Christ Church

Luke

Nation, Family, Church, and Gospel (Further Up #4)

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INTRODUCTION

We continue our series on Christian maturity and the pursuit of excellence, and we turn to what the Bible teaches about political maturity. In the midst of the mud-slinging of much political discourse, it can be easy to lose sight of basic Biblical principles, much less, long term goals. Apathy, perfectionism, and compromise are all enemies of political maturity. Central to mature thinking, planning, and acting politically is understanding the Lordship of Christ over all, and the different jurisdictions he has assigned to different authorities.

THE TEXT

“… Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told Him by certain which said, ‘Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to see Thee.’ And He answered and said unto them, ‘My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it’” (Lk. 8:19-21).

NATIONS AND FAMILIES

The Bible teaches that nations are the natural extension of families multiplying. It frequently refers to nations as the “families of the earth” (e.g. Gen. 28:14, Ps. 22:27, Zech. 14:17). In Eph. 3:15, Paul writes, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” The word translated as “family” in Greek is patria, which is derived from the root word pater, which means “father,” but it can also refer to a much larger sociopolitical group such as an entire nation of people. Patria is where we get the words “patriot” and “patriotism” and the notion of right love and loyalty to one’s nation. This family-nation connection is true biologically, but Paul is clearly insisting that it goes deeper and broader than that, since every family is named after God the Father. And this is precisely what God began to teach His people early on through the gift of His covenant. To Abraham, God said, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” (Gen. 17:4-5). While biological conception was always an important part of the growth and expansion of families/nations, from this very moment, God also instituted circumcision, in effect saying, but do not think of this covenant as a purely physical/blood relationship. Abraham’s entire household, including his male servants, were circumcised, Israel went up out of Egypt as a “mixed multitude” (Ex. 12:38), and Paul goes to great lengths to insist that this covenant was by faith not by the power of the flesh (Rom. 4:16-21). “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7ff). God has always taught His people that water is thicker than blood.

JESUS, LORD OF ALL NATIONS

All of this means that the Bible views the governments of the family, church, and state, as different sorts of families, nations, or covenants. While we have already seen this with families and nations, the Church also has “fathers” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15) and is called the “household of faith” (Gal. 6:10), “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19, 1 Tim. 3:15, 1 Pet. 4:17) as well as a “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9) in which Christians have a citizenship (Phil. 3:20). And this brings us full circle to the words of Christ: “‘My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it’” (Lk. 8:21). The point is not merely one about biological family (although it includes that); it’s far more expansive, including all of our “mothers and brothers,” in our families, churches, and nations – all natural loves and kindred are subject to God’s word. When Jesus rose from the dead, He said, “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me, therefore go and disciple the nations…” (Mt. 28:18ff). Jesus is Lord of the nations: Lord of family-nations, church-nations, and country-nations. In the ordinary course of things, there are spiritual and physical relations and loves, similarities and differences running through all of these nations, including language, culture, belief, tribes, practice, land, work, marriage, children, history, symbols, and more. But only allegiance and obedience to the Father who is over all and in all can rank and sort these allegiances rightly (Eph. 4:6). How do you build a family, a church, or a nation? By hearing and obeying the Word of God.

HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?

Family: The marriage covenant is the core of this governmental jurisdiction, and it constantly pictures the Covenant of Grace in which Christ is Head of the Church (Eph. 5:22ff). As Lord of the family-nation, Jesus assigns the tasks of education, health, and welfare to this jurisdiction (Eph. 5-6). This includes care for elderly parents or other needy relatives (Mk. 7:11), the first line of defense for orphans and widows and similar needs, and a man that does not provide for his own household is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:1ff). Our fundamental allegiance to Jesus sometimes does mean losing or straining family relationships where there is a refusal to hear God’s word and obey. But the gospel turns the hearts of fathers and children (Mal. 4:6).

