known abroad. Whosoever has truly found the Saviour burns to "proclaim to all around what a Saviour they have found." See Acts 4: 20; 1 John 1: I, 2. 18. All they that heard it wondered. It was indeed marvelous news, so good that many find it hard to believe that it is true. KEEPING THE TRUTH IN THE HEART. 19. But Mary, in contrast with the others, kept all these things in her memory. They were treasures whose value the following years revealed to her. Pondered them. Kept revolving them, comparing them with the promises of the Old Testament, and what had been announced to her. "Contrast, however, the difference in the reception by the shepherds and by Mary: the one publishes, the other meditates. Both are right: they illustrate different but not inconsistent phases of experience. Pondering and publishing are both Christian duties." - Abbott. 20. The shepherds returned. To their duty as shepherds, but with a new life and blessing in all their daily work. Feeding sheep could never again be commonplace toil to them. After our holiest communion with God, our views from the Pisgahs of life, our insight into the word and heaven on the mounts of transfiguration, we must return to our daily duties, but with a new life in them, a new blessing on them. Glorifying expresses the feeling of the greatness of the work. Praising refers to the goodness displayed in it. VII. Practical Suggestions. -1. Jesus Christ is the perfect Saviour of men; nothing better is conceivable as to his nature, divine and human, as to the fitness of the time of his coming, as to the circumstances of his introduction into the world, a child among common people, heralded by angels, sought by shepherds and by wise men. 2. The coming of Jesus is the living, invincible proof to us that there is a personal God, that he is our Father, that he loves us in spite of our sins, that he cares for us, that all that infinite love and wisdom and power can do will be exerted for our redemption from sin into the kingdom of heaven. 3. Note what it means to us that the Son of God came into this world a little child. It shows that Jesus is close to us in feeling and experience. He has had the whole range of human life in his life. Nothing that belongs to man is foreign to him. It shows him to be the children's Saviour. It has sanctified childhood and motherhood and the home, giving them a new meaning and power, and has shown the importance of childhood in the training of the human race. It has revealed and emphasized the infinite possibilities in the child. "Here is present," says Dr. Guthrie, "not only the immortal, but the eternal." "What deep secrets of divine wisdom, power, and love lie here wrapped in these poor swaddling clothes!" "It is curious to pause over any cradle to think of the mighty powers and passions that are slumbering there; to think that this feeble nursling has heaven or hell before it." "Yet sure the babe is in the cradle blest, Since God himself a baby deigned to be, LESSON XIII.· December 28. Scripture. REVIEW. The Golden Texts for the Quarter. GOLDEN TEXT. - Lord, thou hast been our dwellingplace in all generations. PSA. 90: I. FIRST REVIEW. THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE HEBREW NATION. The Founder, ABRAHAM, about B. C. 2000. The Family, THE PATRIARCHS. The Egyptian Experience. The Exodus, B. C. 1491. The Wilderness Discipline. The Conquest of the Promised Land, 1451. TIME. About 900 years, from B. C. 2000-1100. LESSONS. 1. God is preparing a people, not for themselves alone, but as a means, mak. 2. The progress is slow, difficult, variable, but on the whole a steady growth. works, manifestations of love, hard battles, great victories, revelations of God and his will, rewards of faithfulness, long discipline. SECOND REVIEW. THE DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH OF THE NATION DURING THREE CENTURIES. PERSONS. Give a character sketch of the leading persons, and the part they took in making the nation. EVENTS. Appearance of the captain of the Lord's host. Crossing the Jordan. A divine wonder. Reward of faithfulness, though long deferred. Good advice from an aged man. The past teaching the future. The Times. Mingled good and evil. The sins and crimes, disobedience, idolatry, unfaithfulness, wars and devastations on the one hand; and on the other the heroisms, the penitence, the long periods of prosperity, such glimpses of the inner life of the people as are furnished by Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Boaz, Eli, Samuel. The victory of Gideon and his three hundred. The character of Eli and his sons. The call of Samuel. THIRD REVIEW. AN ANCIENT PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. From the Bondage of Sin and Ignorance, on the Way toward a Perfect 1. The Egyptian bondage represents the bondage of sin and ignorance. 2. The Exodus represents the new start in life. 3. The Wilderness Discipline: A leader. Manna or food from heaven. The pillar of cloud and fire, guidance The tabernacle, religious services. Living water. Grapes of Eshcol. Sufferings, labors, trials, victories, helps, delays, dying out of the old, and growth of the newer life. 4. Taking possession of our Promised Land. The new life fully entered upon. 5. The Promised Land held by enemies, beset with temptations. 6. The captain of the Lord's host. 7. Miracles of grace, heavenly helps (crossing the Jordan, the fall of Jericho). 8. Some of the fruits of the land, foretastes of the perfected life. 9. Renewing the covenant. 10. Cities of refuge, helps for the slips and failures and imperfections of our daily lives. 11. The Judges, the great struggle of life. 12. Periods of rest, prosperity, growth; the peaceful tenor of daily life. |