Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:15
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone 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.
15. Let us now go ] Rather, Come now! let us go.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Unto Bethlehem – The city of David, where the angel had told them they would find the Saviour. These shepherds appear to have been pious people. They were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. On the first intimation that he had actually appeared they went with haste to find him. So all people should without delay seek the Saviour. When told of him by the servants of God, they should, like these shepherds, forsake all, and give no rest to their eyes until they have found him. We may always find him. We need not travel to Bethlehem. We have only to cast our eyes to heaven; to look to him and to believe on him, and we shall find him ever near to us, and forever our Saviour and friend.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 2:15
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see
Bethlehems wonder
Every year the Christian heart takes, in thought, the shepherds pilgrimage to Bethlehem.
In this district lay the fields of Boaz in which Ruth gleaned. Here the son of Obed was born. David was anointed in Bethlehem. Best of all, in Bethlehem was Christ revealed. It was not without significance that Bethlehem, The House of Bread, should be the birthplace of Him who had come down from heaven to be the Bread of Life for men, and that He, who was in after years to be the Friend of the people and Saviour of the world, to be Himself so straitened as often to have nowhere to lay His head, should commence His earthly pilgrimage within the precincts of a stable. Let us ask what it was that the Bethlehem manger contained.
I. A VIRGINS CHILD.
II. ISRAELS MESSIAH.
III. THE WORLDS SAVIOUR.
IV. GODS SON.
Transcendent mystery! Thought is paralyzed when it attempts to conceive how the Eternal could become a child of days, how the Infinite could be reduced to dimensions, how the Adorable Creator could become one with His own creature. Let it kindle our gratitude that we can understand something of the purpose of this sublime mystery, if even we can learn nothing of its manner. The Son of God became incarnate, that He might reveal the Father, that He might exemplify human virtue, that He might take away our sins, and that He might be able thereby to make us partakers of His own Divine nature. (T. W.)
The first pilgrims to the stable of Bethlehem
1. Their pilgrim mind.
2. Their pilgrim staff.
3. Their pilgrim hope.
4. Their pilgrim joy.
5. Their pilgrim thanksgiving. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)
How men receive the good news of God
I.
1. In order that man may possess the blessings which are brought upon earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word, he must be willing to obey the Divine Voice which bids him seek if he would find.
2. The shepherds are not content with wondering at the Divine mystery which has been made known to them, nor yet with listening to the angelic song, but they hasten to Him who is born their Saviour. Being thus obedient they are filled with the angelic spirit, and they are also able to glorify God for that which they have seen and heard. Simple faith and obedience lift up the humblest to share in the work of the angels of God.
3. Yet there are many, who hearing these things, regard them only with idle and fruitless wonder (Luk 2:18) instead of pondering them in their hearts as Mary did.
II.–1. The gospel message that God is made man is for ever ringing in our ears. How does it affect us? There are many who are ready to study Christian doctrine as an interesting phase of human thought, or as a bright poetic vision, but who never find the Child of Bethlehem as a Saviour in very deed.
2. If we have thus found Him, our belief will show itself, either
(1) by summoning us to enter into the company of those elect few who, like Mary, are absorbed in meditation on the Divine mysteries, or
(2) by giving us power to praise and glorify God in the common occupations of daily life, in union with these shepherds who returned to the work of their sheepfolds, filled with a new life from on high.
3. Let us pray, at any rate, we be not among those to whom the gospel is a mere matter of curiosity and empty wonder, exercising no influence on their lives, and forgotten in the excitement of some new incident of an unusual kind. (Canon Vernon Hutton, M. A.)
The faith of the shepherds, true faith
1. Its foundation.
(1) Gods Word.
(2) Gods deed.
2. Its properties.
(1) Emotion of heart.
(2) Activity of life.
3. Its aim.
(1) The spreading of the kingdom of God upon earth.
(2) The glory of God. (Hatless.)
The shepherds as patterns for imitation
1. They seek the Child in the stable and the manger.
2. They spread the gospel message everywhere.
3. They praise God with thankful joy. (Ahlfeld.)
The shepherds celebration of Christmas
1. Their going.
2. Their seeing,
3. Their spreading abroad the saying.
4. Their return to their avocations. (Arndt.)
A pilgrimage to Bethlehem
God gives men information to put them upon action. No sooner are the shepherds informed of the Saviours birth, than they say, Let us, then, go and see Him. It will be well for us to imitate them, and take a pilgrimage to Bethlehem.
I. Let us go to Bethlehem, and see DEITY DISPLAYED. It was necessary for our redemption that the Saviour of men should be a man; for the same nature that sinned must bear the punishment of sin. In what manner the human nature was united to the Divine, we cannot tell. It is enough for us to know that it was so united (Mat 1:23; Joh 1:1; Joh 1:14; 1Ti 3:15-16). Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh. Let us go to Bethlehem, and see this great sight. Angels desire to look at it. Glorious mystery!
II. Let us go to Bethlehem, and behold MAN REDEEMED. The redemption of fallen, guilty, helpless man, was the grand design of the Saviours birth. There is something delightful in the name Saviour. Cicero, the Roman orator, said, that when travelling in Greece, he saw a pillar inscribed with this word–Saviour. He admired the fulness of the name, but he knew not its Christian meaning. How much more may the redeemed sinner admire it! We must have perished, had He not come and saved us.
III. Let us take another turn to Bethlehem, and see SATAN RUINED. Ever since, in the garden of Eden, he seduced our first parents, Satan has ruled the children of disobedience, and led men captive at his will. At the birth of Christ his throne began to totter, and it will go on shaking until it is utterly destroyed. Christ by His death has destroyed him that had the power of death, and by His rising again has delivered all who were held in bondage by Satan. (George Burder.)
Teaching from Christs cradle
You all feel more or less the trials, the mystery of life, its sufferings and its sins. One and One only can alleviate for you those trials, can explain that mystery, can remove that suffering, can heal those sins. Would you understand anything either of this life or of the life beyond? You can only do so by watching the life of your Saviour, by coming to Christs cradle, by standing behind His cross, by sitting with the deathless angel in His forsaken tomb. Follow Him with the eagle eye of faith, and then you may see the heavens open and Jesus Christ standing on the right hand of God. I ask you, then, for a moment or two to stand with me beside the cradle of your Lord, in the manger at Bethlehem, and catch something of what we there may learn.
1. Some of you are poor. How glad for you, beyond all utterance, should be the meaning of Christmas! Your Lord was, as you are, poor–as poor as any of you. The lot which He chose for His own was your lot. Look at your own little children with love and reverence, for He, too, was the child of the poor. Your rooms, in garret or in cellar, are not more comfortless than that manger at Bethlehem; nor is your labour humbler than His in that shop of the village carpenter at Nazareth. It was to the poor, to the humble, to the ignorant, to those poor shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night, that the heavens flashed forth with angel wings. They were the first to see in that cradle the Blessed Child. Cannot you, in heart or mind, go with them. Let Christs cradle teach you to respect yourselves, to reverence with a nobler self-esteem the nature which He gave you and took upon Himself, and which, by taking upon Himself, He redeemed.
2. And some are rich. Oh I come ye also to the manger-cradle of your Lord, for rich men did come both to His cradle and to His tomb. From the far East came those three wise men–the three kings of the East, as they are called–they came, as the rich should come, with the gifts, willing and humble gifts, not doled forth with murmurs as a burden, but lavished as a privilege with delight. First of all they gave, as we all may and must give, themselves–the gold of worthy lives, the frankincense of holy worship, the myrrh of consecrated sorrow. They might have kept their gold and their treasures for their own selfishness, for their own gratification, for the enhancement of their personal luxury, for the enrichment of their sons and daughters. They might have stamped their substance with a vulgar commonplace possession; but do not you think it was happier for them that they made their gifts immortal by offering them at the cradle of their Lord? You may do the very same thing to-day. You may give your gifts at the cradle of your Lord to-day. If you give to one of the least of these your brethren, you give it unto Him.
