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Glory to God in the Highest

Luke 2:8-14 – “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

            One of my favorite Hymns to sing during the Christmas season is Angels We Have Heard on High. The English version of the hymn was translated from French by Bishop James Chadwick.  The song tells the story of the shepherds who are surprised by angels announcing the birth of the long awaited Messiah.

            These shepherds were living out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks during the night. The only light would have been the small campfire they huddled around in the field at night.  Just another routine night of watching over the flocks was interrupted by the sudden appearance of an angel. 

            These shepherds were likely to be mostly younger men.  Younger sons were assigned the duty of tending the flocks. The Scriptures do not tell us how many there were or their ages.  It simply says, “there were in the same country shepherds living out in the field.”  What was the reaction of these shepherds to this unexpected visitation of an angel?  Verse 9 says, “They were greatly afraid.” 

            The first words of the angel were, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

            This could have been the very moment of the birth of the Lord.  Luke 2:13-14 says, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 

            The third verse reads, " Come to Bethlehem and see Him Whose birth the angels sing; Come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King.”  The refrain follows, “Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!  This translates from Latin as, glory to God in the highest. May we join with this chorus of angels in declaring in this season that celebrates His birth, “Gloria, in excelsis Deo!” “Glory to God in the Highest.”

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