The Bible

 

Luke 2:8-20 : The Shepherds Visit Jesus in Bethlehem

Study

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Commentary

 

The Joy of the Angels at the Lord's Birth

By Eric Carswell

The Annunciation to the Shepherds, By Henry Ossawa Tanner - http://www.artnet.de/artist/16406/henry-ossawa-tanner.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4864375

Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

These words of the angel were truly good tidings of great joy for all people. Although neither the shepherds nor anyone else in the world really understood the importance of what was begun that night, the angels did, and they had been unceasingly awaiting this event for centuries. They knew why there was cause for great rejoicing. The promised Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of mankind, had finally been born. The unbounded joy of the heavens was seen by the shepherds. Suddenly with the angel who had spoken to them there was a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)

Why were the angels so joyful? We can hear the excitement in the voice of the angel that spoke to the shepherds. And we can imagine the shiver of wonder that must have filled the shepherds as they heard the resounding sound of the angelic multitudes praising God. What was the source of the angels' joy? What did the birth of the Lord on earth mean to them?

The angels had known that the Lord would be born on earth ever since the first hint of evil had appeared in mankind. At the moment that the first of the Lord's people began to turn away from innocently following Him the angels could foresee in a general way what would happen. With the human mind working the way that it did and does, the angels could foresee that the power of evil, once begun, would gradually increase. (cf. Arcana Coelestia 4687:2) With horror they recognized that eventually the human race would turn so far away from the Lord that it would no longer know anything true nor be able to do anything good. They recognized that the human race would turn completely from the Lord's life and His blessings, and they knew that when a complete separation took place, no human being would ever choose a heavenly life and would be condemned to the anger, discontent and destructiveness of an evil life.

Yet at the time of the first hint of evil, the Lord immediately foretold in prophecy that He would be born as a Savior to ensure that all people would always have a real choice between a heavenly life and a hellish one. By prophecies given to people on earth, both they and the angels knew that the Lord would make His advent. The angels understood that He would come as the Word made flesh, as a light to the world. He would let His infinite soul slowly fill a natural body. He would allow a mind to form within the workings of a natural brain - one precisely like yours and mine. He would learn the stories and laws of the Old Testament just like a child today can learn them. Then He would do something that no finite mortal could. He would slowly reveal to that natural mind and to the universal spiritual world the infinite life within revealed truth. He took words and ideas of truth that could exist within a human mind and showed their hidden glory. This revelation was an essential part of His mission on earth. It was an essential part of the process that the Writings of the New Church call “the glorification.” The Lord showed the infinite wisdom and the infinite love that had been hidden by the darkness of evil and the obscurity of limited human thought. The Lord Jesus Christ gave a power to revealed truth that is the salvation of all who seek to follow it - to all who follow revealed truth while seeking to serve their fellow human beings. The Lord became the Word made flesh so that we might behold His glory, so that we might have the light that will give us life.

All this lay in the distant future when the Lord's birth was first prophesied. Yet the prophecies themselves had great power. Yes, they were reassuring words, but they were something more. Faith in the promise of these prophecies accomplished something extremely powerful in itself. Faith in the Lord who was to come, brought about a loving relationship between human beings and God. (Arcana Coelestia 2034) This faith gave life and blessings to countless people. It sustained many in the human race till the Lord's birth actually occurred.

Over and over again, the Lord renewed the promise of His coming. But much time passed, and the promise of the Messiah was nearly forgotten. A few held onto their hope and waited, looking daily for the Lord to come. Wise men far distant from Judea watched the night sky looking for the sign that the Messiah had been born, and when they saw the star of wonder, they journeyed to bring gifts to the young infant. An old man in Jerusalem also waited for the Savior. When Simeon saw the infant Jesus and held Him in his arms. From a contented heart he spoke the remarkable words, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people: A light to give light to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel." (Luke 2:29-32)

Simeon certainly understood something of the meaning of the Lord's birth. Yet almost no one else in the world did. But the angels knew what the advent meant. The prophecies of the Lord's coming had been essential for the angels too. We are taught that if the process of the Lord's glorification had not been shown to the angels through the internal sense of the Word and also in the rites of the Jewish Church, the Lord would have been obliged to come into the world immediately after the fall of the first church from the golden age of mankind. (Arcana Coelestia 2523:1) For the angels the Old Testament served as a detailed prophecy of even the smallest aspects of the Jesus' life. From the Old Testament the angels knew the actual thoughts and perceptions of His whole life in the world.

