Week 2 of Advent | The Angels

Lisa Scheffler, author

Holy Anticipation, 

that breathtaking space in-between

what has been, what is, what is-to-come.

Where winter dreams reveal secret longings

and winged angels announce the coming of Love.

You draw us to the edge of advent possibility

like the song of angels drawing shepherds—

eyes wide and breath held—

waiting, watching

Come settle into our living for awhile

and do not let us settle for too little.

Amen.

• by Pamela Hawkins, in Simply Wait: Cultivating Stillness in the Season of Advent

Imagine a line that goes on for city blocks. What are these people waiting for?

Imagine a crowd. People are pressed together, jostling one another and standing on tiptoe to get a better view. What are they trying to see?

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was no line of expectant admirers anticipating the sight of newborn King. There was no throng of people gathered around the manger hoping to catch a glimpse of the Messiah. Yet the lack of a crowd doesn’t mean Christ’s arrival was unanticipated. The prophets had looked forward to the day when Messiah would come. And the absence of a multitude of devotees doesn’t mean his birth went uncelebrated. An unlikely pairing of angelic beings and ordinary shepherds rejoiced over the child.

We’ve entered the season of Advent, a time when Christians all over the world celebrate Jesus’s arrival. Last week we focused on the words of the Prophets. We’ll spend this week with the angels as they deliver the most extraordinary messages.

God was doing something so amazing, so incredible that the news had to come from the mouths of supernatural messengers. In the time surrounding Christ’s birth, angels brought the news to several people: Zechariah, Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds. This week we’ll look at how they reacted to the news and consider how each of us should respond to Jesus’ incarnation. Pray that the Spirit will cultivate in you a holy anticipation for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Advent Guide

At the end of Day 5 you’ll find an Advent guide you can use on Sundays between now and Christmas, and on Christmas Eve. Advent officially started last Sunday, November 29, but if you missed last week, it’s not too late to start! Grab a few candles and your Bible and gather this Sunday with some family or friends to celebrate the season of Advent.

Day 1 | Zechariah

Zechariah was an old priest who served in the temple in Jerusalem. Even though he and his wife loved and obeyed God, they had not been blessed with children. By the time we’re introduced to the couple in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Zechariah likely assumes he would never have a child. That is, until an angel tells him otherwise. Let’s see how he responds to an angel bringing news that seems too good to be true.

Luke tells us that Zechariah had been chosen for a special honor. As priest, he would enter the holy place in the temple to offer incense to Yahweh. While Zechariah was likely filled with wonder at this opportunity, it is unlikely he expected to encounter an angel.

Read 

Luke 1:11-17

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth were going to be blessed with a very special baby boy. Their son, later called John the Baptist, would have an important role to fulfill. He was going to prepare the way for the Messiah. Stunned and disbelieving, Zechariah asks for a sign to assure him. The angel gives him one all right; Zechariah wouldn’t speak again until the baby was born.

Sometimes we think that if only God would send us an angel to tell us what we should do, we’d do it without hesitation. Yet, Zechariah, one of Yahweh’s priests, doubted the angel standing right in front of him. It’s faith in God, not just evidence of his will that leads to obedience.

Zechariah learned his lesson though. When Zechariah was finally able to speak, he praised God for keeping his promises ­— promises that would become realities through Jesus.

Luke 1:67-69; 76-79

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David

76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78 because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79 to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

The old priest had many months of silence to reflect on the angel’s message and what God would do through the miraculous birth of his son, John. We can imagine him pondering the words of the prophets from Moses to Malachi. Could it be that the one for whom they had waited was finally coming? That Zechariah’s son would prepare the people for the coming Messiah? 

That’s exactly what would happen. God was being true to his word and was miraculously intervening in history to rescue humanity. The salvation he offered wouldn’t be just for a single nation who needed to escape the tyranny of an earthly empire, but a rescue offered to all from the dominion of sin and death.

John the Baptist would dedicate his life to proclaiming that the Kingdom of God had come through the arrival of the Promised One. For all “living in darkness” and “in the shadow of death,” the Messiah brings light and life. By trusting in this salvation, we are put on “the path of peace” — a right relationship with God.

In his prayer, Zechariah anticipated what was to come. During Advent, we look back to what God has done through Christ. But we can also look forward to another arrival of Jesus Christ and a time when our faith will become sight. We anticipate a time when we will fully experience complete salvation, victory over death, and intimacy with our heavenly Father.

Take some time to pray and thank God for being true to his word and sending Jesus. Ask him to reveal himself to you in a fresh way during this Advent season. Praise him as you look back to what the Father has done for you in Christ, what he is doing for you now by the Spirit’s power and what he will do for you in eternity.