Sermon for Holy Christmas Eve
A Little Lower Than The Angels
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ! AMEN. It is Holy Christmas Eve, the night when the Church
rejoices at the angel's sermon that there is born to you "a Savior who is
Christ the Lord."
Dear Christian friends,
Your Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, is far superior in
glory and in might than all the angels in heaven. It is written in the book
of Hebrews concerning Jesus,
He is the radiance [the brightness, the shining source] of the glory of God.
having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is
more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1:3,4).
With these Words, the book of Hebrews would have us compare God's Son Jesus
the overwhelming glory of the Lord that fell upon Mt. Sinai in the Old
Testament, so terrifying the people of Israel that they trembled with fear
and refused to go near to the mountain (Exodus 19:1-16).
Then, after the book of Hebrews declares that your Lord Jesus is
superior to all the angels in heaven, the same book goes on to say about
your Lord, "He was made a little lower than the angels." The great glory of
God was not something your Lord Jesus wished to grasp and to keep, but He
set His glory aside for your sake, and for the purpose of your salvation.
Tonight's Gospel shows you why this lowering of your Lord Jesus lower than
the angels is such a great blessing and benefit to you:
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch
over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
It is not hard to imagine why these poor shepherds would have felt so
afraid. The pitch darkness all around them was suddenly bright with
unexpected light. That would be enough to make anyone jump with fear. But
then a powerful voice sounded from out of the light, increasing the shepherd's
fear. There was nowhere to run and no place to hide. There was only a
terrifying voice and a bright light "and they were filled with fear."
How much more would they be afraid if the Son of God Himself had
appeared to them in such a way? With glory and power that far exceeds that
of every angel put together, the sudden and unexpected appearance of God the
Son would have destroyed even the best of men with fear.
But God the Son does not want you to be afraid of Him. God the Son
does not wish for you to recoil or shield yourself in His presence and He
does not want you to run away. For this reason, "He was made a little lower
than the angels."
· Let the angels suddenly appear in the great number of the heavenly
host. Your God prefers to come to you slowly, easing His way into your
existence by being knit together in His mother's womb.
· Let the bright angelic light shine out in the fields and illuminate
everything with dazzling brilliance. Your God chooses instead to come to you
under the cover of darkness and in the unlit reaches of a barn.
· Let the angel's voice boom from heaven, and let the multitude of
the heavenly host sing glory to God. Your God sets the glory aside. Your God
was "made a little lower than the angels" and His voice first sounded in the
gurgle and squeak of newborn Child.
"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone
around them, and they were filled with fear." Your gracious and merciful God
wants to come to you in such a way that there is no possibility for fear. So
He comes to you a baby. He comes to you in your human body; He comes
breathing your air; He comes feeling your cold and your temptations and your
fears. Jesus comes to you "a little lower than the angels," gently
approaching you and drawing near so that He may lift you up far above your
sin, far above your death, far above your fear, seating you "with Him in the
heavenly realms" (Ephesians 1:20).
Look at the Child, [in His infancy] knowing nothing. Yet all that is belongs
to Him, that your conscience should not fear but take comfort in Him. See
how God invites [and draws] you in many ways. He places before you a Babe
with whom you may take refuge. You cannot fear Him, for nothing is more
appealing to man than a babe. Who is there whom this sight would not
comfort? Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and
guilt, if you come to this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to
judge you, but to save (Luther, The Martin Luther Christmas Book, p.40).
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