The Nature of the Nativity: Day 3 - The Angels

Welcome to Day 3 of our exploration of the Nativity. I sat down last week and worked out a broad outline for this journey. I wanted to make sure that what I was doing was biblical (always a good thing for a minister to do), but also that it all made sense. What I struggled with the most was the order I should use. I finally settled on moving through the story chronologically except to save Jesus for last. Therefore, the first piece we will put on our "table" will be the angels. I know that most people would put the stable up first, but this is my blog so I get to make all weighty decisions. Do you like my spiffy drawing?

Angels appear three times in the nativity story, though most sets make do with one winged, light haired, white robed, slightly feminine looking figurine. By the way, if we all really do have a guardian angel, I hope mine has an epic beard and is built like Paul Bunyan. Chronologically, the angels appear to Mary, to Joseph, and to the Shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem. While the appearances are all separate and distinct, they all serve the same function: to announce what God is about to do. Grab your Bible again (blow off the dust if you need to) and look at Gabriel's visit to Mary in Luke 1:26-38. Read through the dialogue and consider the word choice of Gabriel. 

"26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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.”29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 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. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
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. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her." New International Version

"The angel went to her and said..."

Gabriel doesn't begin his announcement with, "If this is acceptable to you, God would like to...". Neither does he end with, "How does that sound to you?" No, he says things like, "You will conceive", "You are to call", and "He will be". Gabriel announces to Mary what God has decided to do since before the world was formed, before there was a need for a Savior. Now turn back to Matthew 1:18-25 and read Joseph's encounter with the angel.

"18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.20 But 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. 21 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.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." NIV

"an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream..."

Though Joseph's encounter took place during a dream, the word choice is still definitive. The angel again says things like "she will", "you are", and "he will". Now turn back to the book of Luke, but go on to chapter 2, verses 10-12, and read the angels message to the shepherds.

10 But the angel said to them, “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.” NIV

 

"But the angel said to them..."

The angel once again uses words that offer no other option. He states empirically that the good news he brings will cause great joy for all people. In all three cases, God sends His message through His angelic messengers declaring what His sovereign will is. 

There are two principles that I want to expound upon; the first being found in Luke 2:37:

 "For no word from God will ever fail.” NIV

Principle #1: If God says it, He will do it. Its hard to get a definitive answer from some people, which is understandable. No one wants to have to go back on their word. No one wants to be held accountable for a misstatement. When there are children involved, I never give a clear-cut answer. Most discussions with my kids are full of ambiguity and inconclusive statements. My middle child is the king of holding you to your word. "But Dad, you said you would do it today." Regardless of our own fallibility when it comes to the words we speak, no word from God will ever fail. The Bible is saturated with verses that speak of the infallibility of God's word. Psalm 33:4 is just one example:

"For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does." NIV

Another is Psalm 18:30:

"As for God, his way is perfect:The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him." NIV

If you spend enough time thinking about it, the line between our freedom of choice and the sovereignty God becomes blurry. You begin to ask yourself deep theological questions. Did Mary really have a choice since God told her what she was going to do? If she was able to disobey God, then God's word would have been fallible, right? To be perfectly honest, I don't have a complete answer for this. There will always be some mystery this side of heaven, because there are some things we truly can't comprehend yet. Some things we just have to trust. We know that God is sovereign. What He says will happen. We also know that He gives us the freedom to choose to obey Him. It might be as simple as saying that God knew what Mary would choose, on the other hand it might be infinitely more complicated. We don't have to understand every facet of how those two statements intertwine to believe; we just have to believe.

Principle #2: God still speaks today. Just like the angels shared God's will in regards to the birth of Jesus, God is willing to share His will for your life with you.Will it be as grand as having an angel materialize in your room to speak with you? Probably not. Will you experience a heavenly messenger in a dream? I wouldn't think so. Will the skies explode with angelic beings singing songs of praise as you drive home from work one evening? I wouldn't count on it. Though it may not happen this way, the way God speaks today is infinitely more personal and much more extraordinary. When we become a follower of Christ, God comes and dwells with us in the form of the Holy Spirit. There are quite a few things that the Holy Spirit does, but the one I want to focus on is found in John 16:13:

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." NIV

"When the Holy Spirit comes..."

Jesus tells His disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes He will guide them into all truth. When we become a follower of Christ, a child of God, we are not left to figure this life out by ourselves. God sends a portion of Himself to guide us, to walk this life with us. All we have to do is listen to the promptings He gives. We have to train ourselves to hear His voice. To start, we have to prove faithful in the little things. The Holy Spirit will burden followers of God to read their Bible. The Holy Spirit will bring to mind spiritual truths you have learned as you face decisions. The truth is, God tends to not reveal himself and His will when we can't be bothered to follow the expressed commands we find in Bible. I'm not saying He won't, but I am saying there aren't a whole lot of instances of it happening. If you look through the stories in your Bible and find people that God has shared His will with, most of them were found to be faithful to God already.

However, just because God promises to guide us through the Holy Spirit, it doesn't mean that He will tell us everything. Look back at the three accounts. The angel didn't tell Mary that Jesus was going to go to the cross to die. The angel didn't tell Joseph that they would have to hide out in Egypt for a few years because Herod was going to try and kill Jesus. The angels didn't explain to the shepherds how the disciples would one day spread the news of Jesus to the ends of the earth. In the same way, God is not going to reveal every step from now until the day you die. Instead, He illuminates the next few steps of the path so we know where to walk. The rest we have to take on faith.

Allow me to share a personal illustration to this point. I've shared this before, but it fits the point well. My youngest son, Liam, had to have a bone marrow transplant. Through a series of unfortunate events, we had to place him in a medically induced comma to try to save his life. My first day up there with he and Beth was troubling and scary to say the least. We had no answers, and no idea when we would get answers. That first night I went to the hotel, turned off the lights, got on my knees next to the bed, and began to pray. As I prayed for healing, for hope, for guidance, for any number of things, the scripture reference John 13:7. I opened my Bible and read these words:

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” NIV

As I read those words, I believed them. I didn't know what the future would hold, but I knew that even in the roughest times I could trust God. As I closed my Bible and continued praying I felt these next few words in my heart. "You will hold your son again, and He will know you." You see, there was plenty of worry that what was going on would cause brain damage. One of my fears was that we would lose our son though he would still live. About a month later, Liam passed away. I will be perfectly honest; not once did I feel lied to by God. Yes, when I felt God speak those words to me, I naturally assumed that everything would work out and Liam would be healed on this side of eternity. The truth is, Liam is healed, he's just on the other side. And, I still have my promise; one day I will hold my son again, and he will know me. Had God told me all that was going to happen in the next few weeks on that night in Bethesda, MD, I don't know if I could have taken it. How would Mary have handled knowing that her precious baby was born to be killed in the most painful way possible? Would Joseph have been able to go within a hundred miles of King Herod, much less next door in Bethlehem, had he known that the King would try to kill his son? Would the shepherds have been able to grasp the full scope of what Jesus was coming to do as they stood on a dark hillside? God promises to guide us, but we still have to have faith. 

So let's take our angels and place them in the skies of Bethlehem. Remember that just as God spoke through the angels, He still speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. See you tomorrow.

Day 3 - The Angels

 



*All scripture taken from the New International Version.