12.24.06 The Angels’
Candle
On the
brink of a disaster, the Lord sent two angels to go and warn
In light of
that example, imagine what kind of a job it would be to have wings on your back
and be called one of God’s cherubim. I
don’t know how many times someone has falsely claimed that “so and so is now an
angel up in heaven”. Not only is it
false theology – it also seems to give the impression that angels have it easy
– as if their job were nothing more than flying around from cloud to cloud and
enjoying the high life. The story of
Angels have to fight demons
who are openly opposing them at every juncture of the road. In demons they know what they are dealing
with – and they expect nothing but lies and blasphemies. Yet the tougher part is probably involved in
dealing with US – whom they should expect more out of. The story of
Thank God for the Angels this Advent
I. They share confident messages
Psalm 104:4 says, “He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” This shows us that angels have been used to be God’s messengers at specific times in history – important times in history. The giving of the Ten Commandments, the prophecies of Daniel, and the prediction of Abraham’s miraculous child are a few examples of angels giving messages to God’s children. So it shouldn’t surprise us to see angels descending down from the heavens to personally deliver some messages at Christmas time – to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and the shepherds. This situation was too important to leave any room for a false interpretation or a faulty response. The care and preparation for God’s own birth was being put in the hands of men. Everyone involved needed to be clear as to what God’s intentions were.
The first person to be visited by an angel was Zechariah.
Luke 1:13-17 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 give him the name John.
He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his
birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. . . . Many of the people
of
The second appearance was to Mary – sixth months later – by the same angel – Gabriel. Gabriel, by the way – means either great one of God or man of God. It’s interesting that the other named angel – Michael – also has God’s name in it – meaning “who is like God.” The angels find their identity completely connected to God – whom they come from. Back to the second appearance to Mary -
Luke 1:26-33 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in
Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man
named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you
who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting
this might be. But the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the
name Jesus. He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his
father David, and he will reign over the
house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The third appearance then comes from necessity
as Joseph, Mary’s husband – was planning to divorce Mary since he assumed she
had been cheating on him.
Matthew 1:20-21 After he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your
wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give
him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Many of you should be familiar with these prophecies. Yet today I want you to look specifically at
the angel’s role in this. The first
thing I want you to reflect on is the certainty there is in Gabriel’s
voice. There is no question as to
whether this is going to happen. There
is no decision to be made on the part of Zechariah. Very specifically he is told what is going to
happen – “
The angels,
living in the presence of God – clearly declare God’s Word – and know it to be
true. The interesting thing to me is
that these angels are not omniscient – they don’t know everything. It says in 1 Peter 1:12 of the prophecies of
the prophets, “Even angels long to look into these things.”
They seem to have to explore and find out from God’s Word what exactly
will happen. In this instance, perhaps
with a basis of Isaiah 7:14 and a direct revelation from God – Gabriel knew
exactly what was going to happen – and he says so. There isn’t an ounce of
doubt in his words or voice. This
is something to be thankful for. Their
words make it very clear to us as to what was happening in the pregnancies of
Elizabeth and Mary.
II. They lovingly expound on God’s truth
Imagine
then, what an awesome thing Elizabeth, Zechariah, Joseph and Mary were hearing. They were called on by God to protect and
raise these children who would bring in the
How would
they respond to this news? They weren’t
exactly thankful. Zechariah, as you know
– doubted. Luke
It is interesting to see the response of the angel – when these humans question their declarations – as to whether they will really happen or not. To Zechariah, Gabriel says in Luke 1:19-20, “The angel answered, “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 proper time.” But to Mary Gabriel simply says in Luke 1:35-37, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
In the
first answer, Gabriel seems to be almost shocked as to Zechariah’s response. What he was telling Zechariah was good news –
it wasn’t as if he was asking him to murder his wife. It was in direct fulfillment of his prayers
and the prayers of his people – it’s not like it was an announcement that came
from left field! Why on earth would he
doubt such a message? So he proceeded to
give Zechariah a sign to prove the truth – a sign that would render Zechariah
unable to speak. Gabriel dealt with
Zechariah firmly in his words and his actions – leaving no doubt as to what
would happen. With Mary, on the other
hand, Gabriel simply explains what would happen. He points to the miracle of
When you think about how the angel could have responded, isn’t it a great thing that the doubts of men do not change the promises of God? The angel could have said to Zechariah, “forget it – I’ll choose someone else.” But even though Zechariah doubted – God didn’t withdraw his promise. He just brought the promise and kept Zechariah’s mouth shut in the process. Every time that Zechariah tried to open his mouth he was reminded of what came through the angel’s mouth – and his own doubt. It would bring him both sorrow yet hope – looking forward to the birth of that child. The angels show us the persistence and consistency of God – to keep His promises in spite of our doubts – overcoming our doubts with more words and actions.