Church: The church has been given the keys of the Kingdom by Jesus Christ and is commissioned to preach the gospel to every nation, teaching them to obey the entire Word of God, calling the saints together for worship, admitting disciples through baptism to the Table, and barring those from fellowship who do not obey Christ (Mt. 16:17-19, 18:15-20, 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 2 Thess. 3:14-15). The church proclaims the water of the Word – which is the Word of the New Covenant in the shed blood of Christ that cleanses families and nations from their animosities and feuds. But the church is not partisan to any other government. It teaches all men to honor all of their fathers (at every level), and so it teaches true family loyalty and patriotism in Christ. A patriot honors his fathers. But the church is a completely independent government from all other governments. This is why it is unseemly and confused (at best) and idolatrous (at worst) for churches to conduct worship services that confuse national identity with Christian identity.

State: The civil magistrate has been given the sword by Christ to punish criminals and keep good public order (Rom. 13:4). Civil magistrates receive their power from God and are established to praise the good and be a terror to those who do evil (Rom. 13:3). Just as God establishes the authority, He also establishes the standards and the definitions. A magistrate who ignores or openly defies the One from whom he receives his authority is cutting off the branch he stands on. Magistrates are true “foster fathers” (Is. 49:23) who hear the word of God and obey it in their offices, laws, and judgments. And those nations that keep covenant with the Lord of the nations will bring their glory and honor all the way into Heaven (Rev. 21:24). But all dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, and idolaters will be shut out (Rev. 22:15). So it is right and good to ask God to cast down all evil, to thank Him for the true glory He has given to our nation and celebrate it, and ask Him to grow and safeguard it all the way to Heaven.

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Permit the Children

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INTRODUCTION

This is a remarkable period in the history of our congregation. We have never seen growth like this before, and all of us are getting used to the new situation. Of course, those of you who have moved across the country to join us—welcome. In one sense you are refugees, but in a more fundamental sense, you are reinforcements. This is a new community for you, a new setting, a new set of friends, the works. Your experience of church is very different from what it was. But the same thing is true of all you old-timers. You are attending a very different church also.

Believe it or not, there are some things about Christ Church that take some getting used to. Some of them are trivial, and some of them are practices that we consider to be very important. Consider this message as an orientation to one of our customs that we believe to be crucial, and it is the one that has to do with the relationship of our children to the congregation.

THE TEXT

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:13–16; cf. Matt. 19:13-15; Luke 18: 15-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This is a famous incident, recorded in all three of the synoptic gospels. Young children were brought to Jesus, so that He might “touch” them. What touching meant to Jesus is seen in how He responded. He took the children into His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them (v. 16). In Matthew, He laid hands on them (Matt. 19:15). In the Luke account, we see that coming to Jesus can be accomplished when someone carries you there because the word used of the children there is brephos, the word for infants. In all three accounts, the disciples were busy grown-ups and rebuked those who brought the children. “The Rabbi is a very busy man . . .” In the Mark account, it says that Jesus was greatly displeased with this. If you want to get that reaction from Christ, then try to get in between Him and a child being brought to Him. In all three accounts, Jesus requires us to allow the children to be brought to Him. The reason He gives is that “of such is the kingdom of God” (v. 14). He does not say anything like “children are a theology-free zone.” And in addition to all that, He teaches us that children do not have to become more like adults to come, but rather that adults need to become more like children in order to enter the kingdom (v. 15). Like the disciples in the story, we often get this backwards.

SOME QUICK BACKGROUND

You will have noticed that our children gather to worship the Lord together with the rest of us. We all gather together. Your children are most welcome, fidgets and all. On those occasions when you need to deal with any moral disorder that broke out in your row, then please feel free to escort your child outside. That is the sort of thing that we take in stride, and pretty much everyone here has been in your shoes.

The keys of the kingdom are held by the elders of the church, and not by the fathers. It is the responsibility of our session of elders to guard the purity of the Word and the integrity of the sacraments. If your child is baptized, he is welcome to come to the Table together with the rest of us. If your baptized child is three months old and conked out in the car seat, don’t feel like you have to wake him up for the Supper. But when he is on your lap, tracking with the service, and he notices the tray going by and wants to partake, please don’t restrain him. But at the same time, because this is not a unilateral family decision, please let your parish elder know that your child is now partaking. And if you have a child who is not baptized, but who believes in Jesus, he is still welcome to the Table with us—but he should be baptized first. He is welcome to sit at table with us, but the way to the dining room table is through the front door—which is baptism.