3. Many of you are sorrowful. So was He. Whatever be the form of your sorrow, and it may be very varied–be it loneliness, or agony of body, or anxiety of mind, or the sorrows inflicted by the vulgarity or baseness of other men–He bore it all, even to the cross. That soft and tender Child by whose cradle we stand to-day, the shadow of His cross falls even on His cradle, the crimson of His sunset flushes even His golden dawn; and, perfected by suffering, He would teach every one of us out of our sorrows to make springs of tenderness and strength and beauty.
4. All of you are sinners; and to you the news of that birth is indeed Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men. While you may see there how much God hates the sin, you may see also how tenderly, how earnestly He loves the sinner. Let us come to this cradle: let the lepers come, and let the outcasts come, and the mourners with their tear-stained cheeks, and the sinners with their broken hearts, and the young man with his selfwill and his strong unconquered passions, and the poor with their struggling lives, and the rich with their many temptations, and let them kneel and drink freely of the waters of Siloam which flow softly, and let them bathe their sick and shivering souls in the golden tide of heavens beatitude, and stand in the circle of heavens own free light, undarkened by any shadow; let them escape the errors what, darken the mind, the lusts which destroy the body, the sins which corrupt the soul; and so one and all wish one another a happy Christmas time, as I do from my heart to all of you today. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
The festival of Christmas
This, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing, &c., was the resolution of the shepherds on the original Christmas Day. May it be our own I Come and see, is written upon the gospel. There is no secrecy and no concealment in it. It challenges inquiry.
I. WE HAVE A FACT BEFORE US: UNTO YOU IS BORN A SAVIOUR. It is a summary of revelation.
1. It presupposes a ruin.
2. It assumes that salvation must come from without.
3. It declares that the Deliverer, though He comes from without the creature, must enter into it by incorporation. There must be a birth to bring in the Saviour into the Cosmos. Unto you is born a Saviour–Incarnation makes Him such.
II. When we try to obey the summons the first thing which we notice is, that CHRISTMAS DAY IS THE FESTIVAL OF REDEMPTION AS A WHOLE. It presents to us, not so much one part or one element of the gospel, but rather the intervention of God in Christ to save sinners as a single and complete act, containing in itself all that was necessary to give it validity and efficacy.
III. But the festival of Christmas, though its foundation lies so deep, has a thought for all natures. It is in an especial sense THE FESTIVAL, OF THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF CHRISTIANITY.
IV. Christmas is by common consent THE FESTIVAL OF THE FAMILY AND THE HOME. (Dean Vaughan,)
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem
And what shall we find when we get there?
I. THAT OTHERS HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE US.
1. Here are the shepherds. Let us ask them to tell their story. They say that they were watching their flocks on the hill-side, with no sounds to break the stillness but the occasional bleating of the sheep, when suddenly they became aware that they were in the presence of a glory brighter than that of noonday. An angel stood there, and as they shrank in affright from the wondrous vision, the angel spoke, and said, Fear not, &c. And then there appeared with him a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, &c. And–
When such music sweet,
Their heart and ears did greet,
As never was by mortal fingers strook,
Divinely warbled voice Answering the stringed noise,
As all their souls in blissful rapture took
The air such pleasure loathe to lose,
With thousand echoes still prolonged each heavenly close.
The anthem died away. The light faded from the hills. The angelic host departed. And the shepherds leaving their flocks, as afterwards the woman Joh 4:28 left her waterpot, set out to see the new-born Saviour whom the angels sang. They found what? The splendour and magnificence befitting His birth who was heir of all things, and King of kings? No, but Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And still, though that was what they saw, they returned glorifying and praising God.
2. But not only the shepherds–others also, and men very different from these, have been to Bethlehem before us. They are not shepherds but sages. They have come not from some near hill-side. They are travel-stained and weary, for they have travelled long and far. They tell us that they have seen a new star, blazing and flashing in the sky, and that, led by that star, they have come to the place where lay the young Child and His mother; have worshipped Him, and presented to Him precious gifts. And now, their quest ended and rewarded, and the star having paled before the Sun of Righteousness who has arisen with healing in His wings, they are wending their way home by another route, with a new hope born in their hearts.
3. And not only shepherds and sages, but a countless multitude through all the Christian centuries, have been heart-pilgrims to Bethlehem before us, and have declared that this thing which had come to pass was the one thing needed to give them peace here below and the hope of heaven hereafter.
II. BUT WHAT WENT THEY ALL OUT TO SEE, ANN WHAT SHALL WE SEE IF, LIKE THEM, WE GO NOW EVEN UNTO BETHLEHEM?
1. The reality of Christs humanity.
2. The self-sacrificing power of Divine love. Our gladness cost Christ grief. Our salvation His humiliation.
3. The perfection of Christs example. As we stand by the manger and know that that cradle means the cross, let us pray that the same mind may be in us which was also in Christ Jesus. (J. R. Bailey.)
This thing
I. Is of supreme interest as an event in the world. Outweighs all other great events of history.
II. Has to do with all time and all men.
III. Should be seriously inquired into by each one of us personally.
IV. Should receive our serious attention without delay.
1. Because you are losing happiness in proportion to your neglect of Christ.
2. Because you are missing the Divine method of spiritual life and heavenward growth.
3. Because with present conduct are bound up the solemn issues of the eternal future. (W. Manning.)
The visit of the shepherds
I. How came they to make this visit? They were directed by the angel.
II. There was no delay in the visit: Let us go now. That is the secret of finding Christ.
III. Why did they go away rejoicing? Because they found everything just as God had said. So if we seek and find Jesus we shall go joyfully on our journey. (Sermons for Boys and Girls.)
Which is come to pass
Every Divine prophecy has its counterpart and fulfilment sooner or later in the events of human history. If God has said, It shall come to pass, the time will come at which men shall say, It is come to pass. (J. R. Bailey.)
Which the Lord hath made known to us
Mark that. When there is anything specially important it is the Lord that makes it known to us. You would never have heard a syllable of this, if the Lord had not made it known to you. (T. Mortimer, B. D.)
The adoration of the shepherds
I. THE TRUTH INVESTIGATED. 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. It will be felt at once that there was very little room in their case for scepticism. The manner of the revelation had been supernatural, and they could scarcely doubt the correctness of the information who had received it through the ministration of angels. The inquiry must be conducted in a humble and teachable spirit. It is of no use coming to it at all if we come in the spirit of self-sufficiency. Some men seem wonderfully baffled by the mysteries there are in grace. And, after all, it is no real calamity that there is mystery connected with all the departments of knowledge. Twilights are not altogether destitute of enjoyment: even the indistinct apprehension of truth has its pleasures; and these experiences do but herald the coming light. The objector may say, Then what is the use of inquiring? You ask us to test the truth concerning Christ, and then you practically check our inquiry by telling us that there is mystery and that we must trust! Not so, we reply. All we want you to see is that nature and revelation are alike in this respect, that in each department there are profound mysteries, problems you cannot solve; and just as you accept this in reference to the former, and take this for granted in all your researches into her domain, so we ask you candidly to accept this in relation to the latter; and further, just as you search into Nature, and form your own conclusions from what you can clearly apprehend, so we ask you in the same spirit to test the claims of Christ. Be assured His life and character, and His influence and power over human hearts will bear the closest scrutiny; and if the investigation is approached in the right spirit, then, despite all mysteries, the inquirer shall be led to Christ, and adoringly shall say unto Him: Thou art the Son of God: Thou art the King of Israel! Immanuel, God with us.
