My Notes
What Does Luke 2:14 Mean?
The angels announce the birth of Jesus with a declaration that splits into two dimensions: glory to God in the highest (heaven), and on earth peace, good will toward men (earth). The birth connects heaven and earth — producing glory above and peace below.
"Glory to God in the highest" — the birth of Jesus is first a heavenly event. Before it means anything for humanity, it means glory for God. The highest — the supreme realm, the throne room — erupts with glory because the Son has entered the world.
"On earth peace, good will toward men" — the earthward consequence of the heavenly glory. The peace is not political. It is relational — the hostility between God and humanity is being resolved through the child in the manger. The good will (eudokia) is God's pleasure, God's favor, God's delight directed at the human race.
The angels' song connects what happens in heaven to what happens on earth. The glory above produces the peace below. The birth is the hinge — the event that makes both possible simultaneously.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does the angels' song connect what happens in heaven with what happens on earth?
- 2.What does 'good will toward men' reveal about God's disposition at the incarnation?
- 3.Why were shepherds the first audience for this announcement?
- 4.How is the peace Jesus brings different from political or circumstantial peace?
Devotional
Glory to God in the highest. The first response to the birth of Jesus is not for earth. It is for heaven. Before the shepherds understand, before the world notices, heaven erupts. Glory — the weight and radiance of God's character — fills the highest realm.
And on earth peace, good will toward men. The heavenly glory spills downward. It reaches earth as peace — not the absence of conflict but the presence of reconciliation. The hostility between God and humanity that began in Eden is being addressed in a stable.
Good will toward men. God's disposition toward the human race at the moment of the incarnation is good will — favor, delight, pleasure. Not anger. Not reluctance. Good will. The God who could have justly condemned sent his Son with an angelic announcement of favor.
The angels sang this to shepherds — the lowest social class, working the night shift, ritually unclean. The first audience for the greatest announcement in history was not royalty or priests. It was working people in a field.
The glory is in the highest. The peace is on earth. And the good will is toward men — all men, including shepherds, including you. The birth that caused heaven to erupt with glory caused earth to receive peace. Both happened in the same moment. Both are still happening.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Glory to God in the highest,.... Which with the following words, are not to be considered as a wish, that so it might…
Glory to God - Praise be to God, or honor be to God. That is, the praise of redeeming man is due to God. The plan of…
Glory to God in the highest - The design of God, in the incarnation, was to manifest the hidden glories of his nature,…
The meanest circumstances of Christ's humiliation were all along attended with some discoveries of his glory, to balance…
in the highest i. e., in highest heaven, Job 16:19; Psa 148:1; comp. "the heavenlies" in Eph 1:3, &c.; Sir 43:9.
on…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture