25th December 2024
Noisy night
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared…praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:13-14 (NIV)
Many years ago, when I first read Luke’s account of the momentous events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ, the pedant inside of me asked, ‘I wonder how many angels were there?’ You see, Luke says there was a ‘great company of the heavenly host’ but he doesn’t put a number to it.
Well, let’s do a rough calculation. Revelation 5:11 tells us that there are ‘ten thousand times ten thousand’ angels around the throne of God, plus the living creatures and elders. If those numbers can be taken literally, that would mean there are at least 100 million angels, plus change. And what does Luke say they are doing? Praising God for bringing all of this to pass. The Greek word translated ‘praising’ in our header scripture is aineō, which means, ‘to sing praises in honour of God.’
Can you imagine the sound of this great throng of angels simultaneously singing praises to God? Perhaps the night wasn’t quite as ‘silent and calm’ and serene as Joseph Mohr’s famous carol would have us believe! 100 million angels expressing their spontaneous joy, as the long-prophesied coming of the Messiah is finally fulfilled.
I’d like to share three reasons for joining the angels in their rejoicing this Christmas:
- We should rejoice because of his greatness. Jesus is our Immanuel, literally, ‘God with us’. Hard though it is to get our human minds around the idea, the fullness of the great ‘I Am’ dwelt in the human body of our Saviour.
- We should rejoice because of his humbleness. God didn’t let his greatness get in the way of his love for humankind. He didn’t stay up there in heaven, basking in his own glory. He came to earth in the person of his son to end our wretched pain, suffering and sinfulness and to bring eternal peace to every single one of us.
- We should rejoice because of his graciousness. Let’s think about the meaning of the last few words of Luke 2:14: ‘on whom his favour rests.’ On whom does his favour rest? We used to think it was those who had accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. And of course, it is. But the truth is God’s favour does not just rest on those who believe in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:22 tells us, thanks to Jesus, that God’s favour rests on all humankind!
Let’s rejoice at Christmas time. After all, 100 million angels can’t be wrong.
Prayer
Almighty Father, let us rejoice in the beautiful truth that you sent your one and only Son Jesus to be born human, and to die, and be resurrected for all humankind. He is the living proof that you are with us always and will never forsake us, ever. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Study by Peter Mill
About the writer:
Peter Mill is a minister in Grace Communion International and Co-Regional Pastor for Scotland, Ireland, and Northern England.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion International Central Glasgow
Garnethill Room
Conference Suite
St Andrews West
260 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4JP
Meeting time:
Sunday 11:15 am
Local congregational contact:
Peter Mill
Email: edinburgh@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church