OUR BAPTISMAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT

The Confession of Faith for Christ Church is the Westminster Confession, but in addition to that we have what we call a baptismal cooperation agreement, which stipulates an allowed exception. In other words, for about 25 years we have successfully navigated and allowed for our differences on baptism, those differences being Presbyterian and Baptist. But at the same time, we have also cultivated a church community that is a welcoming place for the children. This issue is related to the doctrine of baptism, but it is not identical with it. One of the things we want to insist on is that all of you join with us in welcoming the children.

Some of you newcomers come from generic Baptist backgrounds, and others from a more defined Reformed Baptist background. You are most welcome here, but to get straight to the point, so are your kids. We can accommodate differences on baptism, but we don’t want to accommodate ungodly extrapolations from Baptist premises, or from Presbyterian premises, for that matter. An example of the latter would be, “Yes, he is serving 5 to 10 for armed robbery, but he is a good boy. He was baptized once, and we are hopeful that something good will kick in sometime.” An example of the former would be, “Daddy, I love Jesus . . .” “Let us be the judge of that, kid. Don’t you remember that lie you told three years ago?”

COME, AND WELCOME, TO JESUS CHRIST

This is not a religion club or a theology society that meets on Sundays. We are the body of Christ, and so coming to worship the Father here means that we are coming to and through Christ. We come to the Father in the power of the Spirit, traveling the road who is Christ. We are traveling Christ the Way all together. And as we travel in that way, we want to take great care not to place a stumbling block in the road for any of our little ones.

“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42).

Quite apart from the doctrine of baptism itself, it is therefore a baseline assumption for our congregation here that it would be far better for us to admit a false professor to our membership than it would be to exclude a true brother. This is an assumption that we want to see cultivated throughout the congregation—because we don’t want Christ to be greatly displeased with us.

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Finding and Following Jesus

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INTRODUCTION

If God were to become a man, it would be at turns surprising, offensive, wonderful, and strange. And so it was. We are made in His image, but His goodness and justice and beauty and joy are far beyond what can even imagine, and therefore, He takes the initiative. He is leading us to become what He already is in fullness. Which is why we must follow Him.

THE TEXT

“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover…” (Lk. 2:40-52)

MISSING AT PASSOVER

Luke frames this episode with summaries of Jesus growing up (2:40, 52) which means that this is one of the central points of this episode. Luke indicates the ongoing faithfulness of Mary and Joseph in their attendance of the annual feast of Passover (Lk. 2:41), and his note about Jesus being twelve and going up to Jerusalem “according to the custom” may refer to his bar mitzvah – when a Jewish boy came to be recognized as a “son of the law” (Lk. 2:42). There were probably around two hundred thousand pilgrims for the feast in Jerusalem and another hundred thousand sheep for sacrifices. The city would be full of bustle and singing and family reunions and feasting. On the great night of Passover every house would celebrate the feast with the sacrificial lamb and the story of the Exodus would be recounted. When the feast was over, Mary and Joseph began the journey home with a number of their family members and neighbors. Some records indicate that it was customary for the women and young children to travel up ahead while the men and older sons brought up the rear, but regardless, at the end of the day’s journey when they all came together, it was a classic, “I thought he was with you” moment (Lk. 2:43-44). It would have been a full day’s journey back to Jerusalem and then another full day and night of searching before he was finally found (Lk. 2:45-46).

DIDN’T YOU KNOW?