The prophecy sustained hope with the angels. It held in check their fears when they foresaw the growing power of evil. Their deep apprehension was not just a general concern for a matter of principle or for the battle of evil against good in an abstract form. They were concerned for the salvation of each individual soul. They could see that the possibility of anyone getting to heaven was greatly endangered.

The angels are keenly aware of the state of the church with the human race. We provide a foundation for them. When the church within the hearts and minds of people in this world is weak and ignorant, the foundation is threatened. We are told of the sadness of angels when the people of the church are misled by false ideas and motivated by evil. Yes, the heavens are dependent on the people who make up the church on earth. If that quality of the church with human beings should completely fail, the heavens presently associated with us would have to be transferred to rest on other earths, and life would cease on this earth.

However, the concern of the angels was not for their own welfare. Their concern was for the happiness of others. They seek above all else to bring happiness to others. We read that "to save a soul from hell, the angels would regard death as nothing, indeed if it were possible, they would undergo hell for that soul." (Arcana Coelestia 2077:2) The angels suffered with and for those who wandered in spiritual darkness. They mourned over the sadness that filled the lives of so many. They waited and could do little to make life better for all who suffered. They waited, praying, hoping. They knew that the darkness and suffering would end when Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer, came in glory. So it was that when the Lord was born, the angels rejoiced. They rejoiced the night of the first Christmas so long ago. And with joy they brought the news to a small group of shepherds who were in the fields that night watching over their flocks.

Yet they knew that the Lord's birth was only the beginning. Jesus would grow from infancy to adult life. He would undergo continual battles against the mind-numbing power of evil. His battles would continue to the final trial of the cross. The completion of His work would come as He rose from the tomb on the first Easter. He rose not merely as Jesus, but as the infinite God, Jesus Christ our Lord appearing in flesh and blood.

On the first Christmas, the angels knew that much had to occur before mankind was truly free to chose a life different from the misery and spiritual emptiness of hell. But after centuries of waiting, hoping and praying for this event, it had now begun. In the words of the angel, the birth of the Lord was indeed good news of great joy for all people.

The Lord’s birth and life did not mean that evil loves and false ideas became powerless. The Lord re-established the freedom to choose good loves and true ideas and many have and will choose them, but not all. Our hearts can be saddened and sometimes discouraged or angered by the evil that we can see large and small. There is a memorable experience taking place in the life after death that Swedenborg relates which dealt with a time of discouragement of his own (Conjugial Love 81). He had been reflecting on the terrible state of marriage with so many and was grieved in spirit. As he walked and talked sadly with an angel about these things there was suddenly a dazzling burst of light that lit up the whole sky and he heard the sound of a mighty angelic choir echoing across the sky. The angel explained the different songs of celebration they were hearing related to the Lord’s advent such as:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of Jehovah...." ...Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes in strength.... He will feed His flock like a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:3, 10-11)

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..., whose name shall be...Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

And there were also quotations about the Lord’s second coming. Swedenborg relates, “When I heard these things and understood their meaning, as a result my heart leapt, and I went home filled with joy” (Conjugial Love 81:5).

As we well know this also did not mean that there would soon be an end to sorrow and trouble in marriages. But it did mean there was hope and a future. If we stare too much at the sorrow and trouble this can grow to be all we see and the Lord’s role will diminish into a relatively small abstraction. In this state of mind there is no rejoicing, little hope and little energy to do what we can. It is not what the Lord and His angels would wish for us.

When we consider the Lord's birth, we too can be joyful. If the Lord had not come, we would not be alive today. If the Lord had not bowed the heavens and come down, nothing could save us from the natural patterns of thought and choice that bring us and others pain and hurt, that bring the reality of hell to us. It is valuable for us to come to an acknowledgement of the destructiveness within these natural patterns of thought and choice.

But something of the true spirit of Christmas is shown in the joy of the angels. Their joy was not because they directly benefited by the advent. The nature of angelic love is to feel another's joy as its own. The joy of the angels was for all mankind. In their joy they recognized the significance of the advent for the lives of so many people.

