Angels And Christmas
The Angel Gabriel's View of Christmas
By Jesse Campbell
As God's holy messenger, Gabriel delivered the news of Christ's coming. What must the first Christmas have been like through his eyes?
Have you ever wondered what the Christmas story was like from the perspective of the angels?
They must have such an interesting take. They see God and they see us, but we cannot see them.
While they as spiritual beings do God’s will, they do not know everything that God knows.
They are a little more like us in that regard.
The final phrase of 1 Peter 1:12 rivets me. It reads, “angels long to catch a glimpse of these things,” while describing how the Old Testament prophets carefully searched for the time and circumstances of the coming Messiah’s suffering and subsequent glories.
These prophets, Peter writes, were serving us as modern readers of the Bible and not themselves.
Angels, then, were fascinated by the future-focused nature of the prophets’ work.
Gabriel is my favorite angel.
Though Gabriel does not bear the title of archangel, meaning “chief angel” like the archangel Michael, I have a nephew named “Gabriel” and am lovingly and unapologetically biased.
Of the Bible’s many instances in which angels deliver messages, Gabriel is named specifically in Daniel 8, Daniel 9, and Luke 1, but it’s possible he was the messenger in other passages as well.
He speaks to God’s prophet Daniel in the Old Testament and then speaks to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the New Testament.
According to the Bible, Gabriel stands in the presence of God and brings people good news (Luke 1:19).
He appears as a man in Daniel 8:15–16, and 9:21, and stands by the altar as a man would in Luke 1:11.
Angels are not all-knowing. We can gather that from 1 Peter 1:12.
God does, however, give angels messages regarding some future events.
For example, in his first appearance in Scripture, Gabriel appears to Daniel in Daniel 8:15–27, having been dispatched by God to bring an explanation of the vision in Daniel 8:1–14.
Then, when Gabriel gave the astounding news to the aged Zechariah that he and his mature wife would be having a baby and that the baby would be given the non-family name of “John,” he was making a prophecy of a future event.
When he gave Mary the incredible news of Jesus’ coming birth, he was making yet another prophecy.
Gabriel himself was not the source of these prophecies. God was and is. Gabriel was God’s blessed messenger.
"It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven that angels long to catch a glimpse of these things." (1 Peter 1:12).
That Gabriel’s understanding is finite must have made the experience all the more remarkable for him.
He spoke to at least one Old Testament prophet and the collective message of their combined ministries pointed forward to the Messiah.
Then, Gabriel was given the distinct honor of, on God’s behalf, breaking centuries of prophetic silence.
It is Gabriel’s voice that first spoke the name millennia of Old Testament prophets and believers ached to know: the blessed name of Jesus.
As he carried God’s message to Zechariah, he carried the answer to a huge question asked by the book of Malachi.
As he carried God’s message to Mary, he carried the answer to the world’s need of our Savior.
If I were Gabriel, I would have been bursting at the seams to break the good news!
Here is the thing, though: the news is just as heavenly and just as prophetically significant and just as amazing today as it was when Gabriel first spoke it.
My friends, we have the same good news to share with our fellow man this Christmas that Gabriel had at the first Christmas.
The word “evangelism” even comes from the Greek word for “good news.”
Let us likewise burst at the seams as we share God’s heavenly news and invite God’s heavenly will to be done here on His broken and beloved earth.
Let us not sit on this good news and forget how many generations of Old Testament believers ached to know the Messiah’s name and how many prophets strived to know the Christ’s timing.
We know both of these things. Let us fly with the speed of Gabriel to proclaim the good news!
We do not have to imagine what it was like for Gabriel.
We who believe in Jesus know already. To know that the Savior of the world has come, to know His name, and to have been filled with His Spirit is to fulfill the very purpose of God’s message through Gabriel.
Christian, it is Gabriel who longs to know what it is like from your perspective (1 Peter 1:12).
Let not the angels look at us confounded. Let them not find us idly silent with the news that they burst through legions of demons to share.
Merry Christmas, the Messiah has come and risen again. His name is Jesus and He has risen!
Explore the Bible’s digital toolbox will help you spread the news of Christ to those who will visit your church this Christmas season. In it, you will find four free sessions from Explore the Bible, a reading plan to help newcomers sync up with your Explore the Bible groups, and artwork to promote follow-up events.
Jesse Campbell is the author of I'm A Christian - Now What?, 365 Devotions for Teen Guys, and What it Means to Be A Christian. He is the Brand Manager of Explore the Bible, a doctoral candidate at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Teaching Pastor at LiveBible.TV. He and his family serve at Hermitage Hills Baptist Church.
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