How many times do you think angels appear in the birth narratives in the Gospels? Two? Three? Four times? Think again! Angels appear a total of nine times throughout the story of Christ’s birth.
As we now move on from esoteric philosophical and theological speculations of the incarnation to consider the actual events of Jesus’ birth and early life, we come face to face with angels. The birth narratives in the Gospels are replete with accounts of angelic appearances and visions. Angels are leaping out at us from just about every page!
- The angel Gabriel appears to Zacharias, the priest, to announce the impending birth of his son, who will become known as John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25).
- The angel Gabriel appears to Mary to announce her impending miraculous pregnancy and the birth of her son, Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).
- An angel appears to Mary’s betrothed, Joseph, in a dream to assure him of Mary’s innocence and to urge him to go ahead with the marriage (Matthew 1:18-25).
- An angel appears to shepherds in the fields to announce the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8-12).
- A “multitude” of angels and “heavenly host” then appear to the same shepherds and sing a hallelujah chorus (Luke 2:13-15)!
- Magi who visited the baby Jesus are “warned by God in a dream” not to return to Herod and reveal the baby’s location to him (Matthew 2:12).
- An angel appears to Joseph in a dream (a second time) and tells him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the child in order to escape the violent clutches of Herod (Matthew 2:13-18).
- An angel appears to Joseph in yet another dream (number three!) to tell him it is now safe to return to Israel (Matthew 2:19-21).
- An angel warns Joseph in a dream (number four!) to avoid Judea, as Herod’s son, Archelaus, is still determined to kill the child, so Joseph and Mary flee to Nazareth (Matthew 2:22-23).
That makes nine instances of angelic appearances and visions in the birth narratives! Angels make at least five other subsequent appearances throughout the life and ministry of Jesus:
- Angels “minister” to Jesus at the end of his forty days of fasting and his temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4:11, Mark 1:13).
- An angel rolls the stone away to reveal Jesus’ empty tomb, and the soldiers who see him faint (Matthew 28:2-4).
- An angel appears to the women disciples at the empty tomb (Matthew 28:5-8, Mark 16:2-8, Luke 24:1-8).
- Two angels appear to Mary as she is weeping at the empty tomb (John 20:11-18).
- Two angels appear to the disciples immediately after Jesus’ ascension back into heaven, to comfort and encourage them (Acts 1:9-12).
Thus, angelic appearances surround both the birth of Jesus and his resurrection/ascension, adding a spectacular exclamation point to both the beginning and end of his earthly life.
My purpose here is not to explore a complete theology of angels, as fascinating as that might be. However, their proliferation around the birth of Jesus, in particular, is extraordinary and worthy of comment. Prior to the birth of Christ, angels had made occasional and rare appearances in human history.
- An angel comforted Hagar after she fled from Abraham and Rebekah (Genesis 16).
- An angel appeared to Abraham as he was about to sacrifice Isaac (Gen 22) and another angel guided him to seek a wife for Isaac from his home town (Gen 24).
- An angel spoke to Jacob in a dream (Gen 31).
- An angel travelled in front of Israel’s army as they fled from Egypt (Exodus 14) and also later as they were led toward the promised land (Exodus 23 and 32).
- An angel stood in the middle of the road and blocked the path of Balaam who was trying to disobey God (Numbers 22).
- An angel prophesied the birth of Samson (Judges 13).
- The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel twice to explain his vision (Daniel 8 & 9)
As well as these instances, there are many references in the Old Testament (58 to be precise!) to the “angel of the Lord” (“Malekeh Yahweh” in Hebrew), which appear to be references to the divine presence Himself, possibly the second person of the Trinity.
Each of the instances of ‘ordinary’ angelic appearances in the Old Testament (rather than the appearances of the divine “angel of the Lord”) warranted only a singular appearance by a single angel. These appearances marked a significant event or a moment where God was making an important promise.
But at the birth of Christ there is a veritable outbreak of angels. Angels are popping up everywhere in the birth narratives, including a vast “multitude” who give an astounding choral recital to a bunch of gobsmacked shepherds in the middle of nowhere. This outbreak of angelic appearances indicates that the birth of Christ into our world is the most significant event in human history. All of heaven had been waiting for this moment to arrive from the beginning of time. God’s plan to save mankind by coming to live among us and sacrificing his life in our place had been planned from before the creation of our world (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:19-20; 1 Corinthians 2:7), and it was now about to happen. All of human history and God’s progressive revelation had been leading to this moment, and it had finally arrived.
The Greek word used for ‘angel’ in the New Testament is αγγελος (aggelos) which is the word for an official messenger, emissary or envoy. In the first century, it denoted an envoy with an official and solemn charge to communicate their master’s message clearly and authoritatively. The more important the message was, the higher the status of the ‘aggelos’ that was sent. The aggelos also had the additional charge of overseeing their master’s plans, ensuring that all the details of a transaction or an undertaking were carried out to their master’s satisfaction.
In God’s case, his message to mankind was the most important we have ever received. A Saviour had come into our world and our redemption was at hand. For this reason, God dispatched his angels – envoys from the throne room of Heaven itself – to announce the extraordinary news. And, as we have already noted above, the angels also guided the key participants in the unfolding drama to ensure that everything went according to plan.
There are some things we don’t understand about the angelic appearances in the birth narratives. Why did angels appear to some people face to face and only appear to other people (like Joseph) in dreams? What did the angels look like and how did people know they were angels? Why is the archangel Gabriel specifically mentioned as appearing to both Zachariah and Mary, whereas the other angelic appearances do not mention a name and seem to have been appearances by lesser angels? We simply don’t know. All we can say is that at the birth of Christ the realm of Heaven broke into our world in an extraordinary way.
One thing is clear, however. The common response of those who saw the angels was fear. Zacharias is “gripped with fear” (Luke 1:12) as is Mary (Luke 1:30), to the point where Gabriel has to say to each of them separately “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:13 and 30). Similarly, when an angel appeared to the shepherds who were guarding sheep in the fields, we are told “they were terrified” (Luke 2:9) and had to be calmed with the same words, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 2:10). Terror is a common response of people who encounter angels, resulting in the words “Do not be afraid” being the first words an angel usually speaks.
It seems clear from scripture that angels exude an obvious power and glory that is overwhelming to us mere mortals. Even though angels are defined in scripture as “ministering spirits sent to serve us” (Hebrews 1:4), they are clearly greater than us in power and glory. Hence, the Psalmist declares that “you made us [humans] a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5). In this sense, we are less and angels are greater. That angels are indisputably powerful beings is clear from passages such as Psalm 103, which declares, “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding” (Psalm 103:20).
It is these “mighty ones” who are dispatched in numbers as the time came for the Saviours birth into our world. The proliferation of angelic appearances at and around the birth of Jesus declares the extraordinary significance of what, to human eyes, must have seemed a very common and ordinary occurrence: the birth of a tiny baby to a young Israelite woman.