We can form some idea of their joy if we think of what the Lord's coming means to all those whom we love. When we watch loved ones and others we know learn and grow, it is not always easy. Perhaps we worry that they are making bad choices and that we cannot prevent it without taking away their essential freedom. It is then that we need to remember the Lord's coming. Because the Lord was born into the world, He is able to be very near to teach and lead our loved ones with His infinite wisdom and infinite love. He has come for them to lead them to receive as much of the joy of heaven as they possibly can. We can perhaps realize with joy that things may not be as hopeless as they sometimes seem. A knowledge of the Lord’s role can actually increase the energy and focus we have to wisely help those around us. We can be encouraged by the thought that an infinite and loving God is near and also working unceasingly with all human beings. And as we see their joy when they do what is good and right, we can feel something of this joy as our own and give thanks to the Lord.

The sense of another's joy is magnified many times with the angels. This is the joy with which the angels celebrated the birth of the Lord. They were rejoicing at the Lord's expression of His love and mercy to all of us. If we can enter into this joy of the angels, we will sense something of the true joy of Christmas. When this joy fills our hearts, we may echo the words of the angelic chorus, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

(References: Luke 2:10)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

De Verbo (The Word) #7

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7. VII. The spiritual sense of the Word; on correspondences.

Every single thing in nature has a correspondence with spiritual things. The same is true of every single part of the human body, as may be seen demonstrated in two chapters of my book on Heaven and Hell [87-115]. But today it is not known what correspondence is. However, in the most ancient times the knowledge of correspondences was the queen of sciences, so universally known that the most ancient people wrote all their tablets and books by means of correspondences. The myths of the earliest peoples were the same, as were the hieroglyphs of the Egyptians. The Book of Job, which was a book of the ancient church, is full of correspondences.

[2] All ancient churches were intended to represent heavenly things; all their rituals, and also all the laws for the establishment of their worship, were composed entirely of correspondences. The same was true of the church of the sons of Jacob; the whole burnt offerings and the sacrifices in all their details were correspondences. The same was true of the tabernacle and everything in it; as also their festivals, such as the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles and the feast of first-fruits; so also were their laws and judgments. Since they were correspondences, they are things of the kind which come into existence at the ultimate level of nature; and since everything in nature has a correspondence, and such things also have a meaning, it follows that the literal sense of the Word is composed entirely of correspondences. The Lord too, since he spoke from His Divinity, also spoke the Word; and it also follows that He spoke by means of correspondences. That which comes down from the Divinity and is in itself Divine at the ultimate level passes into such things as correspond to what is Divine, celestial and spiritual, that is, those which hold at their inmost level celestial and spiritual things, and have this meaning.

For a further demonstration of what correspondences are, see my Arcana Caelestia, in which the correspondences in Genesis and Exodus are explained, and in addition see what has been collected from that source on the subject in my Teaching of the New Jerusalem 1 and Heaven and Hell. The spiritual or internal sense of the Word is nothing but the literal sense unfolded by means of correspondences, for it teaches the spiritual lesson which the angels in heaven perceive, when a person in the world thinks in a natural fashion about what he reads in the Word.

[3] I have heard and perceived from heaven that the people of the most ancient church, who are those meant in the spiritual sense in the first chapters of Genesis by Adam and Eve, were in such close contact with angels that they could speak with them by means of correspondences. Consequently their state of wisdom was such that whatever they saw on earth they perceived at the same time spiritually, that is, jointly with angels. I was told that Enoch, who is mentioned in Genesis [5:21-24], together with his companions made a collection of correspondences from the angels' lips, and transmitted the knowledge of them to their descendants. As a result the knowledge of correspondences was not only widespread, but prized in many kingdoms of Asia, especially in Egypt, Assyria and Babel, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and also Canaan. From there it spread to Greece, but there it was converted into myths.

