God sent his angel Gabriel – twice. First to Zechariah to tell him of the miracle birth of a Son, John the Baptist; and then, to Mary, a Virgin to tell her that she was going to conceive and birth Jesus, the Son of God. I can’t help but ponder the wonder of seeing an Angel. It must be both frightening and take one’s breath away at the same time. The amazing thing for us who believe the word of God is that we know the reality of Angels from the first book, Genesis, to the end of the bible in Revelation (in fact, well over 200 occurrences). We know they are real, but they don’t visibly present themselves very often, and so our modern minds filled with skepticism about spiritual realities usually dismiss the idea of people saying they met an angel.
I had an occasion, many years ago, where I was convinced
that I had met an angel. Now, I know
people use the idea of good people doing good things as “you’re my angel”. Yet, the idea of someone actually being an
angel from heaven is not what that saying means.
Angels – the word comes from the Greek word, “Anggelos” (ang ge loss) –
means “a Messenger”. The Old Testament
word for Angel was “malak” (mal awk) and was used for both the Angels of
God as well as Ambassadors. The idea of
Angels was that they were dispatched by God to serve God’s purpose, as well as
serve his people.
Most of us have heard of Guardian angels, and there are
skeptics out there, but I believe that God has given to each of us Angels whose
task is to watch over our lives. The
writer of the book of Hebrews states: “Are
not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of
those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).
It is also in the book of Hebrews that the writer tells us to be aware of those
who appear to be a stranger, for they just might be an angel! “Do not neglect to show hospitality to
strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware” (Hebrews 13:2).
We must understand that Angels are servants
of God, not people, although they do God’s work to people. St. Augustine, the renown 5th-century theologian and Bishop of the Church rightly points out:
“‘Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the
name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it
is ‘angel’. In other words, what they
are is ‘spirit’, what they do is ‘angel.'”
The Angel Gabriel made an amazing statement to Zechariah
that is often overlooked. He said,
“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to
you and to bring you this good news”. (Luke 1:19) The Angel Gabriel “stands
in the presence of God”. There are
several angels named in the Scripture, and far more Angels that are not
named. Gabriel is entitled an “Archangel”,
and when God dispatched Gabriel, he sent him on a mission that was pivotal in
God’s divine plans for all of eternity.
First, a Son would come to Zechariah and Elizabeth who was to be named “John”
and be the forerunner for the Messiah.
Second, he would return six months later to Mary, the Virgin mother of
God’s own Son.
We have in Advent divine mysteries that are overwhelming in
their person and effect. God is sending
his emissaries – an Angel – to reveal the divine mystery – that God was to come
and live among us. God was coming to
take on human nature and have a body and soul, along with his divinity. What does it mean to us? One that God reveals, or speaks to us by word. Secondly, that we must hear, or listen to the
word of God to understand the deeper significance of a life with
God.
The Word to us speaks, and we hear, listen which is significant because –
although normal human language – they speak to us of a greater need which is to
listen to hear, which leads to understanding, and then to
obedience. Many people in our world only
hear God’s word to give their own opinion or understanding of what God
has spoken. We are like Zechariah
debating the message, instead of like Mary listening, and then saying “Yes,
Lord you have spoken, yes”.
If majestic heavenly beings, angels, can come to our world
to give us God’s plans…why would we not bow down in adoration and humble
obedience.
Peace
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