Angels are a big part of the Christmas story- but what is an Angel?
We often suppose that human beings are the only being there are, but the Bible teaches that God created another category of beings which are commonly called angels, a word that means ‘messenger’. There is no description of when God did this, but it seems that it happened before the creation of human beings because the greatest angelic being Satan, whom we meet in the story of Adam and Eve at the very beginning of the Bible, was a rebel against God.
In the Bible, angels are described as especially active at crucial times of spiritual activity or revelation from God. At Christmas angels are pivotal in announcing God’s news of the birth of his Son Jesus. We read in Luke’s Gospel that God used an angel to tell Mary she would have a baby:
‘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.’
And Angels appeared to tell shepherds working in the hills nearby that the baby had been born:
'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, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 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 Saviour 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 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 favour rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”’
In Matthew’s gospel an angel warns Joseph that he needs to take Mary and Jesus and escape from King Herod’s jealous anger:
‘an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod.’
So angels are ‘messengers’ or servants of God who are generally described as at work unseen in human lives. For example Psalm 91 states ‘for he [God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.’ It may be that we are watched over personally by angels, for in Matthew 17 Jesus says of little children that ‘their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven.’ At Christmas their message of peace on earth speaks into a world still longing for calm, hope, and restoration, and it points us to the reconciling work of God—peace between heaven and earth, and peace offered to every human heart.