II. THE TRUTH PROCLAIMED. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Let us look at these first heralds or proclaimers, that we may get a little stimulus, as Christian workers, from what is recorded respecting them. Clearly, they were not men of culture: they were humble, unpretending shepherds. Yet, for all this, they were genuine preachers of the truth concerning Christ. The lack of intellectual endowments or of educational advantages must not be pleaded in excuse for the neglect of this duty. Go, tell the good news to thy neighbour. Let him that heareth say, Come!
These men, if unlettered, could at any rate speak from experience. They had heard the voice from heaven and had seen the young child. And it was this personal experience which fitted them for service and inspired them with a true enthusiasm.
And then, their hearts were full of love. The scene they had witnessed had touched their hearts with love to the new-born King, and the sweet songs of angels to which they had listened, proclaiming peace on earth and goodwill toward men, had fired their souls with the spirit of a true brotherhood. Dr. Tholuck relates how that one who had been a great traveller said to him that he had scarcely ever fallen into company with fellow-travellers without speaking to them of the heavenly journey. Tholuck almost questioned the propriety of forcing such conversation. Ah, responded his friend, I endeavoured never to speak till I was certain, that I loved. I figured to myself that we are all brothers one of another, and this never failed to soften my heart, and when there was love in mine I soon found a bridge into that of the stranger. It was as though the breath of God had drawn out a thread from the one and had fastened it to the other. Nor must we overlook the fact that these proclaimers kept to the one theme, Christ. They made known the saying concerning Christ, but they did so with a view of leading those who heard them to Him.
III. THE TRUTH EXEMPLIFIED. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things which they had heard and seen, as it was told them. They not only tested and proclaimed the truth concerning Christ, but they exemplified it in their conduct and life. Too many, alas I are content with a very defective Christian life and character. The eminent Church historian, Neander, in speaking of the Stoics, remarks that there were many among them who did nothing more than make an idle parade of the lofty maxims of the ancient philosophers, embellishing their halls with their busts, whilst their own lives were abandoned to every vice. And even so there are to be found among the professed disciples of Jesus those who are very unworthy representatives of Him, and who by their failings bring dishonour upon His cause. (S. D. Hillman, B. A.)
Quiet thoughts, after high revelations
I pretend not, brethren, to sum up in these few words what such aims and endeavours should be; but to set forth the spirit of them is enough.
1. You cannot, for example, go to seek Him in the flesh, who was sought of old time in the stable at Bethlehem; but there are other humble roofs, and uninviting abodes, where you may seek, and haply find, the Lord of life! For Christ yet abides with His own; and very especially among the poorest and most helpless of His flock. Go to them, and you go to Him. Keep up a kindly, habitual compassion for their trials.
2. So again, you have no heaven-sent marvels of which to tell; you cannot report to others of the descent of the Angel of the Lord; nor of the gathering of an host of ministering spirits from above, chanting their adoration to God and the Lamb! But you can tell, perhaps, of the peace you may yourselves have read beneath the burning stars of some Christmas night. You can tell, perhaps, of some rough way that you yourselves have trod, and found, by Gods grace, consolation and hope in its end.
3. And need I point to one deeper and dearer realization of our subject yet? It stands in the fact that this sacred season has many opportunities for Holy Communion; for that best and most privileged way in which we can keep the Feast. He will be veiled in His Sacrament, as aforetime in His flesh; but the same Immanuel, God with you! And, surely, you will return to your own paths and your own ways, like your prototypes of Bethlehem, praising and glorifying God for all the benefits that He hath done unto you; having received the Cup of Salvation, and having been answered in the name of the Lord! (J. Puckle, M. A.)
The significance of Christmas
I. Here is a lesson of doctrinal theology.
II. A lesson of intellectual theology. A new revelation of God is given to man in the incarnate Christ.
III. A lesson in experimental theology.
IV. A lesson in emotional theology. It is a theophany of love.
V. A lesson of practical theology. The shepherds and wise men came in the spirit of earnest consecration.
VI. A lesson of consolation, of gladness, of rapture. (C. Wadsworth, D. D.)
Faith outliving its special occasions
The trial of mens faith comes after Gods awakening angels have gone away. To us Gods favouring messengers are stripped of their miraculous raiment. They take the shape of merciful providences to relieve and comfort us, of Christian ordinances to strengthen us, festivals to reawaken our thanksgiving, and human hearts to enrich the poverty of ours with their affection. In the fresh mercy of some gracious deliverance, from sadness or pain or accident or threatened sorrow, men cast their thank-offering into the treasury of the Church, and wonder that they should ever be forgetful of Gods care. In the stillness of a sanctuary, when all the harmonies of holy times and places seem to shut out temptation, to set open the windows of heaven, and fill the uplifted spirit with hearty praise, men say, Would to God all days and places were like this; for when faith, and zeal, and charity never would grow cold! In the warmth of the feast it is easy to be glad. But these hours pass by. The angels are gone away into heaven. The festive lights are put out; the temple-doors are shut; the winter snow lies white and smooth on the little grave in the burial-ground. The world comes crowding, beseeching, flattering, threatening, almost forcing its way back, with its noise and its guilt, into the unguarded and yielding heart. Then comes the test of the reality, the sincerity, the power, of your Christian principles. When the song ceased, the first Christmas Eve, and the bright host vanished from the sky, the shepherds did not fall asleep again, and so have only a dream to tell the next morning. They verified the vision, like earnest and constant men. Secondly: Such willingness to watch and seek commonly leads, as it does here, to an equal readiness to believe when the promise is fulfilled, and they that have sought Christ find Him. They might have said–and if they had been modern philosophers, conceited critics, or ambitious naturalists, they would have been very sure to say–to each other, Beware how you believe; these, to be sure, are extraordinary phenomena; they look very much as miracles are said to look–brilliant figures plainly seen by many witnesses, nay, by our own eyes, and articulate melodies from their tongues!–but possibly electricity, meteorology, optics, or acoustics may explain them all;–light or sound. They say, We will look into our books. It is extremely unlikely that nature would interrupt her order, or let in new light by a new channel. Let us take care not to be ridiculed for believing too much. Glories of heaven and earth, grander than telescopes ever pierced among the stars, or hammers ever uncovered in the rocks, pass by, and there is no vision to behold them. Spiritual things not seen for want of spiritual senses! God knew whom He was choosing when He opened Heaven on those clear-hearted keepers of simple flocks. They discredited neither messenger nor message. Thirdly: When faith is prompt, honest, and manly, like this, it comes out as it does in these brave men, to an open confession. The shepherds said what they said frankly, one to another, and with one consent. So they did not hide their purposes, or play fast and loose with their convictions. Will those men who have resolved to go to Bethlehem and see, really arise and go? Many a Christian life falters and fails in every congregation between these two. Will resolve pass on into action, and a good faith confirm and demonstrate itself in good works? Yes, they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Visions are transient; the festival is but for a day; the angels go away into heaven. But the indwelling Christ abides. (F. D. Huntingdon, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem] , let us go across the country at the nearest, that we may lose no time, that we may speedily see this glorious reconciler of God and man. All delays are dangerous: but he who delays to seek Jesus, when the angels, the messengers of God, bring him glad tidings of salvation, risks his present safety and his eternal happiness. O, what would the damned in hell give for those moments in which the living hear of salvation, had they the same possibility of receiving it! Reader, be wise. Acquaint thyself now with God, and be at peace; and thereby good will come unto thee. Amen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It was night, yet they delayed not to go and make a search, according to the revelation of the angel; and not in vain, they
found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe. Divine revelations never deceive the soul that gives credit to them. Heaven and earth may pass away, but nothing which God hath spoken shall pass away without its accomplishment.
