Luke 2:8-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:8

In the same country ; that is, in the upland pastures immediately in the neighborhood of Bethlehem. Shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Why were shepherds chosen as the first on earth to hear the strange glorious news of the birth of the Savior of the world? It seems as though this very humble order was selected as a practical illustration of that which in the future history of Christianity was to be so often exemplified—"the exaltation of the humble... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:8-11

Welcome news from heaven. It is surely not without significance that this most gracious manifestation and announcement was made to these humble Hebrew shepherds "keeping watch over their flock by night." It suggests two truths which are of frequent and perpetual illustration. 1 . That God chooses for his instruments the humble rather than the high. Our human notions would have pointed to the most illustrious in the ]and for such a communication as this. But God chose the lowly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:8-20

The Bethlehem shepherds see the angels . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:8-20

The shepherds and the herald angels. From limestone cavern, we are taken by the evangelists to the long grassy slopes which stretch to the east of the Jewish city. Hidden in some nook of these slopes rest pious shepherds. Shepherds have always been a meditative class of men, accustomed to the sweet silences of nature, and, apart from the bustle and stir of cities, invited to quiet communion with their own hearts. It would seem that these shepherds were men of the spirit of Simeon. They... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:9

The angel of the Lord came upon them ; better, an angel. The Greek word rendered "came upon them"—a very favorite word with St. Luke—suggests a sudden appearance. The glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. The white shining cloud of intolerable brightness, known among the Jews as the Shechinah, the visible token of the presence of the Eternal, in the bush, in the pillar of fire and cloud which guided the desert-wanderings, in the tabernacle and the temple. It... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:11

A Savior . Another favorite word with SS . Paul and Luke. The terms "Savior" and "salvation" occur in their writings more than forty times. In the other New Testament books we seldom find either of these expressions. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:12

Lying in a manger . This was to be the sign. On that night there would, perhaps, be no other children born in the Bethlehem village; certainly the shepherds would find no other newly born infant cradled in a manger. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:13

With the angel a multitude of the heavenly host . "The troop of angels issues forth from the depths of that invisible world which surrounds us on every side" (Godet). One of the glorious titles by which the eternal King was known among the chosen people was "Lord of sabaoth," equivalent to "Lord of hosts." In several passages of the Scriptures is the enormous multitude of these heavenly beings noticed; for instance, Psalms 68:17 , where the Hebrew is much more expressive than the English... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:13-14

The human and the heavenly world. The strange and elevating experience through which the shepherds of Bethlehem were passing prepared them for a scene which was fitted to awaken still greater surprise and spiritual excitement. For suddenly, all of them appearing together, a multitude of the heavenly host began to make angelic music; strains of sweetest song filled the air, and the words of that celestial chant, so exquisitely sweet, so full of comfort and of hope to our human race, were... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 2:14

On earth peace . At that juncture, strange to say, the Roman empire was at peace with all the world, and, as was ever the case in these brief rare moments of profound peace, the gates of the temple of Janus at Rome were closed, there being, as they supposed, no need for the presence of the god to guide and lead their conquering armies. Not a few have supposed that the angel choir in these words hymned this earthly peace. So Milton in his 'Ode to the Nativity'— "No war or battle's sound ... read more

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