One of the most beloved characters of the Bible are angels. People love angels and many of us have shown our love for angels over the years by purchasing angel merchandise. There are collectable figures of angels, costumes with wings, t-shirts, greeting cards, jewelry, and more. There are movies and television series about angels. There is even a major league baseball team using the angel’s theme. There is a field of study called angelology, that is a branch of theology that explores the nature, existence, and role of angels in religion. We try to soften the shock of someone’s death by saying things like, “I guess God needed another angel,” suggesting that when someone dies, they are taken to heaven to become an angel.
People’s fascination with angels is not entirely new. Ancient people, including the Pharisees that we read so much about in the gospels, believed in angels. The Sadducees did not believe in angels. The Dead Sea Scrolls teach us that the Jewish people of Qumran, called the Essenes, were also believers in angels. An so Judaism, at the time of Christ’s birth, had a rich and some conflicted history of beliefs in angels.
Last year, we did a six-week Bible study on angels. Today, I will spare you the details about how much of our beloved understanding of angels conflicts with what the Bible says about angels. Instead, I will share with you the conclusion of our study that an angel is a heavenly being created by God who can interact with humans on earth. Angels’ purpose is to carry out the expressed will of God. And just before Jesus’ birth angels had several interactions with humans, and then after Jesus’ birth the angels became silent. What is the significance of angels in the story of Jesus’ birth and what is the significance of their absence in the gospel story itself? What relevance do angels have to our life today as Christians? Let’s begin looking at these questions with the first angelic appearance in the birth of Jesus. And our principal guide today will be the gospel writer Luke.
Luke began the announcement of Jesus’ coming with a visit by the angel Gabriel to an old priest named Zachariah. The visitation came about while Zachariah was performing priestly duties alone in the Temple. “12 When Zechariah saw him [the angel], he [Zachariah] was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth” (Luke 1:12-14a). A bit later in their encounter, “18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “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” (Luke 1:18-19). And from this exchange we see that an angel came to reveal to Zachariah the coming birth of Zachariah’s son, John. This exchange affirmed that Gabriel stood in the presence of God and was sent by God to speak and tell Zachariah some good news. The angel was a messenger sent specifically at the will of God. This encounter shows that an angel-human encounter sets up a three-step procession. First, God sends an angel. Second, the angel performs. And third, the person benefits. This is the role of the angel. God sends. The angel performs. A person benefits.
Luke gave us another exchange with the angel and the young woman, Mary. “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you…31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. ” (Luke 1:26b-28, 31-32). 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “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” (Luke 1:34-35). Again, we see the three step procession of an angel-human encounter. God sends the angel. The angel then performs. And finally, the person benefits.
But here, in this encounter, Luke revealed to us an important distinction and that was that there are angels and there is the Holy Spirit. And that there is a substantive difference between an angel and the Holy Spirit. With Mary the angel reveals good news to Mary that she has found favor with God and that Mary will bear a son who will be called the Son of God. Mary asked how this will happen since she is a virgin. Here the angel revealed that something as miraculous as a virgin birth is beyond the will of God for an angel. Such a miracle required God’s Holy Spirit. This reveals to us that a Holy Spirit-human encounter is different from the angel-human encounter because instead of three steps in the procession, a Holy Spirit-human encounter sets up a four-step procession. First, God sends his Holy Spirit, as he does with an angel. But in the second step, the Holy Spirit enables the person to perform. Third, the person performs. And fourth, the person benefits. Unlike an angel, the Holy Spirit empowers people to act in accordance with the will of God.
Luke has revealed something important for us here. An angel is sent to tell us something. But the Holy Spirit is sent to enable, to empower us, to do something. And this emphasis on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit was prominent in the gospel message of Luke itself where the enabling power of the Holy Spirit is recorded 12 times, and the announcing activity of an angel appears only twice. While the presence of angels cannot be dismissed, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us and gives us strength.
Finally, Luke gives us one more angel-human encounter in the story of Jesus’ birth. “8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them [the shepherds], and the glory of the Lord shone around them [the shepherds], and they [shepherds] were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them [the shepherds], “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host [an army of angels] appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:8-14). Here again, we see the three-step procession of an angel-human encounter. God sends. The angels perform. The people benefit.
