Advent 3: Good News of Great Joy (Luke 2:8-14)

GIBC (14 Dec 2025)

1. Intro:

1.1. The Post Card Picture: Don’t you love that picture of shepherds watching over their sheep. It is a clear night as are most nights in the Middle East. The angel can go and announce this news to the rich and famous, or to the powerful but no, the angel goes to a bunch of sheep herders. Ordinary, simple folks but shepherds are solid, caring people. They have a powerful quality of discernment that makes a world of difference for those who are lost:  Much later, Jesus will use language to describe his role and say: “I am the good shepherd.”  He speaks of the shepherd going out of his way, putting up with discomfort, inconvenience, lack of sleep, all for the sake of the lost.

1.2. The Glory of the Lord: Several occurrences happen that lead to the same thing. The 1st, sheep and shepherds out in the fields at night. 2nd, the night gets a surprising visit by an angel and: “the glory of the Lord shone around them.”  There is no doubt about what the angel is saying: he announces the birth of the long- awaited Messiah. 3rd, Mary and Joseph have no place to stay and end up in a stable, which is a cave ****and not a hut. What a shock. Instead of castles and palaces, this Messiah comes into a lousy place with animal poo all around. The climax:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased.”  Lk 2:14

glory of the angel v humble stable. The glory comes down to our level. Why?  “Good news of great joy!” What’s so special about this joy? This is what the world has been waiting for! God’s appearing!

2. Christmas and Joy

2.1. That 1st Christmas: was about glorious joy! But, today, what we have the gifts but no memory of the occasion. For most people, it’s the lights, the turkey, the presents, fun. That’s great but for us, “good news of great joy” is not just party spirit. It must mean Jesus has to be at the heart of it all. I invite you to reposition your awareness because the culture will always challenge it. Of course, let’s eat, let’s do presents and all that but in themselves, those things are just another meal or another toy; what’s more important are 3 things:

2.2. Joy of Presence: think of what the wise men found when they saw the baby Jesus? What did the shepherds see? Yes, it was a baby but more so what they saw was their salvation. What was it that Simeon and Anna saw that made them exclaim? When Elizabeth, with John inside her womb saw her cousin Mary, she is filled with the Holy Spirit and she says:

“For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”   (Lk 1: 44)

She says these words not because her cousin is there but because there is a realization that something very special is happening and it concerns their salvation by the Messiah. Mary responds with these words:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”    ****(Lk 1:46-48)

There is something powerful about the joy of the Lord unlike the kind of joy we Experience at a human level. At an emotional level, we experience happiness or content or emotional surges that make us feel an emotional high but these do not flow deeply into our being. These experiences are also not very permanent. Jesus brings a joy that remains deeply embedded. It is a powerful sense of reassurance and security. God honors his promise to humanity! That enables us to go through persecution and trial. He will say: “I will be with you to the end of the age!” (Mt 28:20); in Deut 31:6, it is “I will never leave you or forsake you.” This gets repeated in Heb 13:5. It is having God’s presence and all this is possible because of the Spirit of Jesus in and with us. There is a reference to this quality of Joy in Psalm 51 when David now returns to the Lord after his craziness and in repentance he begs: “Take not your spirit from me.” He follows up and prays” “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation.”

This joy reminds us of God’s presence with David and whose presence grew thin when he sinned. It is this joy that we all have given access to and it best describes a strength and a song given to believers. It is the joy of salvation which David felt missing and he asked for the Spirit’s grace. Please don’t confuse joy with happiness just like we confuse hope with wish. Joy is deep, it doesn’t depend on circumstances – the Spirit’s presence; but there is something about sin that diminishes the sense of joy and peace. Remember, in the garden after Adam and Eve sinned. They ran away from God’s presence. They lost His joy! What David did was he confessed his sin and repented. Today, do you have that sense of the Spirit’s presence, which makes us respond with shouting and declaring! Or is there something we need to do like David to ask for restoration?

2.3. Joy and Deliverance:  the word “salvation” actually means deliverance by the Lord. The Hebrews are delivered from slavery in Egypt. They are released from generations of slavery and now are slaves no more. They are free. But now they have to break the mental chains. Don’t we identify with that sometimes? We have been saved and found salvation in Jesus but our minds and hearts are like those of the ex-slaves. We crawl back into habits or body and mind that imprison us! I have good news for you. It’s like the Hebrews who say “O, we had meat in Egypt. Let us go back!  The name of Jesus releases us. And when that happens, we can proclaim. Salvation cannot be buried. It has to be proclaimed. Isaiah says:

“Give thanks to the Lord,