Gloria!
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
Luke 2:13-14 NIV
praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'”
Gloria in excelsis Deo! This can be translated as “Glory to God in the highest!” or “Glory be to God on high!” Luke tells us it’s what the angels sang when they announced Jesus’ birth, and we still sing it today when we celebrate Christmas. We sing “Gloria” because Jesus’ birth brought glory to God. It also brought God’s glory down to us!
“For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 TLB
“The angel said to Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. The baby will be holy. He will be called the Son of God.'”
Luke 1:35 ICB
Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel told Mary that the baby would be called the Son of God. Let’s fast forward now to a mountaintop, where Jesus stands with His disciples Peter, James, and John . . .
“While they watched, Jesus’ appearance was changed; his face became bright like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. . . . While Peter was talking, a bright cloud covered them. A voice came from the cloud and said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!'”
Matthew 17:2,5 NCV
The verses above describe Jesus’ Transfiguration. Jesus shone with God’s glory, and a voice from heaven spoke aloud, terrifying the disciples so much that they fell facedown to the ground. I think I would have done the same! In fact, this was the second time God spoke aloud about Jesus’ identity. The first was at Jesus’ baptism, where He said almost the same exact words (see Matthew 3:17).
So, why all the drama? Why did God shout from above not once, but twice, about who Jesus is? I don’t really know, but it seems to me as though God wanted to make doubly sure we got the message: Jesus is God’s Son. But what does this mean exactly? I don’t feel qualified to fully answer that, but I did a little research, and I’ll share what I found. Let’s start with an excerpt from one of my Bible dictionaries:
“SON OF GOD Term used to express the deity of Jesus of Nazareth as the one, unique Son of God. . . . The term ‘Son of God’ reveals Jesus’ divine Sonship and is closely associated with His royal position as Messiah.”
David S. Dockery, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Jesus is the one, unique Son of God. In John 3:16 Jesus described Himself as God’s “one and only Son,” or His “only begotten Son,” depending on which version of the Bible you read. A footnote in the Amplified Bible for this phrase offers more clarification: “Jesus, God’s only Son, the One who is truly unique, the only one of His kind.” Through faith in Christ, we all become children of God, but Jesus, as God’s one and only Son, is special:
“Christ is the ‘firstborn’ of the Father (Heb. 1:6 NIV) by having preeminent position over others in relation to Him.”
Larry Walker, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
“Jesus is the perfect expression of God in human form. . . . Jesus is both God and the Father’s unique Son. In Jesus, God revealed his nature and essence in a way that could be seen and touched. In Jesus, God became a man who lived on earth.”
Chronological Life Application Study Bible
Jesus is God in human form. I think this is what God the Father was trying to convey to the disciples up on the mountain. By seeing their beloved Teacher shining with God’s glory and hearing the voice of God declaring Jesus as His own Son, the disciples were given a glimpse of who Jesus really is. And so were we.
“For a moment the disciples are given a vision of the glory which Jesus will have in heaven and will bear with him when he returns. ‘Son of God’ in these passages suggests not only Messiah but also the Lord of II Cor. 3:7-4:6, in whose face the glory of God shines out, not temporarily, as in the face of Moses, but permanently.”
S. E. Johnson, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
“He who was born of spirit was born again of the flesh so that we who were born of the flesh could be born again of the Spirit. He who was born of heaven was born again of earth so that we who were born of earth could be born again of heaven. And He who was born of God was born again of man so what we who were born of man could be born again of God.”
Jonathan Cahn, The Book of Mysteries
As the second Person in the Holy Trinity, the Son was with the Father from the beginning. He didn’t have to be born in Bethlehem to become God’s Son. He already was God’s Son. But by choosing to come to Earth, the Son was “born again” as the promised Messiah. He became Immanuel, God with us. He also became Yeshua, our salvation.
When He died on the cross and rose again, Jesus defeated sin and death. He restored our connection to God, which was broken in the Garden of Eden. And He made a way for us to share in His glory. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. God revealed the glory of His Son in a dramatic way to show His disciples, and us, the Good News — that God personally came to Earth to save us!
“Jesus asked the disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ After they gave a handful of responses, he poignantly asked, ‘But what about you? . . . Who do you say I am?”
. . . we all must answer this question. Your eternal life depends on your declaration that Jesus is the Son of God, who came to take away the sins of the world!”
Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story
This week’s Scripture passages focus on God’s Son and on God’s glory. I have also included a video below of the first movement of John Rutter’s Gloria. As a member of our local community choir, I had the privilege of performing this beautiful piece of sacred music a few weeks ago. It’s a difficult choral work, and it was definitely a challenge for me to learn, but I stuck with it because my younger daughter was looking forward to the concert. (She plays the trumpet and was excited to hear that we would have a ten-piece brass section performing with us.) I’m so glad I did, because the instrumentalists did an amazing job, and it was such a blessing to be a part of it! I don’t have a video of our performance, but I found something even better: a video of John Rutter himself conducting this piece at Carnegie Hall with a full orchestra. I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do!
Now, when I think about celebrating Christmas, it’s those trumpets that I hear. Because the triumphant fanfare at the beginning of the song builds up to the same announcement the angels made to the shepherds on that first Christmas night: Gloria in excelsis Deo!
“The trumpets of Israel announced the coming of kings and kingdoms . . . So it is foretold that when the trumpet sounds, the reign of the King will begin, the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of the Lord.”
Jonathan Cahn, The Book of Mysteries
John Rutter “Gloria”
Movement 1: Allegro vivace
Gloria in excelsis deo
(Glory be to God on high)
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
(And in earth peace towards men of good will)
Laudamus te
(We praise thee)
Benedicimus te
(We bless thee)
Adoramus te
(We worship thee)
Glorificamus te
(We glorify thee)
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam
(We give thanks to thee for thy great glory)
Gloria in excelsis deo
(Glory be to God on high)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
John 1:14 ESV
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
References:
- Cahn, Jonathan. The Book of Mysteries. Front Line, 2018.
- Chronological Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2012.
- Frazee, Randy. The Heart of the Story: Discover Your Life Within the Grand Epic of God’s Story. Zondervan, 2017.
- Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Holman Reference, 2003.
- The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. vol. 4, Abingdon Press, 1962.
- “The Rutter Gloria in Carnegie Hall, Mvt. 1-John Rutter, Conductor.” YouTube, uploaded by The Continuo Arts Foundation, 29 May 2019, https://youtu.be/mtIDXvqjyjo?si=QLkvk7fbREqnDdjY.
- The Story: Read the Bible as One Seamless Story from Beginning to End. Rev. ed., Zondervan, 2008.
Images:
- Nativity Scene featured image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay (edited)
- Angel Drawing image by Hans Rohmann from Pixabay (edited)
- Star image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay (edited)
- Starry Sky image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay (edited)
- Cross Christmas Ornament image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
- Cross image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay (edited) on Starry Sky image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay (edited)
- Trumpeting Angels image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay (edited)
- Nativity Drawing image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay
About The Author
Christa
My vision for Wondertakings was to create a devotional blog for "nerdy" Christians like me. I do believe, as Socrates said, that wisdom begins in wonder. So I love to read or watch anything that inspires wonder and figure out what I can learn from it. I view it all through a Christian lens. I believe that God can and does speak through many sources in many ways, even if those speaking are not aware of it. I am not an expert in theology or religious studies. My goal with this blog is simply to share what I've learned as a fellow student and sinner in the Christian walk. My hope and my prayer is that by doing so I may be able to help someone else. In Deuteronomy 5:33 (NLT), we are told: "Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives. . . ." So in the words of Moses (and Spock), live long and prosper, my friends!