Splendid Gladness

Read Luke 2:1-12

Context:These are very familiar passages. In Luke 1, Mary is visited by an angel and told of the child she will bear, and Elizabeth and Zechariah have a child named John.

Text:
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." (NIV)

Footnotes:

Luke 2:11 Or Messiah. "The Christ" (Greek) and "the Messiah" (Hebrew) both mean "the Anointed One"; also in verse 26.
taken from www.biblegateway.com

Don't let the familiarity of this passage cause you to gloss over its meaning...if you can, go back and read it again, letting each word really sink in.

Why did the angel visiting the shepherds tell them not to be afraid? He (or she?) had great news to deliver, news that couldn't be held secret any longer!

I wanted to understand the words that were recorded by Luke, so I went to Strong's Concordance. The word we translate as 'great' was the word 'megas', which means splendid, on a grand scale. The word 'joy' comes from the Greek word, 'chara', which is best translated as joy, gladness, or to rejoice exceedingly.

But not only did the angel say that he had such good news, but he said it was for all people. The word that was originally used by Luke for 'all' is 'pas', which can be translated as each and every individual. It isn't just all people in general, as in 'we all look forward to the weekend.' This 'all' is more like a list of every name of every person born in the world!

Enough of a language lesson this early in the morning. What I learned from this was that Jesus came into this world as a Savior to each and every one of us, not just people as a whole. He wants his love and salvation to bring joy to me personally! And you, and you....! No matter what your day brings, rejoice in Christ on a grand scale -- the news is still great.