When they had seen it, they made known the saying, &c: they had no charge of secrecy upon them, so did well in publishing what was of such universal concern for men to know. Spiritual morsels ought not to be ate alone. The effect of their relation, in the generality of the people that heard it, was the same which we have often met with upon the peoples seeing of Christs miracles, viz. amazement and astonishment; we read nothing of their faith. The first was a natural effect of a strange relation. The other must have been the special operation of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. Let us go, &c.lovelysimplicity of devoutness and faith this! They are not taken up withthe angels, the glory that invested them, and the lofty strains withwhich they filled the air. Nor do they say, Let us go and see ifthis be truethey have no misgivings. But “Let us go andsee this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hathmade known unto us.” Does not this confirm the view given onLu 2:8 of the spirit of thesehumble men?
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, as the angels,…. The Persic version reads in the singular number, “the angel: were gone away from them into heaven”, from whence they came, and which was the place of their abode and residence; and therefore they are called the angels of heaven, where they always behold the face of God, hearken to the voice of his commandment, and go and come at his orders; and these having finished their embassy, delivered their message to the shepherds, and done all the work they came about,
departed from them: and, as the Ethiopic version adds, “and ascended up into heaven”; and as soon as they were gone, immediately,
the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even to Bethlehem the place where the angel said the Saviour was born,
and see this thing which hath come to pass, which the Lord hath made known to us: from whence it appears, that it was not from diffidence of the matter, as questioning the truth of what the angel said, that they moved one another to go to Bethlehem; for they firmly believed the thing was come to pass, which the angel had told them of, and that what he said was from the Lord; nor did they act any criminal part, or indulge a vain curiosity, in going to Bethlehem to see what was done; for it seems to be the will of God that they should go, and for which they had a direction from the angel, and a sign given them by which they might know the new born Saviour from any other infant, Lu 2:12 and which would also be a further confirmation of their faith, and by which they would be qualified not only as ear, but as eyewitnesses of the truth of this fact, to report it with greater certainty.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Said to one another ( ). Imperfect tense, inchoative, “began to speak,” each to the other. It suggests also repetition, they kept saying,
Now (). A particle of urgency.
This thing ( ). A Hebraistic and vernacular use of (something said) as something done. See on Lu 1:65. The ancient Greek used in this same way.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The shepherds. Some texts add oiJ anqrwpoi, the men; but the latter texts omit.
Let us go (die lqwmen). The preposition dia, through, implies through the intervening space.
Thing [] . See on chapter Luk 1:37. The utterance of the shepherds contains a climax : “Let us go and see this saying, which has come to pass; which the Lord made known.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And it came to pass,” (kai egeneto) “And it occurred,” as the night passed. The new babe’s birth absorbed their minds, not the angels or their glory appearance.
2) “As the angels were gone away from them into heaven,” (hos apelthon ap’auton eis ton ouranon hoi angeloi) “As the angels were gone out and away from them into heaven,” where they reside, about the throne of God, to do His bidding, with the redeemed, day and night, Rev 7:15.
3) “The shepherds said one to another,” (hoi poimenes elaloun pros allelous) “The shepherds said directly to one another,” among themselves, as they conversed with each other, without debating over who would keep the wolves away from the sheep for a few hours.
4) “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,” (dielthomen de heos Bethleem) “Let us go then directly to Bethlehem,” where they had told them to, go, Luk 2:11.
5) “And see the thing which is come to pass,” (kai idomen to herma touto to gegonos) “And let us behold this thing that has happened,” not see “if” it has happened, for they believed God’s message, that a Savior had come.
6) “Which the Lord hath made known unto us,” (ho kurios egnorisen hemin) “Which the Lord disclosed or related to us.” They were confident that the Lord had sent these angelic messengers to them, to give them this knowledge, Psa 34:7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. After that the angels departed Here is described to us the obedience of the shepherds. The Lord had made them the witnesses of his Son to the whole world. What he had spoken to them by his angels was efficacious, and was not suffered to pass away. They were not plainly and expressly commanded to come to Bethlehem; but, being sufficiently aware that such was the design of God, they hasten to see Christ. In the same manner, we know that Christ is held out to us, in order that our hearts may approach him by faith; and our delay in coming admits of no excuse. (166) But again, Luke informs us, that the shepherds resolved to set out, immediately after the angels had departed. This conveys an important lesson. Instead of allowing the word of God, as many do, to pass away with the sound, we must take care that it strike its roots deep in us, and manifest its power, as soon as the sound has died away upon our ears. It deserves our attention, also, that the shepherds exhort one another: for it is not enough that each of us is attentive to his own duty, if we do not give mutual exhortations. Their obedience is still farther commended by the statement of Luke, that they hastened, (ver. 16;) for we are required to show the readiness of faith.
Which the Lord hath revealed to us They had only heard it from the angel; but they intentionally and correctly say, that the Lord had revealed it to them; for they consider the messenger of God to possess the same authority as if the Lord himself had addressed them. For this reason, the Lord directs our attention to himself; that we may not fix our view on men, and undervalue the authority of his Word. We see also that they reckon themselves under obligation, not to neglect the treasure which the Lord had pointed out to them; for they conclude that, immediately after receiving this intelligence, they must go to Bethlehem to see it. In the same manner, every one of us, according to the measure of his faith and understanding, ought to be prepared to follow wheresoever God calls.
(166) “ Si nous sommes paresseux de le faire, toutes les excuses du monde ne nous serviront de rien.” — “If we are indolent in doing so, all the apologies in the world will be of no service to us.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) The shepherds.Some, but not the best, MSS. give, as in the margin, the men the shepherds, as if to emphasise the contrast between the angels who departed and the men who remained.
This thing. . . . which the Lord hath made known.Literally, this word, or spoken thing. The choice of the Greek word seems to indicate that St. Luke was translating from the Aramaic.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And it came about that, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, “Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come about, which the Lord has made known to us.” ’
Once the angels had departed section by section like a marching regiment (the word suggests going away following one after another), and the glorious light of God no longer shone, the shepherds were quick in coming to their decision. “Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come about, which the Lord has made known to us.” This was the language of godly men.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The visit and adoration of the shepherds:
v. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone 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.
v. 16. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
v. 17. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which “was told them concerning this Child.