On the third day, His parents found Jesus in the temple. Luke sets the scene by noting that 12 year old Jesus is in the midst of the teachers of the law, and He was listening to them and asking His own questions (Lk. 2:46). And everyone who heard Jesus was amazed at His understanding and answers (Lk. 2:47). Now when Mary and Joseph saw Jesus they were also amazed. On one level, they are amazed like any heart-sick mother and father would be to finally find their son lost for three days, and yet they are also amazed like everyone else, that He is conversing naturally with trained theologians (Lk. 2:48). Mary asks what every mother would ask, “How could you do this to us?” And she appeals to Him to sympathize with their plight: “your father and I have been looking for you with great sorrow.” And yet, His reply, the first recorded words of the Savior of the world, is: “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be about my Father’s business?” (Lk. 2:49) But they did not understand what He was talking about (Lk. 2:50). But the point is unmistakable: Mary asks why he was not being mindful of his father, and Jesus insists that he was.

GOD WITH US

Luke demonstrates here that Jesus was a normal human being who grew up and learned (Lk. 2:40, 52), and that He was simultaneously God (Lk. 2:49). This is not something the apostles made up later to make themselves feel better. Luke is building a case for this outrageous claim, and this introductory episode of 12 year old Jesus is part of the evidence for that claim. It should also be pointed out that the Jews should have known this: The entire narrative of the Old Testament is this truth wound through the story of Israel, the covenants and sacrifices point to God coming down into their midst, and finally the promises of the Messiah to come. He would be the Lord’s servant, and somehow in Him, it would also be the Lord Himself going forth like a mighty man, like a man of war to save (Is. 42:1, 13-16).

HE CAME FOR US

The Bible teaches that humanity’s most fundamental need is to be reconciled with our Maker. This is the origin of all of our deepest hurt, angst, and hatred (Rom. 3). This is why people harm themselves and others. The religion of secular humanism must deny the reality of this spiritual death and throw purely material cocktails at the problems. Even though we can’t really control material reality, we think we can, but regardless, all manmade religions try to manufacture a way back to God (or ultimate peace or justice or harmony). But only Christianity has the audacity to tell the unvarnished truth: that’s impossible. Sinful man can’t get back. This is like an expedition to the Sun. There is no going to God. The only possibility is God coming to us. And Luke along with the rest of the apostles sealed with their own blood and the testimony of their lives, that He has. And the wonderful thing is that because He has become one of us, He sympathizes with us in our weakness. He was tempted in every way and yet remained sinless (Heb. 4:15). And He learned obedience through the things that He suffered (Heb. 5:7-8). He came for us.

CONCLUSIONS

This episode is unmistakably a preview of another scare that will come at the end of Luke’s gospel. This is not the last time Jesus will go missing for three days. And on that third day, Jesus will once again ask two heartbroken disciples why they don’t know what’s going on (Lk. 24:25). He was to be about His Father’s business. And in both instances, Jesus is found doing Bible study. If Jesus seems to be missing, if you need to find Jesus, He will always be in the Word.

There’s also a subtle but significant point being made about authority and leadership. Jesus was being obedient to His parents by being obedient to His Father. True authority only comes from God, and therefore true obedience and submission is always ultimately to God and His Word. Mary and Joseph and all disciples have a responsibility to know the Scriptures in order to recognize Jesus, in order to know who He is and where He is leading. You can’t assume you know where Jesus is leading. You must not assume that He is accompanying you on your business. He is leading all of us on His Father’s business, even when we have to turn around.

All true authority is leading others in obedience to Christ. Faithful leaders are only as good as they are following Christ. His plans and designs are sometimes very surprising, but He always sticks close to the text. So if you want to know what He is up to, look for Him there.

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Mistaken Faithful Prayer

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INTRODUCTION

As many of you know, it is our custom to have a “state of the church” message around the beginning of each new year, and that message will be coming next week. But, if you like, you may consider this message to a preamble to that state of the church sermon. How so?

The year behind us, 2020, has been quite a year, and it may have occurred to some of you that when 20 turns 21, it might start drinking, and then what shall we do? Of course, we shall pray about it, but there is a particular kind of prayer that we need to understand in times like these.

