Daily Excerpt: Christmas at the Mission (Sula): Angels



Excerpt from Christmas at the Mission 

Angels

In the Bible, Luke tells us about the important role that the angels played in the birth of Jesus. They were the voices and choir letting the shepherds know the good news.

Angels are messengers from God. In fact, that is what the word, angel, means[B2] : messenger.[VW3] 

Jesus’s birth is not the only time that the angels been involved in the affairs of people. Think about some other times:

·       Three angels appeared to Abraham; he gave them food and rest, and they told him that his wife Sarah, who was very, very old, would have a child—and she did: Isaac.

·       Jacob wrestled with an angel.

·       It was two angels who saved Lott[VW4] [B5]  from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

·       An angel appeared to Joshua before the fight for Jericho—and we know that Joshua and his people won, with the help of God.

·       An angel rescued Daniel from the lion’s den.

·       An angel announced to Zacharias that he would have a son, St. John the Baptist.

·       It was an angel who convinced Joseph in a dream to marry Mary.

·       An angel ministered to Jesus after His temptation in the desert and in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion, and after He was buried and risen, an angel stood at the entrance to His tomb.

A very important one[VW6] , of course, is Gabriel, one of only four angels whose names have been shared in the Bible[VW7] . Gabriel played a very important role related to the birth of Jesus. He appeared to Mary (see Mary) with the message from God[B8] [B9]  [VW10] that God wanted her to bear the Messiah (see Annunciation).

The night of Jesus’s birth, there was not one angel, or two angels, like at other times. There was a whole host of angels, who came from the heavens to herald the arrival of the Messiah and then returned to the heavens in sight of the shepherds.

Angels played a really important role that night. That is why many Christmas ornaments are forms of angels, including the common topping of the Christmas tree.

It seems that angels do not appear to the world’s leaders (not typically), but to the simple folk, like Mary, people who are open to being used by God, and like the shepherds whom the angels knew would spread God’s important good news.

Angels play an important role in the lives of many people today. Do you know of anyone today who has had an experience with an angel? I bet you do! Maybe you have yourself. If not, ask around…angels are here and not just on Christmas Day.

 



For more posts about Sul and her books, click HERE.








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