v. 18. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
v. 19. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
v. 20. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke’s song of the nativity is not yet ended; he has a story of some Christmas Christians to tell, and its effect is enhanced by its great simplicity. Hardly had the angels left the field to return back to heaven, when the shepherds began to speak to one another, repeating the words over and over, as people are apt to do when under the influence of great excitement. Come, let us go! they cry. They want to take a shortcut, they want to go the nearest way to Bethlehem; there is no time to lose. They wanted to see this matter, they wanted to behold with their own eyes this miracle. Not to verify the message of the angel; no, they were sure of the truth of his message. The thing is settled by the angelic proclamation: the thing, the miracle, has come to pass; the Lord has made it known unto us. They believed the word that had been preached to them, they trusted in the Gospel-message, the content of the angel’s message was a fact to them. To trust, not in feelings nor in surmises, but in the sure Word of the Gospel, that is the essence of the faith required by God at all times. And they suited their actions to their words. They came hurrying and found everything just as the angel had told them. This was a confirmation of their faith which filled their hearts with joy. There was Mary, the mother, there was Joseph, the foster-father, and there was the Child, that miracle-Child, whose name is Wonderful, lying in the crib, the manger of the stable. And now the Christmas believers became Christmas missionaries. It is impossible for a Christian not to give evidence in words and deeds of the faith that lives in his heart when he has seen and found Jesus the Savior in the Gospel. They made the matter known concerning this fact that was told them, all that happened to them, the wonderful message they received, the confirmation of the angel’s words in a most accurate way. The story made a great stir in Bethlehem the next day, it aroused much interest. All the people that heard about it wondered, marveling being the common, the first result of the Gospel-message. wherever the shepherds came and repeated their story, this was the effect. Only Mary is mentioned as an exception. Instead of wondering, she held fast the words, carefully guarding them as a sacred treasure and moving them back and forth in her heart. Mark well: All the people wondered, but Mary thought on all the wonderful things that happened to herself and to the shepherds. This distinction must be made to the present day. Many a person is struck by the beauty of the Gospel-story and expresses his views accordingly, but few there are that take the time to meditate upon the great facts of our salvation, to move them back and forth in their hearts, to examine them from all sides, to discover all the beauties of these priceless treasures. “It is His will that His Word not only hover on the tongue, like foam on the water and froth in the mouth which a person spits out; but that it be pressed into the heart and remain such a mark and spot as no one can wash off, just as though it had grown there and is a natural thing, which does not permit itself to be erased. Such a heart was that of the Virgin Mary, in which the words remained as though graven therein. ” Meanwhile the shepherds continued their work of spreading the news concerning the wonder-Babe, and when they had accomplished all that their heart bade them do, they returned to their daily labor. They had been God’s messengers, as all true Christians should be, they had been bearers of the glorious tidings of salvation. But they did not presume to be more than their station permitted. They praised and magnified God that they had been graciously permitted to hear the news concerning their salvation. What they had seen and heard in that night was engraven upon their hearts in letters of light from above. Thus it should be with all believers in Christ, the Savior, since they are blessed in the same measure as the shepherds. In their external behavior and bearing there does not seem to be much difference between them and the children of the world. They attend to the work of their calling and are not ashamed if the Lord has given them a lowly station in life. But in their heart there is glorious light and life. In the midst of the heat and toil of the day they rejoice in God, their Savior, who has delivered them from all the toil and trouble of this earthly life and opened the glories of heaven to them.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 2:15. As the angels As soon as, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 2:15 f. .] This is not also , but the simple and after ; see on Luk 5:12 .
, not: the shepherd people (Grotius, Paulus, and others), against which the second article is decisive (comp. Mat 18:23 ; Mat 22:2 , al. ; see Bernhardy, p. 48; Khner, II. p. 120), but a contrast to , in which case, however, we must not lay upon the expression a stress which is foreign to the connection (“totum genus humanum quodammodo repraesentantes,” Bengel), but rather must adhere to the simple and artless mode of representation: after the departure of the angels the people too, the shepherds , said, etc.
] through the fields as far as to Bethlehem, Act 9:38 ; Act 11:19 .
] denotes what is definitive , without more ado. See Klotz, ad Devar. p. 395; Ngelsbach, Anm. z. Ilias , Exo 3 , p. 433 f.
] which has been said ; . . is an epexegesis of it.
] they discovered (after previous search, in conformity with the direction at Luk 2:12 ). The word only occurs in the N. T. again at Act 21:4 , comp. Mal 3:14Mal 3:14 ; more frequently among Greek writers.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1473
INQUIRY INTO THE GOSPEL RECOMMENDED
Luk 2:15. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
IT is a rich mercy to have a faithful instructor, who will declare unto us the whole counsel of God. But, to obtain any solid benefit, we must search into the truths we hear, and endeavour to get a deep impression of them upon our minds. Without care and diligence on our parts, it would be to little purpose to enjoy the ministry of Paul himself, or even of angels from heaven. What would the shepherds have been profited by the tidings which the angels announced to them respecting the Saviours birth, if, like too many amongst us, they had contented themselves with admiring the eloquence of the chief speaker, or the sweetness and melody of the hymn they sang? They set us a good example: they thought not of amusement, but of edification; not of the manner in which the messengers performed their part, but of the truths delivered by them: and no sooner had their heavenly instructors left them to themselves, than they proposed to go immediately and examine into the things which had been made known unto them.
From this striking incident we shall take occasion to set before you,
I.
The event referred to
In the preceding context we are informed what the tidings were, which were brought by the angels
[These tidings were, that a Saviour was that very day born into the world. A general expectation prevailed among the Jews that about that time a person of most extraordinary character should be born in their land, and should become a Saviour to the Jewish people. Very erroneous notions indeed obtained respecting the nature of the benefits which he would impart to them: but the more enlightened persons among them extended their views beyond a mere temporal deliverance, and looked forward to spiritual and eternal blessings. The advent of this person was now proclaimed to the shepherds; and it was declared, that the Child was born in the city of David, as the prophets had foretold [Note: Mic 5:2.]; and, that not the Jews only, but all the nations of the earth, were interested in the salvation which he was come to effect.
The tidings yet further intimated, that the new-born infant was none other than the Lord of Glory. It was no common child whose birth was announced: though he partook of flesh and blood, yet was he possessed of a nature infinitely superior to that of men or angels. The shepherds were informed that the Child which was born, and the Son that was given, was, as Isaiah had foretold, the Mighty God [Note: Isa 9:6.], even Emmanuel God with us [Note: Isa 7:14.]. As the salvation which he was to accomplish was to be extended to all people, so he was fitted for his work, being the omnipotent Jehovah, who could not fail of success in whatever he undertook.
Lastly, it was declared, that notwithstanding the dignity of his person, and the greatness of his office, he was to be found in a state of the deepest humiliation. It was not in the palaces of Herod or the high-priest, or in the mansions of the great and noble, that this Child was to be found: no; they must go and look for him in the stable of an inn; and they would find him wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger, like one that was ordained to be a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people [Note: Psa 22:6.].]
The same tidings are announced to us at this day
[No angels are now sent, or need to be sent, on such messages, because the Scriptures give us all the information that we can desire. But ministers are ambassadors from God; and are commissioned from God to declare the same joyful tidings as were conveyed to the shepherds by the heavenly hosts. We then make known to you, that that very Jesus, who once lay in the womb of the blessed Virgin, and who, at his birth had no other mansion than a stable, no other cradle than a manger, that same Jesus, I say, was God manifest in the flesh [Note: 1Ti 3:16.],even God over all blessed for ever [Note: Rom 9:5.]. We moreover declare unto you, that he is the Saviour of the world, and that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ [Note: Act 4:12.].]
From the regard which the shepherds paid to this event, we proceed to shew you,
II.
The inquiries to be made concerning it
No message that comes from God ought to be treated with contempt; much less should one that is of such mysterious import, such universal concern.
Inquire then into,
1.
The truth of the fact
[There is something so marvellous, and almost incredible, in the idea of God becoming man, in order to save a ruined world, that it should not be hastily embraced, no, not even though it were declared by an angel from heaven. It becomes us to examine what can be adduced in confirmation of it. We should, with the Bereans, search the Scriptures daily, to see if these things be so [Note: Act 17:11.]. We should inquire whether the prophets spake any thing respecting this great event [Note: 1Pe 1:10-11.]; whether they gave any reason to believe, that God would ever take upon him our nature, and accomplish our salvation in so strange a way [Note: Mic 5:2. Isa 9:6; Isa 7:14.]. We should inquire what proof the Apostles had, that they were rightly informed; and what evidence there is, that, in relating these things to us, they were divinely inspired [Note: 2Ti 3:16. 2Pe 1:21.]. In short, we should, if I may so speak, go to Bethlehem, and see for ourselves; yea, we should make haste to do so, lest we lose the opportunity afforded us, or become indifferent to the report itself.]
2.
