The Birth of a King (Part 2): When Heaven Declared War and God Stepped In
Now the story zooms out. From a quiet field… to a cosmic announcement that history has changed.
Angels in the Sky?
Then we move to angels. In the sky. Lots of them. Singing!
I can’t even fathom what it would have been like to be sitting in a field, a group of guys and sheep, when suddenly something that looks like an Avengers movie happens and the sky starts opening up to beings from other worlds.
I don’t think there was a hammer, but seriously, it feels like Thor when I read this story. But what’s really happening here?
An Army, Not a Choir
“A multitude of the heavenly host appeared…”
I always pictured this as a cute gospel choir with soft, sweet angelic voices (sorry about the pun). The Greek word here is stratia, a word used for an army, an organized military force.
It wasn’t a choir that came to announce the birth of Jesus. It was literally Heaven’s army. Acting under the authority of God himself. They came to invade and so did Jesus. Using this type of cosmic warfare language tells us it’s not some sentimental pageantry. Heaven is declaring a regime shift, and it’s happening right in front of eyes.
The Gospel is Here
Their message is clear. Fear is replaced with peace. (“Do not be afraid”). Good news (“I bring you good news of great joy”) is finally here. A Savior has been born… The Messiah, the Lord.
Every Jew that ever lived would have been waiting to hear those words. The Messiah they’ve waited for over generations is finally here. Lord (kyrios) completes the messaging here, and was the common Greek word used for the actual name of God in the Old Testament (YHWH).
Luke uses the word euangelion (gospel). The kind of good news that was announcing the birth of a new emperor, or a military victory that had happened. A new era is being declared. A new king has arrived. Which also means the old order is on notice.
Isaiah 52:7: the messenger is bringing good news (same word family) in the context of peace, salvation and God reigning.
Isaiah 40:9: Zion/Jerusalem is called the one bringing good news and the message is “Behold your God.”
So Luke is pulling from Isaiah here to tell us that God is coming, God is reigning, exile is ending, rescue is here.
Then we move to titles. Because there’s 3 of them, announced by angel in the sky (pretty solid credibility), hitting every Jew’s dream scenario.
Savior: The one who delivers, particularly from sin and death and according to Hosea 13:4: "Apart from me there is no Savior" and Isaiah 43:11: ‘I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior’. By applying this divine title to Jesus, they’re saying Jesus is the final, ultimate means of salvation promised by God.
Messiah (Christ): The Anointed One, the promised King of Israel (Psalm 2 / 2 Samuel 7).
Lord (kyrios): The name of God used in the Greek Old Testament. In other words, he’s calling the baby God.
Luks is collapsing YHWH + Messiah + King into one, single birth announcement that’s so deep, and so fast, if you blink you’ll miss it.
John does the same thing with his “The Word was God” language. Instead of stacking titles he drops something far more nuclear.
Luke says: ‘here comes baby Jesus with God’s authority’
John says: ‘Here comes God’.
Luke implies it.
John declares it.
No fluff, just one straightforward, theological knockout. This is high Christology from the get go. And it matters.
This isn’t a choir rehearsal, it’s an announcement for history. Order is arriving to deal with the chaos of the fall.
Rome thought it brought peace to the world through Caesar (the Pax Romana) and it shouted about it everywhere. Currency, monuments, propaganda etc. all declared Caesar as a “son of god” and “savior.”
Now God steps in, with heralds ahead of him saying “Nope”. Peace comes through a different Savior. Your world system won’t save anything. But God’s eternal system will.
The Glory Returns
When we see the phrase ‘Glory of the Lord’. We think it’s talking about some bright shining brilliance in the sky. And we’d be right. But only partly.
The Greek for this is doxa kyriou and it’s powerful. Doxa speaks of a weighty, heavy presence. A manifestation of greatness if you will. Kyrios is Lord, and also the name of God in the Old Testament and so the message here is clear. This glory isn’t some kind of feeling, an emotional high from seeing other worldly beings. It’s a visible AND experiential experiencing of God in the same way glory appeared in Exodus 16 when the cloud led the Israelites out of Egypt and the same way God’s glory rested on Mount Sinai in Exodus 24.
This isn’t some clap happy sing a long session, it’s a glimpse into Heaven. Where God’s glory exists in total purity.
Interesting thought: In John 17 Jesus talks about sharing this glory with the father before the world existed (another time he claims to be God) and in 2 Corinthians 4 Paul tells us that God’s glory is seen in the face of Jesus.
So where we used to see God’s glory (and presence) being location based (the temple), it’s now person-centered (Jesus). The glory that once filled a building is now accessible in Jesus. Who lived like us, as a human being. Which is why Paul says that we are being transformed from glory to glory. Because God wants his glory to be visible in us also.
Where Luke is focused on God’s glory returning to earth, John is focused on where God’s glory now resides - in human form. In Jesus.
It’s the same event, just a different lens.
Luke shows the moment, but John explains the meaning.
Rejection: Luke hints it, John names it
Thematically, we see Jesus’ rejection from the beginning. His entire life and ministry is a history of rejection, by the religious leaders of the day, by most of the people who heard him speak and by the rest of us following his death.
It’s ironic then that even in his birth, we see this idea of rejection playing out.
There was no room room at the inn when there should have been. He was born outside the conventional system and even the angelic announcement went to outsiders.
John rolls with it in his narrative also. “He was in the world… yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.”
John explicitly tells us what Luke implicitly shows us. God is here, but most people missed it.
“Good news” vs “Light”
Maybe my favorite part about this whole announcement story is what I saved for last because it’s so awesome.
John writes in 1:5 that “The light shines in the darkness…” and then in v. 9 he says “The true light… coming into the world.”
These echoes of Isaiah 9 and 60 are powerful, because this language of light coming to darkness (chaos), aren’t necessarily gospel language, they’re more like creation language or illumination language.
Although the gospel is obviously what’s happening here in the birth story, John still sees a bigger picture.
A picture where the creator is once again bringing light to a dark world, just as he did during creation. A time where once again the light of the world (in creation) is back to light up the world.
Darkness was ruling. Chaos was winning. But every time Jesus shows up, it’s time is over.
Putting it all together
We’ve got one of the most monumental moments in history taking place, and 2 different perspectives from Luke and John.
Where Luke shows history breaking open as the Savior arrives, John shows reality being redefined.
No one ever argued about the Creation story. Israel accepted that God created and that’s why John chose to tie his opening to it. He knew that if the readers could see, and accept that the same God who came into the world at creation was here once again at this new creation moment, his job was done and his readers would see the light for who He really is.
The Word was with God.
The Word was God.
All things were made through him.
It doesn’t get any stronger.
These two witnesses are telling us the same reality.
Luke says: God has returned to Israel as promised.
John says: And by the way, this God is the eternal Word through whom everything existed in the first place.
Luke answers: Where did God show up?
John answers: Who showed up?
This birth of Jesus is a story of the Creator entering his creation. It’s:
God bypassing the existing religious and political elites
Heaven declaring war on false peace
The arrival of the new king, who is announced using imperial language
God choosing the first witnesses who happened to be the most socially insignificant
The sign of God’s reign through humility, not force
Together they force the most obvious of conclusions. The baby in the manger:
is the Shepherd of Ezekiel
the Light of Isaiah
the Word of Genesis
the Glory of Exodus
and the God who has come home.
This birth of Jesus Christ is a story that whispers one simple message: the world will be saved, but not in the way we’d expect.