The announcement this final time was that the Christ born. And it was such a dramatic announcement. The glory of God, a brilliant dazingly white light shown in the darkness and enveloped the shepherds. Multitudes of angels, a literal army of angels, appeared in the sky shouting and singing as in one voice, “Glory to God in the highest heaven!” It was a shock and awe moment of sight and sound. Oh, what a heavenly powerful moment in the history of the world. And then, the silence and darkness returned to the shepherds. The angels as unexpectedly as they had arrived, just as suddenly left and went to heaven. The mission of the angels was completed, and they were gone.
From this point of Jesus’ birth story until Jesus’ resurrection, there would be no more angel-human encounters. There is never a story of an angel telling anyone about Jesus in the Gospel or in the New Testament letters. Immediately after the birth Christ, revelations about Jesus shifts from angelic telling to Holy Spirit enabling. Let’s look at the first example Luke provides for us.
The baby Jesus was only a few days old and “Joseph and Mary took him [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22b). “25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He [Simeon] was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him [Simeon] by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he [Simeon] went into the temple courts” (Luke 2:25-27a). It was there in the Temple; Simeon saw Jesus and was enabled by the Holy Spirit to know that Jesus was the Messiah. There were no angels here telling Simeon, there was the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Other than a brief story of Jesus at the Temple at age 12, Luke shared nothing of Jesus’ life from just days after birth until Jesus was 30 years old. There was nothing. No angels came to remind people of Jesus. Why is that? Because the role of announcing Jesus was given to John who was enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit to preach and proclaim the truth of the coming Messiah. John baptized people who wanted to repent of their sins. Luke wrote,” 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he [Jesus] was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). Luke was showing here again that the message of Jesus Christ was one of the highest order involving the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Luke then recorded for us that, ”1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1). The movement of the story was now under the purview of the divine spirt of God, not angels, and the first thing that was to happen before Jesus’ public ministry was a spiritual battle with an angel, a fallen angel, named Lucifer or Satan. Three times this fallen angel tempted Jesus, and three times Jesus refuted the enticement of the angel with the word of God. What then was being revealed here? Once again, an angel can only perform or inform but cannot enable. Satan enticed Jesus toward sin but lacked the power to enable Jesus to sin. Jesus being divine himself and empowered by the Holy Spirit was thus enabled to withstand the temptation of Satan. As much as we love angels in our culture, angels cannot enable us to follow the will of God. That can only be done by the truly divine, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
When the temptation of Jesus was completed, Luke wrote, “14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside” (Luke 4:14). When Jesus arrived at Nazareth, his hometown, where he preached this message, “18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Again, there is no mention of angels, there is only the divine power of God himself, his Son, and his Spirit who can inform and enable.
The story of the gospel of Luke continued that Jesus went through Judea and Galilee shared the good news, taught with authority that amazed the people, cured illnesses, and drove out demons who had to shriek out, “You are the Son of God!” (Luke 4:41). And all these activities were intended to enable the people to see and know that Jesus was the Son of God. This continued until Jesus the Messiah was taken into custody and executed by cruel men who refused to acknowledge what had been clearly revealed to them.
Then surprising to all, God raised Jesus from the dead. And now it was time for the angels to return. Luke wrote that women had gone to Jesus’ tomb early in the morning and found the stone rolled away from the entrance and the tomb empty. “4 While they [the women] were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning [angels] stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they [the women] remembered his [Jesus] words.” (Luke 24:4-8a). What is important here is that the angels offered nothing new to the testimony about Jesus or the gospel message. The angels only reminded the women of the words of Jesus. They did not add or take away from the testimony of Jesus.
What then do we make of angels and their role in the birth of Christ? I think there are two things we should consider.
First, the angels served as God’s messengers that Christ was coming but they were not greater than Christ himself. No one worshipped the angels and neither should we. Christ is superior to the angels and our worship should be given only to him.
Second, angels are important instruments of God’s plan. Of this, there can be no doubt. However, people are important instruments of God’s plan as well. And when people have been enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will, wonderful things can happen. You and I are important parts of God’s plan to share the good news of Christ. And God has seen fit to send us out as his messengers enabled by the Holy Spirit to do so. Jesus said to his disciples, who now include you and me, “25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
You and I are instruments of God enabled by the Holy Spirit to proclaim without fear the words of Jesus, the Son. This is why the angels are silent. Let us then be the messengers of the our Lord and the Lord of the angels themselves. Amen and Amen.