The grounds and reasons of it
[It cannot be that such an event should ever have taken place without some urgent necessity. We should therefore inquire what occasion there was for it. If we do this, we shall find that among the various reasons that will occur to the mind, there are two peculiarly prominent, two that will sufficiently account for the whole mystery; and these are, Mans happiness, and Gods honour. Without the incarnation and death of the Son of God, man could never have attained to happiness. He was reduced to the state of the fallen angels in respect of guilt; and he must have resembled them in respect of misery, if such a way had not been devised and executed for his recovery. Moreover, it was in this way only that God could save man, and at the same time maintain the honour of his own perfections. Without an atonement, his justice could not be satisfied: nor could his mercy be exercised in consistency with his truth and holiness. It was, that mercy and truth might meet together, and that righteousness and peace might kiss each other [Note: Psa 85:10.]; it was for this end, I say, that our God became incarnate: and the more we examine into the reasons of this mysterious dispensation, the more we shall be satisfied, that it is in every respect worthy of its Divine Author.]
3.
Its use and importance
[We are not to amuse ourselves with empty speculations upon such momentous points as this; but to inquire into their practical use and importance. Now these tidings will upon examination be found as important to us as to any people at any period of the world. Our first and great concern is, How may we be reconciled to our offended God? To this we find a complete and satisfactory answer in the event referred to. The Lord Jesus Christ has become a mediator between God and man; he has taken our nature, in order that he might bear our sins in his own sacred body, and work out a righteousness whereby we might be justified; so that God may now be just, and yet the justifier of all that believe [Note: Rom 3:25-26.]. In this mystery the burthened conscience finds rest and peace. From this, the vilest of the human race may take encouragement to return to God; and be fully assured, that, for Christs sake, all his iniquities shall be pardoned, and not one of them be remembered against him any more for ever [Note: Heb 8:12.]. Surely then we should spare no pains in investigating these things, that so we may derive from them the consolation and happiness they are intended to convey.]
To recommend yet further this spirit of inquiry, we shall conclude, with shewing you the benefits that will result from it:
1.
You will receive conviction in your own minds
[The shepherds did not doubt the veracity of the angels; but their faith was certainly confirmed, when they had ocular demonstration of the fact that had been related to them. Thus, though we may not really disbelieve the incarnation of Gods co-equal, co-eternal Son, or doubt whether he be the only, and all-sufficient Saviour of the world, yet the more we examine the Scriptures with humility and prayer, the more deep will be our insight into this great mystery of godliness, and the more shall we attain a full assurance of understanding with respect to it.
Let this then incline us to go with one accord to Bethlehem, and to commence the pious search: yea, let the hope and prospect of so rich a benefit stimulate us to united and instantaneous exertions.]
2.
You will be disposed to communicate the joyful tidings to others
[This was the first-fruit of the conviction which the shepherds had received: When they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child [Note: ver. 17.]. And will you be contented to put your light under a bushel? Will you not rather imitate the famished lepers, who when they had found the Syrian camp deserted, and a vast plenty of provisions and booty of every kind lying unprotected, said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings; and we hold our peace: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the kings household [Note: 2Ki 7:8-9.]? You find in general, that persons are averse to speak of the great mysteries of redemption, because they have so little considered them: on the contrary, they who feel the importance of them, cannot be restrained from speaking of them: and if they be derided or menaced for their zeal, they will give the same answer as the Apostles did, We cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard [Note: Act 4:19-20.].]
3.
You will abound in praises and thanksgivings to God for them
[In this respect also the shepherds manifested the fruits of diligent and humble inquiry: They returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them [Note: ver. 20.]. And shall not we feel a similar disposition, if once our hearts be duly impressed with these things? Yes: if we muse as we ought, the fire will kindle, and at last we shall speak with our tongues [Note: Psa 39:3.]. We shall vie even with the angelic hosts in singing, Glory to God in the highest for the peace which is brought down on earth, and the good-will that is thereby expressed towards man.
If, then, our fellow-creatures have any claim upon us for the benefit of our instructions, or God has any demands upon our gratitude for the stupendous mercies he has vouchsafed unto us, then should we search with diligence into the truths that are revealed, in order that we may be quickened to the performance of our duty, and be stimulated to pay our tribute of love to man, and of praise to God.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(15) And it came to pass, as the angels were gone 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. (16) And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. (17) And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. (18) And all they that heard it, wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. (19) But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. (20) And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
It doth not appear that those shepherds, though struck with astonishment, both at the vision of angels and in their visit to Bethlehem, at what they had seen and heard, were savingly converted to the faith. They are said to have returned praising God, and spreading the report abroad. But we hear no more of them. Mary is said to have pondered these things in her heart. Sweet view of grace; which is silent and retired, waiting on the Lord!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone 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.
Ver. 15. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem ] They did not reason nor debate with themselves (saith Bishop Hooper, martyr, in a letter to certain good people taken praying in Bow churchyard, and now in trouble) who should keep the wolf from the sheep in the mean time; but committed the sheep to him whose pleasure they obeyed. So let us do now that we be called; commit all other things to him that called us. He will take heed that all shall be well. He will help the husband, comfort the wife, guide the servants, keep the house, preserve the goods; yea, rather than it should be undone, he will wash the dishes, rock the cradle, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. ] If the bracketed words be retained, it will be better to understand them as applying to the shepherds merely, than (with De Wette and Meyer) to suppose . to be used as distinctive of the shepherds from the angels . Such distinctions are not usual, whereas the redundant . is: see reff. specifies what . stated generally: the men, viz. the shepherds.
Luk 2:15-20 . The shepherds go to Bethlehem . , come! let us go. The force of , a highly emotional particle (the second time we have met with it, vide at Mat 13:23 ), can hardly be expressed in English. The rendering in A. V [24] (and R. V [25] ), “Let us now go,” based on the assumption that has affinity with , is very tame, giving no idea of the mental excitement of the shepherds, and the demonstrative energy with which they communicated to each other, comrade-fashion, the idea which had seized their minds. “The gives a pressing character to the invitation,” Godet. Similarly Hahn = “agedum, wohlan, doch”. Cf. in Act 13:2 . The in suggests the idea of passing through the fields. (conjunction used as a preposition) may imply that it was a considerable distance to Bethlehem (Schanz). , here = “thing” rather than “word”.
[24] Authorised Version.
[25] Revised Version.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 2:15-20
15When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
Luk 2:15 These shepherds recognized the prophetic aspect of the angels’ message and wanted (both verbs are subjunctive) to go and confirm this great revelation in the nearby village.
I would have hated to be the one shepherd who had to stay and watch the sheep!
This verse uses rma as “thing” (cf. Luk 2:19) instead of “word” or “statement” (cf. Luk 2:17).
Luk 2:16 It was not hard to find Mary, Joseph, and the baby in the small village of Bethlehem. The scene was exactly as the angels had said.
Luk 2:17-18 To whom does the “all” refer? It could be the people and visitors in Bethlehem or, because of the proximity of Jerusalem and the importance and source of the message, it may refer to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. However, notice that we do not hear of the message again anywhere else in the NT. Possibly the bias of the Jewish leadership against shepherds caused them to discredit the whole account.
Luk 2:19 “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart” Mary thought about these events again and again (cf. Luk 2:51). Luke’s source for these early years seems to have been Mary. He possibly visited her while Paul was in prison at Caesarea for two years.
Luk 2:20 It must have been hard to return to life as usual. I wonder how many of these shepherds were still alive when Jesus began His public ministry some thirty years later.
“glorifying and praising God” This involves two present participles.