This can be established merely by considering Olympus, Helicon and Pindus near Athens, 2 and also from the winged horse named Pegasus using its hoof to make a spring burst forth, by which the nine maidens 3 made their dwelling. For a mountain, such as Helicon, by correspondence means the higher heaven, the hill beneath the mountain of Pindus the heaven below that, the winged horse Pegasus means the intellect enlightened by the spiritual, a spring intelligence and learning, the nine maidens the knowledge of truth and sciences. The rest of the stories known as myths written by the earliest peoples in Greece are similar; these have been collected and described by Ovid in his Metamorphosis. 4

[4] But when with the passage of time the representative practices of the church became idolatrous, the Lord's Divine Providence ensured that this knowledge was progressively blotted out, and with the Israelite and Jewish race it was completely destroyed and became extinct. Certainly the worship of this people was entirely representative, but still there was no knowledge of what any representation meant. For they were utterly natural people, so that they were neither able nor willing to know anything about the spiritual man, and his faith and love, and so nothing about correspondence.

[5] The reason why the idolatrous practices of peoples of antiquity originated from their knowledge of correspondences was that everything to be seen upon the earth has a correspondence; so not only trees, but also cattle and birds of every kind, as well as fishes and other things. The ancients, possessing the knowledge of correspondences, made themselves images corresponding to spiritual ideas, and took pleasure in them, because they meant things to do with heaven and the church. Thus they placed such images not only in their temples but in their homes, not for them to be worshipped, but as a reminder of their heavenly meaning. So in Egypt there were erected calves, oxen, snakes, boys, old men, girls and many more things; because a calf meant the innocence of the natural man, oxen his affections, snakes the prudence of the sensual man, 5 a boy innocence, old men wisdom, girls affections for truth, and so on. After the knowledge of correspondences had been blotted out, their descendants in ignorance of their meanings began to worship as holy and finally as deities the images and likenesses set up by the ancients, because they were placed in or near temples.

The hieroglyphs of the Egyptians are of the same origin. 6 It was much the same with other peoples, as Dagon among the Philistines at Ashdod; he was above like a man, below like a fish, 7 an image devised because a man means rational intelligence and a fish natural knowledge. This too is why the ancients worshipped in gardens and groves arranged according to the species of the trees; and also why their sacred rituals were held on mountains. For gardens and groves meant spiritual intelligence, and each kind of tree some detail of this. For instance, the olive -Translatore meant the good of love for it, the vine the truth of faith, the cedar its rational, and so on; and a mountain meant heaven. This is why the ancients worshipped on mountains.

The knowledge of correspondences lasted among many eastern peoples down to the Lord's coming, as may be proved from the wise men from the east who came to the Lord on His birth. So a star went before them, and they brought with them gold, frankincense and myrrh. And the shepherds were told, as a sign that they should know He was the Lord, that they would see Him in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, because there was no place at the inn. For the star which went before them meant knowledge coming from heaven, since stars in the Word mean pieces of knowledge. Gold meant celestial good, frankincense spiritual good, and myrrh natural good, all worship being from these three sources. The manger in which the baby Lord was found by the shepherds means spiritual nourishment, because horses which feed from a manger mean matters of the intellect. The inn, where there was no place, meant the Jewish church, where at that time there was no spiritual nourishment, because everything in the Word and thus every detail of their worship was adulterated and perverted. This is why it is said that this should be a sign for them that it was the Lord (Luke 2:12).

But there was no knowledge of correspondences at all among the Israelite and Jewish people, despite the fact that the whole of their worship and all the laws and judgments given to them, and everything in the Word, were nothing but correspondences. The reason was that that people was at heart idolatrous, and such that it did not even want to know that any detail of their worship had any celestial or spiritual meaning. For they wanted all these things to be holy in themselves, and to be concerned with outward matters as they were. If therefore spiritual and celestial matters had been revealed to them, they would not only have rejected but also profaned them. On this account heaven was so closed to them that they hardly knew they would live after death.

The truth of this is plain from their failure to acknowledge the Lord, although the whole of the Sacred Scripture contains prophecies and predictions about Him. The sole reason for their rejection of Him was that He taught them about a heavenly kingdom, not one on earth. For they wanted a Messiah to raise them above all peoples throughout the world, not a Messiah to look after their eternal salvation. They say, moreover, that the Word contains many secrets which they call mysteries; but they do not want to know them, because they concern the Lord and His kingdom. But they want to know, if they are told they concern gold and alchemy.