At some time in our lives we may doubt the virgin birth, the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ – due to our “higher learning.” Yet God keeps on instructing – keeps on speaking – and is able to bring some of the doubters back to the truth. The mother with a miscarriage might angrily question whether God really loves her. Yet she keeps coming to church – and after five more years is granted a healthy baby boy. In retrospect she humbly sees that God does care and God does love – just as He always did. The young man feels a need to live a life that he knows isn’t following God’s will. After a DUI and a little jail time, he realizes that God’s way wasn’t too bad after all – and God patiently forgives him and reinstructs him again. If we keep on listening to those words – we find out that God is true – and we are the liars. His Word always happens as it says. His baptism contains the same promise of forgiveness throughout our entire lives. Even our doubts or bad memories don’t take back what God says. The example of the angels shows us this. This is something to be thankful for.
III. They proclaim a salvation for US
When the
Word of the angels came true, we then hear the angels speaking once more at
Christmas to the shepherds. Luke 2:11-15
“Today in the town of
Imagine if
you were an angel – how would you feel about this whole situation – from a
sinful point of view? Wouldn’t you be a
bit miffed about the whole situation?
Think about it. God didn’t send
His Son to die for their fallen comrades – but for fallen mankind. In examining these humans, you would quickly
see how blind, ungrateful and ignorant they are of this wonderful gift. When Gabriel does go and tell Zechariah and
Mary about what would happen – they have the nerve to ask questions. Humans are so doubtful and dull. Even Mary, if she had known her Scriptures –
would know that God was going to come through a virgin and have her give
birth. Yet here we see Gabriel not only informing
them as to what would happen, but then even explaining it and proving it to
them. On top of all of this, the angels
are in the heavens at the sight of the shepherds – rejoicing over what was about to happen – without any qualms
whatsoever over it.
No matter
what the response of men – the angels fulfilled their role as messengers. If you think about it – what makes a really
good messenger? It’s one who
consistently gets the message across.
It’s one who doesn’t distract from the message, subtract from the
message or add to the message. It’s one
who is passionate about the message – who doesn’t give up in spreading it –
even when he faces opposition. Isn’t
that what makes the angels such wonderful messengers? When the people are responding with fear by
looking at the angel, the angel immediately gets to the message. “Fear
not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. Today in the town of
I guess that’s what makes this last candle – in light of the coming Christ – somewhat strange. It is the angels’ candle. The angels I would venture to bet wouldn’t want their own candle. They would want to be kept in the background. But they would want their words heard – their convicting and prophetic words. This is how the angels shed light on the Christmas to come – with their words of Christ. Without their words, Elizabeth and Zechariah would have had no idea about what an important part John would play in preparing the way for Christ. Without their words, Mary would have had no idea that she had a baby inside of her. She may have thought it was a tumor prior to His movement. Without their words, Joseph would have divorced Mary and left her for an unfaithful woman – or perhaps even had her punished for perceived blasphemy. It was the words of the angels that thankfully cleared things up – and helped to show the meaning behind these miracles – God was preparing the way for the Christ.
The
Prophecy candle,