Luke 2:10-11

The angel reassured the frightened shepherds (cf. Luke 1:13; Luke 1:30). His appearing signaled an occasion for rejoicing, not fearing.

Significant terms characteristic of Luke’s Gospel occur in the angel’s announcement indicating its importance. These include "bring good news" (Gr. euangelizomai), "joy" (Gr. chara), "people" (Gr. laos), "today" (Gr. semeron), "Savior" (Gr. soter), "Lord" (Gr. kyrios), and "glory" (Gr. doxa). This angelic announcement then is a seedbed for important ideas that Luke traced through the rest of this book. The time had come for the fulfillment of Messiah’s predicted coming. A similarly worded birth announcement of Caesar Augustus that archaeologists have discovered shows that such terminology was not uncommon. [Note: See Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 109.] However in Jesus’ case, it was a cause for true joy. The unusual phrase "Christ the Lord" probably means "Messiah God."