THE TEXT

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1–8)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This parable goes by various names. For some, it is the parable of the unjust judge. For others, it is called the parable of the importunate widow, or perhaps the persistent widow. With this parable, Jesus gives us the meaning of it right at the front end. He told the parable to a particular purpose, which is that men ought to pray constantly and not to get discouraged (v. 1). In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God, and he did not have any regard for man (v. 2). We should start paying attention at this point because we have that kind of judge in our time, believe it or not. Now there was a widow in that same city who wanted to have her case heard against her adversary (v. 3). She wanted to have the judge grant the justice of her case. For a time, this godless judge just put her off, but after a bit he changed his mind. He acknowledged to himself that even though he did not fear God or regard man (v. 4), he was still able to determine that this widow was going to be a royal pain in the neck (v. 5). The only way he was going to get rid of her was through doing some justice, however little it suited him. And Jesus says that we should pay attention to the lesson of this unjust judge (v. 6). How is it possible that God will not grant justice to His own elect, those who cry to Him day and night, even though He puts them off for a time (v. 7)? This is a “how much more” argument. God will vindicate them later, and when it happens it will happen suddenly (v. 8). God loves the eucatastrophe. But at the same time, why might the Son of man not find faith on the earth when He comes? It would be because the lesson of this parable had not been learned, and people, in the position of that widow, quit coming.

THE NATURE OF PERSISTENCE

Now one of the things we need to do is look straight at this parable, contemplating what Jesus is actually calling us to do. He is actually calling us to be wrong in our prayers, and to be wrong most of the time.

Suppose you have a trouble, and coming out of this last year, who doesn’t? And suppose this trouble weighs on you heavily, and it has come to the point where you are bringing it before the Lord daily. It could be a health problem, or a financial challenge, or a wayward child, or the caliber of the people running our civilization. It weighs on you, and so as required, you bring it to God. To illustrate, suppose you are praying for a significant amount of money, and it is not so that you might spend it on various fripperies. It is a real need. Let us say you bring it before the Lord daily, as this parable requires, and you do so for years.

This means that every day, you believe that today would be a wonderful time for this needed deliverance to appear. You wouldn’t be praying about it if you didn’t feel that way. But every new day that you pray about it, the repetition entails a recognition that your assessment of the situation yesterday was wrong. That wasn’t the best day for the deliverance. Not only were you wrong, but it was an error that the Lord Jesus—by requiring your persistence in this kind of prayer—required you to make. So Jesus wants us to be obediently mistaken.

EMBODIED LIFE IN TIME            

Perhaps some of you women who are mothers know what this is like. Those who just identify as women have no idea. But perhaps you have had this experience. You are six months along, and some well-meaning stranger asks you what it feels like to be past due. You feel like you are, and it is also apparently the case that you look like you are. In this scenario, you know that it is not time yet. But suppose that you were the first woman ever to give birth, and so nobody knew how long a pregnancy was supposed to go. Now pray about it. That is what delayed answer to prayer is like. The gestation times for answered prayer vary considerably.

But when the answer comes, it comes suddenly. It comes in a rush. Is this not what the Lord explicitly says? He will “avenge them speedily” (v. 8).

ON THE MOUNT OF THE LORD

God wants us to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We are to live our lives walking in the will of God, but this is not the same thing as living off a pre-printed agenda. Once in a blue moon God directs His servants explicitly and in unmistakable ways. But most of the time, we are to simply trust Him. Our lives are a mist (Jas. 4:14). We are a wispy bit of fog off the river that you sometimes drive by, and in a moment it is gone.

We should have the humility befitting small wisps of fog, and so we should pray in the way we are instructed to pray. Not only will God answer us suddenly when He answers, but He loves to do it at the moment when we believe that all is lost. He waits until Abraham has the knife upraised over his son. On the mount of the Lord it will be provided (Gen. 22:14). God waited until the Israelites were close enough to the Red Sea to get their sandals wet in it before He told Moses to extend his rod. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord (Ex. 14:13). Jehoshaphat was told the same thing. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord (2 Chron. 20:17).

So we can be confident that there is one thing that the misbegotten year 2020 did not do, and that was to shorten the arm of Jehovah (Num. 11:23).