[6] The reason why that knowledge was not revealed after that period was that the Christians of the primitive church were so exceedingly simple, that it could not be revealed to them. For if it had been, it would have been no use to them, nor would it have been grasped. Following this period the whole Christian world was plunged in darkness arising from the Popish religion, which eventually became Babylonia. Those from Babel, who had convinced themselves of its false beliefs, are mostly natural people who rely on their senses. These are neither able nor willing to grasp what is spiritual, that is, what is meant by the correspondence of natural with spiritual things. 8

However, after the Reformation, because people began to make a distinction between faith and charity, and to worship the one God in three persons, so as to make three gods, whom they merely named as one, heavenly truths were hidden from them. This was to prevent people, if they had been revealed, falsifying them and applying them to the teaching of faith alone, and none of them to charity and love. If therefore the spiritual sense of the Word had then been revealed, they would also have closed heaven against themselves by falsifying these truths.

[7] For anyone is allowed to understand the literal sense of the Word simply, so long as he does not convince himself so firmly of the appearances of truth it contains as to destroy the real truth. For interpreting the Word in its spiritual sense from the falsities of teaching closes heaven, and cannot open it. But interpreting the spiritual sense from the truths of teaching opens heaven, because this is the sense which the angels possess. Therefore this sense enables a person to think together with angels, thus linking them to himself in his intellectual faculty. But if a person has been taught falsities, and wants to explore the spiritual sense from some knowledge of correspondences, he falsifies it. On the other hand, if a person first possesses real truths, that sense agrees with the truths and is made clear by them, because it is in the light of heaven. But it does not at all agree 9 with falsities, and if anything of that truth were to become visible, the light of heaven would be replaced by thick darkness. For the angels turn away from him, and so close heaven to him.

The spiritual sense of the Word is to be understood by the Lord's tunic, which was all of a piece, and the soldiers were not allowed to divide it. However, the natural sense of the Word is meant by the clothes which the soldiers divided among themselves. Clothes in the Word mean truths, and the Lord's clothes Divine truths. That is why when the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James and John, his clothes were seen shining like light.

[8] The reason why the Lord has at the present time revealed the spiritual sense of the Word is that the teaching concerning real truth has now been revealed. This teaching is partly contained in my Teaching of the New Jerusalem, and now in the minor works which are being published. 10 Since that teaching and no other is in agreement with the spiritual sense of the Word, that sense, together with a knowledge of correspondences, has now for the first time been disclosed. That sense is also meant by the Lord's appearing in the clouds of the sky with glory and power (Matthew 24:30-31). This chapter deals with the ending of the age, by which is to be understood the last period of the church. A cloud of the sky there and elsewhere in the Word means the Word in its literal sense, which is like a cloud compared to the spiritual sense. Glory, however, there and also elsewhere in the Word means the Word in its spiritual sense, which is also Divine Truth in light; power means the power it possesses in the Word.

The revelation of the Word in its spiritual sense is also promised in the Book of Revelation. That sense is there to be understood by the white horse (Revelation 19:11-14), and by God's great banquet, to which He invited and assembled everyone (Revelation 19:17 to the end). The fact that that sense would not be acknowledged for a long time (something that only happens to those who have received false teaching, especially about the Lord) is to be understood by the beast and the kings of the earth, who were going to make war on Him who sits on the white horse (Revelation 19:19). The beast is to be understood as the Roman Catholics, as in 17:3, and the kings of the earth as the Reformed Christians, who have received false teaching.

The mysteries which some people look for in the Word are simply its spiritual and celestial senses.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. The New Jerusalem and Heaven's Teaching for it. -Translator

2. An exaggeration, since Helicon is some fifty miles from Athens and the other mountains are much further away -Translator

3. i.e. the Muses. -Translator

4. Properly Metamorphoses, a long poem by the Roman poet Ovid (1st century bc); significantly the Author does not refer to the original Greek sources -Translator

5. i. e. one who is governed by his bodily senses. -Translator

6. The hieroglyphic script is now known to be a largely phonetic system of writing; but its origin is still unknown. -Translator

7. A reference to 1 Sam. 5:4, but this detail is not in the text as now accepted. -Translator

8. Added in margin: 'For this would have convinced them that 'Peter' did not mean Peter, and also that the Word is Divine even up to its inmost level; and that the Pope's pronouncement is comparatively of no importance.'

9. Reading with B. Rogers at ne hilum concordat. -Translator

10. i.e. The New Jerusalem and Heaven's Teaching for it and presumably some of the Four Doctrines published in 1763.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.