Translation
for a savior has been born to you
Go to footnote numberin the city of DAVID, he is CHRIST,
Go to footnote numberTHE LORD.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Here is that good news: the savior you have been expecting has arrived in the city of THE ONE WHO IS LOVED, he is THE ONE ENDUED WITH THE POWER OF GOD’S SPIRIT,
in fact he is THE SUPREME RULER Himself.
Footnotes
1: “born to you”
This is an interesting choice of words, for usually that manner of speaking about a baby that has been born is reserved for the parents. At the center of the phrase “is born to you” is the idea of expectancy. The parents are always the ones that are the most desirous for the child to “arrive.” Thus it fits to say to parents “this child was born to you.” The reason it fit the shepherds as well is that they were waiting expectantly for the Messiah figure to come. Others were awaiting the Messiah for political reasons (to get rid of Rome), but these guys just wanted to feel human again and know they were accepted.
The shepherds were quite possibly more aware of their unacceptable status than others were. In their case they were unacceptable for no real fault of their own, only that they could not go to the temple on schedule and perform the expected rituals. They were not more sinful than others, but they lacked opportunity to become “clean.” Their situation was a picture of one of the types of people the true Messiah had come to reach out to. Jesus did not come for the people who thought they were already righteous, or the people who had no spiritual hunger, or those who lacked a desire to change their lives for God. He came for the rejected, the unaccepted, the openly sinful, those who lacked opportunity, and every person that recognized his own sinfulness.
2
“Christ” means Messiah which means Anointed one, which means one who is filled with the power of the Spirit of God. Since I only have two columns to work with, not four, the paraphrase column jumps right to the final meaning.
3: “The Lord”
This was a new concept for the Jews. They believed God would choose a man from among them to become their leader and liberate them from political oppression, and by so doing, grant them more freedom to worship and obey God as they desired. They did not think God would wear skin the way humans do. They did not envision God, the Creator of all things, the all-knowing, all-powerful One, becoming a helpless infant just like we once were, going through the growth process like we do, going through puberty like we do, sweating like we do, experiencing indigestion, diarrhea, fatigue, loneliness, rejection etc. etc. like we do. So for these shepherds it was a shock to hear that the Messiah figure would be God Himself, and that God was to be found in the form of a helpless newborn baby.