Meet in Church Parlor at 9:00 AM
Notes and Discussion by Bob Maddox
Luke 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
This is certainly one of the most famous passages in all of western literature. Multiplied millions of preachers, lay readers and children in Christmas pageants have recited these lines across the millennia. Folks not even especially religious would readily recognize these lines just from hearing them recited on television and radio. They are like a great poem that resists parsing but let’s take a deep breath and see what we can encounter as we look more closely at this passage.
Luke, the only non-Jewish author in the New Testament gives us this gorgeous picture. As you know, only Luke and Matthew give us any information about the nativity of Jesus. Matthew’s account is quite different from Luke’s though both unequivocally under line the historical fact that Jesus was actually born on a certain day under a set of circumstances in Judea in the days of the Roman army’s occupation. In telling the Christmas story across the ages we have blended the different pieces into one delicate, crystal-like narrative. The simple or elaborate Nativity Set on your mantle or credenza has all the pieces: star, angels, shepherds, magi, stable, animals. You, your children and grandchildren have learned the Christmas story as much from the Nativity Set as from the Bible. For Sunday, we focus on the part of Luke’s story that features a conversation between Mary and the angel Gabriel. Again, you may ask yourselves “Did it happen his way?” I don’t know but to quote the scholars, “It’s true anyway.”
The angel Gabriel (Wikepedia). The Archangel Gabriel is the exalted Messenger of God, whose name means “The Strength of God” and whose deeds are recorded in the Jewish scriptures, where the spirit aided the Prophet Daniel in the interpretation of his dream-visions. Although an important Jewish angel, Gabriel has touched the lives of those of different religions as well. In the Christian Bible, it is Gabriel who brings important news to Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father and the Virgin Mary concerning their children-to-be. Some Christians believe that at the Last Judgment Gabriel will blow a sacred trumpet horn.
Furthermore, according to Muslims, Gabriel dictated the Koran to Mohammed over a period of twenty three years and also accompanied the Prophet on his Night Journey.
Some people believe that Gabriel is a female spirit; others hold that angels have no gender.
Because of Gabriel’s role as a communicator and mediator between Heaven and Earth, Catholics hold the Archangel to be a Patron Saint of broadcasters, telecommunications workers, diplomats, messengers, postal workers, and stamp collectors. Because Gabriel helped the prophet Daniel interpret his dreams, those seeking similar aid with their own dream work may petition the Archangel for help. Additionally, because Gabriel announced the births of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, women hoping for heavenly assistance in trying to conceive children have reported benefits from keeping an Angel Gabriel novena candle burning in the home.
Angels (edited from Wikepedia). The word angel in English is a fusion of the Old English word engel and the Old French angele. Both derive from the Latin angelus, and thence the Koine Greek – angelos (‘messenger’) used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew (yehowah) “messenger (of Yahweh)”.
The Bible uses the terms messenger of God, messenger of the Lord, sons of God and the holy ones to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name.
In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels came to take on a particular significance and developed unique personalities and roles. Though these archangels were believed to have rank amongst the heavenly host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed. Michael, who serves as a warrior and advocate for Israel (Daniel 10:13) is looked upon particularly fondly. Gabriel is mentioned in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 8:15-17), the Book of Tobit, and briefly in the Talmud, as well as many Merkabah mystical texts.
Early Christians took over Jewish ideas of angels. In the early stage, the Christian concept of an angel shifted between the angel as a messenger of God and a manifestation of God himself. Later came identification of individual angelic messengers: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel. Then, in the space of little more than two centuries (from the third to the fifth) the image of angels took on definite characteristics both in theology and in art.
By the late fourth century, the Church Fathers agreed that there were different categories of angels, with appropriate missions and activities assigned to them. Some theologians had proposed that Jesus was not divine but on the level of immaterial beings subordinate to the Trinity. The resolution of this Trinitarian dispute included the development of doctrine about angels.
The angels are represented throughout the Christian Bible as a body of spiritual beings intermediate between God and men: “You have made him (man) a little less than the angels…” (Psalms 8:4,5). They, equally with man, are created beings; “praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts… for He spoke and they were made. He commanded and they were created…” (Psalms 148:2-5; Colossians 1:16). The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) declared that the angels were created beings. In traditional Christianity angels are regarded as asexual and not belonging to either gender. And although angels have greater knowledge than men, they are not omniscient, as Matthew 24:36 points out.
As noted, the New Testament includes a number of interactions and conversations between angels and humans: Zachariah, Mary, Angels proclaim the birth of Jesus in the Adoration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10. Angels also appear later in the New Testament. In Luke 22:43 an angel comforts Jesus Christ during the Agony in the Garden. In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels.
Since the completion of the New Testament, the Christian tradition has continued to include a number of reported interactions with angels. For instance, in 1851 Pope Pius IX approved the Chaplet of Saint Michael based on the 1751 private revelation from archangel Michael to the Carmelite nun Antonia d’Astonac. And Pope John Paul II emphasized the role of angels in Catholic teachings in his 1986 address titled “Angels Participate In History Of Salvation”, in which he suggested that modern mentality should come to see the importance of angels.
As recently as the 20th century, visionaries and mystics have reported interactions with, and indeed dictations from, angels.
The earliest known Christian image of an angel, in the Cubicolo dell’Annunziazione in the Catacomb of Priscilla, which is dated to the middle of the third century, is without wings. Representations of angels on sarcophagi and on objects such as lamps and reliquaries of that period also show them without wings, as for example the angel in the Sacrifice of Isaac scene in the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus.
The earliest known representation of angels with wings is on what is called the Prince’s Sarcophagus, discovered at Sarigüzel, near Istanbul, in the 1930s, and attributed to the time of Theodosius I (379-395).
From then on, though of course with some exceptions, Christian art represented angels with wings, as in the cycle of mosaics in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (432–440).[20] Four- and six-winged angels, often with only their face and wings showing, drawn from the higher grades of angels, especially cherubim and seraphim, are derived from Persian art, and are usually shown only in heavenly contexts, as opposed to performing tasks on earth. They often appear in the domes or semi-domes of churches.
(Back to Maddox) The idea of guardian angels and mysterious interactions continue. A few years ago, many of us watched the popular television show “Touched by an Angel” quietly wishing one would show up on our doorstep in tough times.
Do angels actually exist? I do not know. I don’t think they do, but what do I know?
Across the decades of my young life I have met more than a few people whom I certainly regarded as angelic. People have come along at just the right time to bless me and mine, offer direction and comfort. We can all pick up on the best of angelic characteristics: messengers of good news, passing along our own best relationship with God, helping, affirming, caring. Most of us would accede to mystery in our lives. The Celts had a way of going “through thin” places to get to fresh realities. Untold works of literature, art, poetry point to the possibilities of as yet undefined but real experiences beyond what we regard as ordinary. So don’t close yourself off from the wonder of Christmas, Easter, the birth of a child, restoration of troublesome health, healing of broken relationships, passage of a real health care bill, peace in Afghanistan, Iran stopping nuclear development or the installation of a modern, cost-effective heating and cooling system at Westmoreland Church. To live by only what we can measure or bank short circuit’s the richness of human existence that continues to evolve in our own lives and throughout the species.
In all this talk of angels, do not miss the words of encouragement that came to Mary. Do not be afraid of cooperating with God. What God begins, God will complete. You are not alone in doing the work of God. Go find a “kinswoman like Elizabeth” with whom to share the good news and the uncertain news that comes to all of us.
What else do you find for yourself in these lines? When’s the last time an “angel” spoke to you? When’s the last time you spoke like an “angel” to someone else?