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Advent and Angels

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INTRODUCTION

One of the more obvious things about the Christmas story as Scripture records it would be prevalence of angels in it. The angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to tell him about the birth of the forerunner of the Christ (Luke 1:11). Six months later Gabriel again appears to Mary, to tell her that she will give birth to the Son of the Highest (Luke 1:26-27). An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream in order to tell him that Mary had not been unfaithful to him (Matt. 1:20). The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, and then the entire heavenly host appeared as well (Luke 2:9,13). An angel in the form of a star summons the wise men to come to Jerusalem in the first place, and that same angel identifies the right house in Bethlehem for them (Matt. 2:2,10). And Joseph was warned in a dream by an angel to flee down to Egypt, in order to escape from Herod’s wrath (Matt. 2:13). Angels all over the place. What is the significance of this for us?

THE TEXT

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:26–35).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel, who had appeared to Zechariah, also came to Mary, who was in Nazareth at the time (v. 26). She was betrothed to a man named Joseph, who was of the line of David (v. 27). He greets her with a general blessing, but one that was also very high (v. 28). She was troubled by it, and tried to figure it out (v. 29). Gabriel reassures her, telling her that she had found favor with God (v. 30). He then said she was going to conceive a son, and He would be named Jesus (v. 31). He was going to be very great, the Son of the Highest, and He was going to inherit the throne of His father David (v. 32). He was going to reign over the house of Jacob, and His kingdom would be a never-ending one (v. 33). Mary asked, reasonably enough, how this was possible, given that she was a virgin (v. 34). Gabriel answered that it would be because the Holy Spirit would come upon her, that the power of the Highest would cover her, such that her Son would be called the Son of God (v. 35).

A FEW RANDOM THINGS

In the next verse, Elizabeth is called Mary’s cousin (v. 36), but the word might better be rendered as kinswoman. This is interesting because Elizabeth and Zechariah were both from the tribe of Levi, but the Lord was from the line of Judah. There are different ways this could work, but it is suggestive. Because Elizabeth was elderly and Mary was not, I think it is likely that she was something like Mary’s aunt.

Second, in the Old Testament, angels do not go by their names. In fact, when the father of Samson asks an angel’s name, he is rebuffed. “And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?” (Judges 13:18). But in the inter-testamental period, it became more common to identify angels by their various names. But still, in the Scriptures, we are given the names of only two angels, Gabriel and Michael.

And then third, what are we to make of all these angels? Remember that the primary job description of angels is that they are messengers. The word angelosmeans messenger, and does not necessarily entail a celestial being. Humans are called angels at various times, depending on the task they have. John the Baptist is called an angel (Mark 1:2). He was a messenger, preparing the way of the Lord. And the pastors of the seven churches of Asia are called angels (Rev. 2:1,8,12,18;3:1,7,14). They had a message to deliver.

SIGNS AND MESSAGES

Now throughout Scripture, angels do remarkable things. But they are not called wonder-workers. They are called messengers. The signs that they give are the seal on the message. The contents of their messages are the important thing; the seal on the letter simply says that the message is authentic. “But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:38).

It was the same way with the prophets. Foretelling the future was not their main vocation. That was simply their authentication for what was their main purpose, which was forthtelling the truth.

“And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lordhath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:21–22).

“Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: Yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together” (Isaiah 41:23).

The main thing is to believe the message, as Mary did and Zechariah did not.

It is noteworthy that in Scripture, there are three periods of clustered miracles—the time of Moses, the time of Elijah/Elisha, and the time of Christ and the apostles. This is because these were also times when revelation was being given in bulk (law, prophets, gospel). We should note the miracles because we are bent on accepting the message they authenticate—whether the law, the prophets, or the gospel.

BECOMING HIS MESSENGERS

The angels declared the message to astonished shepherds. The shepherds declared the message to astonished passers-by. This is a metaphor that can indicate to us how that particular torch has been passed from angels to men.

“For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels” (Hebrews 2:5, NKJV).

No, that world has been given to the sons of men, those who are in Christ, and so we have been charged to be the central messengers of this peace on earth, good will to men (Matt. 28:18-20). We are the angels being sent out to gather God’s elect from the four corners of the world (Matt. 24:31).

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