Luke 2:10 Commentary and Bible Study

They are terrified, ‘and the angel said unto them, Fear not’, and he probably not only said it, but by his great power he caused them to be calmed and their trembling has stopped. Those words calmed them and they were able to listen and take them in. Their experienced was turned from terror to anticipation by the word of the messenger of God. ‘For, behold’ – listen carefully, we may say – ‘I bring you tidings [good news] of great joy.’ I bring something for you. This isn't for the angels. The angels who have never known sin. The angels have never been separated from God, the good angels, that is. It is for men and women, I bring you good tidings of great joy good news of great joy, the coming of Christ, the coming of the Saviour. Again, we need to ask, what do people think Christianity is, the coming of Christ into the world? All they think is that it is to bring happiness in some vague way they cannot explain. But now it isn't just a message of joy; it is a message of great joy, supreme joy. In other words it isn't about passing happiness, passing joys. There are times of great happiness and joy in life you can imagine the celebrations that followed the end of the Second World War. You may have had a very serious illness and it has been overcome. When you've recovered you have great joy. Maybe there is somebody who means a lot to you and you have been apart, separated by many miles. Then there is a reunion. What a joyful time it is! You may have a birth in your family; you may find love. There are all manner of passing joys in life and very many of them are quite wholesome and legitimate and may all have many joys even of a passing nature. But the coming of the Saviour isn't just about ordinary happiness and joys which pass. This is a message which brings a blessing which will cause us to be happy now and for ever. This is about a happiness that will never end, will never pass away. This isn't about happiness in just material things and secular things, happiness on earth, happiness at ordinary everyday events, happiness in friendships and relationships. This isn't about that level of happiness. This is about happiness because the everlasting soul is affected. The soul is brought to life and a new consciousness dawns on us and we understand the meaning of life and why we are here, and we come into touch with the living God. All this is a much greater happiness than anything simply to be found in the things that are on earth, even right and proper things. ‘Which shall be to all people.’ We have to explain this, because what the angel does not mean is that this joy will be to literally every single person. If he meant that, then these first chapters of Luke's gospel would be full of contradictions, because in any number of verses it is most carefully stated that the people who will experience this joy and receive this joy are those people who fear him, those who have the remission of sins. So what does it mean when the angel says that this great joy will be to all people? It means, as the passage will go on to say (Luke 2:32), that it is to Gentiles as well as Jews. ‘All people’ therefore means nations, all kinds of people, not literally every person. Don't forget that this message comes to a band of shepherds out on the hillside, who all happen to be Jews. Remember that the shepherds have been brought up to believe that God's blessings are just for the Jews. It is not literally for all people, because all people literally never come to know Christ. All people do not receive Christ. All people are not interested in the forgiveness of their sin. All people do not commit their lives to the Lord and fear him and come seeking this mercy and his blessing.