Gloria in Excelsis DEO, etc.
Praise be to God in the highest, and peace on earth, and goodwill toward men.**)
Because this song is almost common, and there are not many of them who understand it correctly, and yet there is much good in it, we want to treat it a little further, and almost repeat the interpretation as it is in the postilla, and put it afterwards.
The angels order three things in this song, the praise or honor, the peace, the good pleasure or good will. The praise they give to God, the peace to the earth, the good pleasure to men. The first is the honor or praise of God, where one should also begin, so that in all things the glory and honor be given to God as the one who does, gives and has all things, so that no one ascribes anything to himself or assumes anything for himself; for the honor is due to no one but God alone, and cannot be shared or made common with anyone.
Adam stole honor through the evil spirit and appropriated it to himself, so that all men are in disgrace with him, and it is still so deeply rooted in all men that no vice is so deep in them as the desire for honor. No one wants to be or like anything, everyone pleases himself well; hence all misery, strife and war on earth.
(4) Christ restored glory to God His Father by teaching us how all our things are nothing but wrath and disgrace in the sight of God, that we should not boast in any way, nor please ourselves in any, but should fear and be ashamed, as in the greatest danger and disgrace; so that our honor and self-pleasure might be cast down to the ground and become nothing at all, and we might rejoice that we are
**Marginal gloss. Pleasure: that people will have pleasure and love for God and for each other, and accept it with thanksgiving, and leave everything and suffer over it with joy.
so that we may be found and kept in Christ.
5 But when the angels sing, "Glory to God in the highest," it is spoken in Hebrew. For God is called the only one who dwells on high; therefore He is also called the Most High, and what is high is God's.
The other is "peace on earth". For at the same time as there must be strife where God's honor is not, as Solomon says, Prov. 13:10: "Among the proud there is always strife": so again, where God's honor is, there must be peace. Why should they quarrel, when they know that nothing is their own? but all that they are, have and are able to do is God's; they let Him have his way with them, and are content that they have a gracious God. Whoever knows that all his things are nothing in the sight of God, does not pay much attention to them, but thinks of another thing that is something in the sight of God, which is Christ.
(7) From this it follows that where true Christians are, there may be no strife, discord or strife among them, as Isaiah proclaims, saying Cap. 11:9: "They shall not kill one another nor hurt one another in my holy mountain," that is, in Christendom. If the reason follows: "For the earth is full of the knowledge of God," that is, because they know God, that all things are His and our things are nothing, then they can have peace among themselves; as the same Isaiah also says in another place Cap. 2, 4: "They shall turn their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; they shall not lift up swords against one another, neither shall they exercise themselves in battle."
(8) Therefore our Lord Christ is called a King of peace, or a "Prince of peace"; and is signified by Solomon the king, who in German is called Friedereich, that he should make us peace inwardly toward God in our conscience, built upon himself by faith, and outwardly toward man in bodily conduct through love; that therefore through him there should be peace everywhere on earth.
The third is the good will, or the good pleasure of men. Here does not mean
The good will that works good deeds; but the good pleasure and peace of heart, which pleases all that is contrary to it, whether it be good or evil, sweet or sour. For the angels know well that the peace of which they sing extends no further than among those who truly believe in Christ: these certainly have peace among themselves. But the world and the devil have no peace, leave them no peace, persecute them even unto death; as Christ says in John Cap. 16, 33: "In me ye have peace; but in the world ye shall have fear and trouble." Therefore it was not enough for the angels to sing peace on earth, but also the good pleasure of men, that is, that they leave it all to themselves, praising and thanking God, thinking it right and good, as God drives and lets drive with them, not murmuring, standing finely composed and willing in God's will; Yes, because they know that God does and creates everything, whom they have come to the gracious Father through Christ in faith, they boast and rejoice when they are persecuted; as St. Paul says to Romans. Paul says to the Romans Cap. 5, 3: "We glory in tribulation and persecution." They think that everything they encounter is the best, out of the abundance of the joyful conscience they have in Christ.
(10) Behold, such good will, good pleasure, good judgment in all things, whether they be good or evil, the angels mean here in their song. For where there is no good will, there is not long peace; it also makes all things worst, and always makes evil great, and one accident into two. Therefore, as God does with them, they do not like it and want to have it differently; so it happens that the 18th Psalm v. 26, 27. That is, the one who is so pleased with all things, you will again please you and all; but you will also be wrong with the wrongdoer, so that just as you and all your doings and creations are not pleasing to him, so he is not pleasing to you and all your own.
11 St. Paul says about the good will or good pleasure in 1 Cor. 10, 33: "Do
Diligence, that you may please everyone, as I please everyone." How does this happen? If you let all things be good to you and please you, you will please everyone. It is a short rule: If you want to please no one, please no one; if you want to please everyone, please everyone; provided, however, that you do not leave God's word about it, for there all pleasing and displeasing ceases. But whatsoever may be left undone without the forbearance of God's word, that leave, that thou mayest please every man, and think thyself good in the sight of God; and thou shalt have that good will and good pleasure which the angels sing of.
From this song we may learn what kind of creatures the angels are. Let go of what the natural masters dream of them; here they are painted in such a way that they cannot be painted too badly, that their heart and thoughts are also recognized here, first of all in that they sing the glory to God with joy, they show how full of light and fire they are, recognize how all things are God's alone, give themselves nothing, with great ardor they give the glory and praise only to the one who is it. Therefore, as you would think of a humble, pure, obedient, praising God and joyful heart in God, so think of the angels; and this is the first thing, that they may walk toward God.
The other is love toward us, as we are taught to do above. Here you see how favorable and how great friends they are to us, that they grant us nothing less than themselves, rejoicing also in our salvation as nearly as in their own; that they truly in this song give us a comforting stimulus to provide ourselves with the best of them, as with the best of friends. Behold, this is rightly understood of the angels, not according to their nature, so that the natural masters are without all fruit, but according to their inmost heart, courage, and mind: that I know not what they are, but what their highest desire and constant work is, there look into their hearts. Let this be enough of this angelic song and of the fruit of the birth of the Child Jesus Christ. May God grant us His grace to grasp this and to amend our lives accordingly, amen.