John: Putting Belief Into PracticeSample

Today’s passage is the story of Jesus’s birth and the visits of the angels and the shepherds. Each December, we hear countless Christmas carols with lyrics based on this handful of verses. The famous cartoon of Linus from the “Peanuts” comic strip reciting this passage circulates the internet, too. It’s a portion of Scripture that many families read on Christmas Eve to children's delight.

But sometimes, it’s good to read Christmas passages when it’s not Christmastime. Sometimes we need that jarring sense of being out of step with the season to notice what’s right in front of us.

The glory of God is a theme in this passage. The “glory of the Lord” terrified the shepherds when the first angel appeared (v. 9). The heavenly host praised God by saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven” (v. 14). When the shepherds returned from seeing Jesus they were “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen” (v. 20).

Pastor Kyle Idleman defines glory in today’s clip. It is “the presence and the power of God. His honor. His might. His majesty. His greatness. His goodness. All to the highest degree.” This definition deepens the theme of glory in Luke 2 because there was nothing particularly honorable or majestic about Jesus’s birth. The glory of God shone upon inglorious places. A stable. A hillside. Shepherds working the graveyard shift. A young couple sleeping among animals.

A different Christmas story is recorded in the first chapter of John, but with a familiar theme. In verse 14, John describes the coming of Jesus by saying: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son.”

The common, lowly setting of Jesus’s birth combined with the recurring theme of glory are like sea salt and chocolate. The opposites are there to create something memorable, even striking. The glory of God—his power, presence, majesty, and goodness—is a part of the lives of everyday people. Glorify him!

Reflection

What does it look like for you to glorify God as the shepherds did? How can you intentionally praise, admire, or honor God today?

Read another Christmastime passage outside the season and see what sticks out. Read Matthew 2:1-12.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, your birth says it all. Thank you for appearing first to ordinary people. Thank you for bringing all your glory and power to lowly places. Dwell with me in the lowly places in my life today. I worship you. Amen.