1. glorifying God Luk 2:20; Luk 5:25-26; Luk 7:16; Luk 13:13; Luk 17:15; Luk 18:43; Luk 23:47; Act 4:21; Act 11:18; Act 21:20; 23:47
2. praising God Luk 2:13; Luk 2:20; Luk 19:37; Act 2:47; Act 3:8-9
Other parallel expressions are
1. blessed by God Luk 1:64; Luk 1:68; Luk 2:28; Luk 24:53
2. gave thanks to God Luk 2:38
3. give glory to God Luk 2:14; Luk 17:18; Luk 19:38; Luk 12:23 (negated)
It is obvious this is a recurrent theme in Luke’s writings. God deserves glory, praise, and blessing!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. Why was the Roman world enrolled?
2. Is there a problem with Luke’s chronology?
3. Why is Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem so important? What does this say about God’s control of history?
4. Why was Jesus born in a stable?
5. What is the significance of God’s angel announcing Christ’s birth to shepherds?
6. Why are the titles “Savior,” “Messiah,” and “Lord” so important?
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS TO Luk 2:21-52
There are several Jewish rituals referred to in this passage.
A. The Ritual of Circumcision
1. The sign of YHWH’s covenant with Abraham (cf. Gen 17:1-14)
a. every male
b. eight days old (cf. Lev 12:3)
c. for all generations
d. for domestic servants (cf. Exo 12:44)
e. the uncircumcised male is to be cut off from the faith community
2. flint knives used
a. Exo 4:25
b. Jos 5:2-3
3. no special place, but done by the father (cf. Gen 17:23-27), usually locally (not in the Tabernacle)
4. done by Patriarchs (cf. Gen 34:13-24), but neglected in captivity (cf. Exo 4:24-26) and restarted in conquest (cf. Jos 5:4-9)
B. The Ritual of Childbirth Purification
1. period of uncleanness
a. any fluid that leaked from the body caused one to be ceremonially unclean
b. the mother was unclean for seven days after the birth of a son (cf. Lev 12:2)
c. the mother was unclean for fourteen days after the birth of a daughter (cf. Lev 12:5)
d. she remains unclean for forty days for a son (cf. Lev 12:3-4 and eighty for a daughter (cf. Lev 12:6)
e. this ceremonial uncleanness is compared to the monthly menstrual cycle
2. rite of purification
a. after a waiting period the mother comes to the tabernacle and brings an offering of
(1) a one year old lamb for a burnt offering (cf. Lev 12:6)
(2) a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering (cf. Lev 12:6)
(3) if the person is poor, then two pigeons or turtle doves are acceptable (cf. Lev 12:8)
b. these procedures result in a ceremonial cleansing
C. The Rite of Redemption of the Firstborn
1. Because of the death of the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of non-priestly families was given to serve YHWH (cf. Exodus 13).
2. The Levites and Priests as a tribe took the place of the firstborn males in serving YHWH (cf. Num 3:12; Num 3:45; Num 8:14).
3. The priest (any priest) had to be paid a set price by the parents to buy back their firstborn male child (cf. Exo 34:20).
4. This seems to be reflected in Luk 2:23; Luk 2:27 b, while the mother’s rite of purification is in Luk 2:22; Luk 2:24.
5. The rabbis say that this redemption can be done with any priest on the thirty-first day. This does not fit the timing of Mary’s forty-day uncleanness. Some scholars would see only two rituals in this context.
D. The command that all males (and by implication, their families) come to the tabernacle/Temple at least on the three annual feast days (cf. Exo 23:14; Exo 23:17; Leviticus 23)
1. The three main feasts
a. Passover/Unleavened Bread (cf. Exo 23:14-15; Lev 23:4-8; Num 28:16-25)
b. Feast of Harvest/Pentecost (cf. Exo 23:16; Exo 34:22-34; Lev 23:15-21; Num 28:26-31)
c. Feast of Ingathering/Booths (cf. Exo 23:16; Lev 23:34-36; Deu 16:13-17)
2. Jesus’ parents brought Him to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover when He was twelve (cf. Luk 2:41-43) just before His bar mitzvah at thirteen
3. Jesus fulfilled all aspects of the Mosaic Law (cf. Luk 2:39)
E. It is surprising how few OT quotes are in Luke’s Gospel (Luk 2:23-24; Luk 3:4-6). This is also true of Mark (who wrote for Romans). These three occur in Luke’s first three chapters, which are possibly from his interviews with (or documents from) Mary. Luke, writing for Gentiles, does not feel the need to document OT prophecies as does Matthew (cf. Mat 1:23; Mat 2:15; Mat 2:18; Mat 2:23; Mat 3:3; Mat 4:15; Mat 8:17; Mat 12:18-21; Mat 13:25; Mat 21:5; Mat 27:9), who writes for Jews.
heaven = the heaven. Singular with Art.
to. Greek. pros. App-104.
Let us now go = [Come now], let us go through.
unto = as far as.
see. Greek. eidon. App-133.
thing = word, or saying. Greek. rhema. See note on Mar 9:32.
is = has.
made known : i.e. the saying of Luk 2:12. Greek gnorizo. Compare gnosis. App-132.
15.] If the bracketed words be retained, it will be better to understand them as applying to the shepherds merely, than (with De Wette and Meyer) to suppose . to be used as distinctive of the shepherds from the angels. Such distinctions are not usual, whereas the redundant . is: see reff. specifies what . stated generally: the men, viz. the shepherds.
Luk 2:15. , the men [the shepherds]) representing, as they did in some measure, the whole human race. Comp. Luk 2:14, among men; in antithesis to, the angels. Men came to Jesus; whereas angels did their office from a distance.–, let us go on-even to) Hence it may be inferred that the shepherds had their house, not at Bethlehem, but in some locality between which and Bethlehem midway was situated broadwise the region where they kept watch over their flocks; Luk 2:20 is in agreement with this view. Comp. Act 9:38, () , to come on even to (them) us. On this account [owing to their having to go forward and back over so much space] the matter became the more known through their means.- , which has come to pass) They believe that the event has already come to pass, from the announcement of the angel.
Welcomed; Named; Presented
Luk 2:15-24
From April till the autumn the flocks pastured at night in the open fields, from which it seems probable that our Lord must have been born earlier or later than December. No doubt these shepherds were, like Simeon, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and their purity of life and simplicity of soul well qualified them to receive the blessed tidings of the angels. First simplicity and afterward science, Mat 2:1-23, found their way into the presence of Jesus.
In the act of circumcision, our Lord admitted His obligation to fulfill the whole Law, Gal 5:3. He was made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, Gal 4:4-5. Mary could afford only the gift of the poor, Lev 12:6-8; Lev 5:7-11; 2Co 8:9. The precious name of Jesus-Savior-is the name above every name, Act 4:10-12.
angels
(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”)
into: Luk 24:51, 2Ki 2:1, 2Ki 2:11, 1Pe 3:22
shepherds: Gr. men the shepherds
Let: Exo 3:3, Psa 111:2, Mat 2:1, Mat 2:2, Mat 2:9-11, Mat 12:42, Joh 20:1-10
Reciprocal: 2Ki 2:12 – he saw him
THE TURNING POINT IN THE WORLDS HISTORY
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone 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.
Luk 2:15
The birth of Jesus Christ is the turning-point in the worlds history.
I. He rules the life of men.Whether you accept His claims and obey His words, orwhich God forbidyou disbelieve the one and reject the other, this is certain: that He rules the life of men to-day. For the civilised nations of the world the years are reckoned from His Advent. The events of ancient history are recorded by the historian as having taking place so many years before Christ; and the years of our modern life are years of our Lord. Anno Domini, we say; but we rarely think of how far-reaching a theory of history and of conduct is here suggested to us.
II. How great is this deeper influence which Jesus of Nazareth has exercised over the wills and passions of mankind! It is often said that Christendom is not really Christian; but it is quite certain that the difference between Christian and non-Christian countries as regards all that makes life pure and lovely and of good report is wide indeed.
