Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
If today you were asked, “what is an angel and why are there so many angels in the Christmas story?” I wonder how you would answer. As we continue our ‘one Christmas question per day journey’ toward Christmas 2024, let’s wrestle with that question: “WHY Angels”?
So, who or what are “angels”? The Bible tells us “Angels” are special beings created by God who appear all through the story of human history. Holy angels are sent by God from His presence to earth on specific missions. Hebrews 1:14 says: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
In fact, the very first scene of the Christmas story is the angel Gabriel appearing to the priest Zechariah in the temple announcing that God has heard his prayer and even though very old, Zechariah and his wife would have a son, and they should name him John. Gabriel explained to Zechariah that John’s life mission would be to prepare the people for and announce the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus. (Luke 1:8-17)
And then Gabriel made this profound statement: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (Luke 1:18-20)
Amazingly Gabriel knew exactly which person God had sent him to and what the specific message was God had given Gabriel to communicate. Amazingly, Gabriel was able to talk to Zechariah in his own language and Zechariah clearly understood! Amazingly Gabriel called Zechariah by name and knew his wife Elizabeth’s name and knew they had been praying for a son for a long time. I wonder how far Gabriel traveled and how long had it taken him to come from God’s Presence all the way to Jerusalem? Amazingly Gabriel suddenly appeared near Zechariah in the Temple and then suddenly disappeared when his mission was finished, so what does all this tell us about angels whom God has created as a unique species of beings?
In fact, there are at least three angels whose names are mentioned in the Bible: Gabriel who has come to earth on several God sent missions like the Christmas story; Michael (Daniel 10:13) who also resides in God’s holy presence and is evidently a warrior angel sent by God to earth primarily for the protection or defense of God’s people Israel. And Satan, referred to as Lucifer in more ancient versions of the Bible, (Is. 14:12) who is also a high-ranking angel. Satan was cast out of heaven by God when he rebelled against God. (Luke 10:18; Ezek.28:13-17) Satan, of course, leads the “kingdom of darkness” (Col. 1:13) and other ‘rebellious angels’ known as evil spirits or demons, are under his authority in this ‘kingdom of darkness”. Jesus was opposed both by Satan (Matt. 4:1-11; John 13:21-27) and many of these evil spirits (Mark. 1:21-27; 5:1-20) during His earthly life.
As we’ve seen Gabriel was sent by God to the Temple in Jerusalem with a special announcement for Zechariah the priest, and that event opens the New Testament and also the Christmas story. (Luke 1:5-25) Six months later, Gabriel was again sent by God but this time to Nazareth, to a young virgin woman named Mary, with the announcement that she would become miraculously pregnant by the Holy Spirit and the child she would bear would be Jesus, Immanuel, the Messiah! (Luke 1:26-38)
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…The Holy Spirit will come on you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Gabriel was very careful with his words, for he was communicating God’s Christmas message that would change the world!
When word of this came to Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, he was deeply troubled and gave serious consideration to breaking their engagement. No human being had wisdom for Joseph, only God, so God sent an angel to Joseph to clarify the miracle God was doing in Mary and also to instruct Joseph to take Mary as his wife immediately! (Matt. 1:18-25) Clearly God wanted the human race to understand what God was planning and both when and how the incarnation of God, the Messiah, would take place.
Angels, who reside in God’s presence, were God’s messengers to humanity, and both their appearance and their words made God’s Christmas plan unmistakably clear! Do you agree? In God’s wisdom, these angelic messengers were the very best way for humanity to learn of God’s preposterous plan to come and live among us!
As we saw yesterday, angels were also sent from God to planet earth on the very night Mary was giving birth to Jesus. This time they did not come to one person, but they appeared in the sky to many shepherds out in the fields with their sheep near Bethlehem. (Luke 2:8-15) Once again God’s message was clearly communicated: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” As we saw yesterday, the angels very clearly explained WHO this newborn baby boy was; WHERE anyone who was interested could find Him and WHAT difference He would make in our world! Those shepherds understood and ran immediately to Bethlehem, and they were the first eyewitnesses of Christmas!
Now friends, do you remember the other times angels were sent from God as part of the Christmas story? The apostle Matthew records for us the remarkable, unexpected visit of the Magi from the east bearing gifts looking for the newborn ‘king of the Jews’. (Matt. 2:1-12)
After their departure Joseph, Mary and infant Jesus were in grave danger but they didn’t know it, so God sent an angel to warn Joseph and instruct him to gather up their little family and flee Bethlehem immediately and go to Egypt for safety. (Matt. 2:13-16) Sometime later, after wicked King Herod had died, God once again sent an angel to inform Joseph it was safe to return to Israel and an angel also instructed Joseph to lead his family back to Nazareth. (Matt. 2:19-23) In both cases Joseph had no other way of receiving the angelic news and God’s plan at a strategic moment in the Christmas story.
As you reflect on the number of times God sent angels from His heavenly presence to planet earth, to specific people with very specific information and instructions, I wonder what you conclude about God’s oversight of the entire Christmas story.
Do you see that the involvement of the angels makes it very clear that EVERY detail of the Christmas story is God’s plan, orchestrated by God and communicated by angels so there would be no mistakes in the accomplishment of the Christmas miracle plan?
Do you also see that God went to great length, by use of the angels, to be sure there was no misunderstanding by the human race about what was happening in the Christmas story or why? So, my friends, let’s celebrate and thank God that His angels had such an important role in one of the most significant and remarkable events in human history, God coming to live among us on planet earth, to become our Savior!
Here’s a song to help us celebrate this great Christmas truth!
Today’s Scripture: Luke 1:11-20.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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