III. The secret of that mighty influence.Christmas is not only the festival of the birth of a great Master, not only the commemoration of the entrance of a great spiritual force into the world; it is the memorial of the Visitation of God. It was God Who became man, Who was born on this daythe Word Who became flesh; that is the centre of the Christian creeds.
Dean J. H. Bernard.
5
Let us go even unto Beth-lem, shows the shepherds understood that the “city of David,” which the angel named, meant that place.
Luk 2:15. The shepherds. The angels went to heaven; the shepherds sought what the angels had praised: the former, to continue the song of glory in the highest; the latter, to discover peace on earth.
Now, i.e., at once.
Even unto Bethlehem. As far as Bethlehem; as though it were not their usual place of resort.
This thing, lit., saying; the same word is used in Luk 2:17; Luk 2:19. The simple faith of these shepherds is a token that they were men in whom He is well-pleased and hence chosen to receive this revelation.
Several particulars are here observable: as, 1. That the shepherds no sooner heard the news of a Saviour, but they ran to Bethlehem to seek him; and though it was at midnight, yet they delayed not to go. Those that left their beds to attend their flocks, now leave their flocks to inquire after their Saviour.
Learn thence, that a gracious soul no sooner hears where Christ is, but instantly makes out after him, and judges no earthly comfort too dear to be left and forsaken for him. These shepherds shew, that they preferred their Saviour before their sheep.
Observe, 2. These shepherds having found Christ themselves, do make him known to others, When they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying, which was told them concerning this child. Luk 2:17
Learn, that such as have found Christ to their comfort, and tasted that the Lord is gracious to themselves, cannot but recommend him to the love and admiration of others.
Observe, 3. What effect this relation had upon the generality of people that heart it; it wrought in them amazement and astonishment, but not faith: The people wondered, but believed not. ‘Tis not the hearing of Christ with the hearing of the ear, nor the seeing of Christ with the sight of the outward eye; neither the hearing of his doctine, nor the sight of his miracles, will work divine faith in the soul, without the concuring operation of the Holy Spirit; the one may make us marvel, but the other makes us believe. All that heard it wondered at these things.
Lastly, note, the effect which these things had upon Mary, quite different from what they had upon the common people; they wondered, she pondered; the things that affected their heads, influenced her heart: She kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luk 2:15-20. As the angels were gone away Probably they saw them ascend; the shepherds said, Let us now go; without delay; and see this thing This wonderful and important event; which is come to pass: and they came and found Mary and Joseph, &c. Though it is not mentioned, it seems the angel had described to them the particular place in Bethlehem where Christ was born. And, having found the child lying where the angel had said, they were by that sign fully confirmed in their belief, and with boldness declared both the vision which they had seen, and the things which they had heard pronounced by the angel, and the heavenly host with him. And all they that heard wondered at those things, &c. Joseph and Mary, with the people of the inn who attended them, and such of their relations as were come up to Bethlehem to be enrolled, and happened to be with them on this occasion, were exceedingly astonished at the things which the shepherds openly declared; and the rather, because they could not understand how one born of such mean parents could be the Messiah. But Mary kept all these things, &c. Mary was greatly affected with, and thought upon, the shepherds words, the import of which she was enabled to understand, in consequence of what had been revealed to herself. She said nothing, however, being more disposed to think than to speak: which was an excellent instance of modesty and humility in so great a conjuncture. And the shepherds returned, glorifying God, &c. They returned to their flocks, and by the way praised God for having condescended, by a particular revelation, to inform them of so great an event as the birth of the Messiah, and because they had seen the signs by which the angel in the vision pointed him out to them. To this we may add, that, besides what they had heard from the angel and seen at Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary would doubtless give them an account of those particulars which the sacred historian has related above, respecting the conception of this divine infant; and this interview must have greatly confirmed and comforted the minds of all concerned. Doddridge.
3. The visit of the shepherds: Luk 2:15-20.
The angel had notified a sign to the shepherds, and invited them to ascertain its reality. This injunction they obey.
Vers. 15-20. The T. R. exhibits in Luk 2:15 a singular expression: And it came to pass, when the angels were gone away,…the men, the shepherds, said… The impression of the shepherds when, the angels having disappeared, they found themselves alone among men, could not be better expressed. The omission of the words in the Alex. is owing to the strangeness of this form, the meaning of which they did not understand. The before is doubtless the sign of the apodosis, like the Hebrew ; but at the same time it brings out the close connection between the disappearance of the angels and the act of the shepherds, as they addressed themselves to the duty of obeying them. The aorist of the T. R. is certainly preferable to the imperf. of the Alex., since it refers to an act immediately followed by a result: They said (not they were saying) one to another, Let us go therefore.
The term denotes, as , H1821 so often does, a word in so far as accomplished (). We see how the original Aramaean form is carefully preserved even to the minutest details. in expresses the discovery in succession of the objects enumerated. or (Alex.), Luk 2:17, may signify to verify; in the fifteenth verse, however, signifies to make known, and in Luk 2:17 it is the most natural meaning. There is a gradation here: heaven had revealed; and now, by the care of men, publicity goes on increasing. This sense also puts the seventeenth verse in more direct connection with what follows. The compound , to divulge, appears to us for this reason to be preferred to the simple form (in the Alex.).
Vers. 18-20 describe the various impressions produced by what had taken place. In the eighteenth verse, a vague surprise in the greater part (all those who heard). On the other hand (), Luk 2:19, a profound impression and exercise of mind in Mary. First of all, she is careful to store up all the facts in her mind with a view to preserve them (); but this first and indispensable effort is closely connected with the further and subordinate aim of comparing and combining these facts, in order to discover the divine idea which explains and connects them. What a difference between this thoughtfulness and the superficial astonishment of the people around her! There is more in the joyful feelings and adoration of the shepherds (Luk 2:20) than in the impressions of those who simply heard their story, but less than in Mary., to glorify, expresses the feeling of the greatness of the work; , to praise, refers to the goodness displayed in it.
Closely connected as they are, the two participles heard and seen can only refer to what took place in the presence of the shepherds after they reached the stable. They were told the remarkable occurrences that had preceded the birth of Jesus; it is to this that the word heard refers. And they beheld the manger and the infant; this is what is expressed by the word seen. And the whole was a confirmation of the angel’s message to them. They were convinced that they had not been the victims of an hallucination.
The reading (they returned thence) is evidently to be preferred to the ill-supported reading of the T. R., (they returned to their flocks).
Whence were these interesting details of the impression made on the shepherds and those who listened to their story, and of the feelings of Mary, obtained? How can any one regard them as a mere embellishment of the author’s imagination, or as the offspring of legend? The Aramaean colouring of the narrative indicates an ancient source. The oftener we read the nineteenth verse, the more assured we feel that Mary was the first and real author of this whole narrative. This pure, simple, and private history was composed by her, and preserved for a certain time in an oral form, until some one committed it to writing, whose work fell into the hands of Luke, and was reproduced by him in Greek.
The angels went away into heaven, their dwelling place and God’s; they did not disappear instantaneously. Luke showed interest in spatial relationships in his Gospel (cf. Luk 24:51) and in Acts (cf. Act 1:11). The shepherds, on the other hand, hurried off to Bethlehem (cf. Luk 1:39). This has been called "the first Christmas rush." They realized that the angels’ message came from the Lord. Contrast the attitude of the religious leaders who, though they heard of Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem, did not bother to check it out (Mat 2:5). Luke did not break the feeling of excitement and swift action in the narrative by describing how the shepherds located the manger. In Luke’s account there is no mention of the star that appeared to the wise men.
"It is most likely that these shepherds were in charge of the flocks from which the Temple offerings were chosen. It is a lovely thought that the shepherds who looked after the Temple lambs were the first to see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." [Note: Ibid.]
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)