The Good News of Salvation announced by the Angels of God

 The beginning of the new year is a joyful period which focuses on the birth of the Lord Jesus and on his early life. The main message is that Jesus, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary so that humanity could be saved from sin so that the plan of God for humanity to enjoy eternal life forever at the end of time could be fulfilled.

But who were the first messengers of this Good News? They were not human messengers but angels of God, spiritual beings, created by God. They were given the task to be messengers of this Good News to humanity.

Let us look at the passage from Luke 1, 30 -32 which states that the messenger is Gabriel (Luke 1,26) the angel sent by God to Nazareth where Mary lived:

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

When Blessed Mary heard the message from the angel of God, she responded in humble faith and she conceived Jesus, the Son of God in her virgin womb.

At that time, Joseph, who was engaged to the Blessed Virgin Mary, decided to separate from Mary when he realised that Mary was with child. Now let us look at the passage from Matthew 1, 20-21

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 

It was not a human person that told Joseph about the identity of the Child but an angel of God and thus with humble faith he changed his mind and took Mary home as his wife.

After the Blessed Virgin Mary had given birth to the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem, it was an angel that appeared to the shepherds and announced to them the birth of the Lord. We read about this in Luke 2, 9-11:

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

These angels, spiritual messengers of God, are not limited by space and time like us human beings. There are no material barriers which can prevent angels from doing what they are sent to do in this world. God makes sure that the Good News of Jesus Christ is announced to the world and no human power can prevent the angels from fulfilling this task.

After the crucifixion and burial when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, we read in Luke 24, 2 - 5

 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

Again it was the angels who announced that Jesus is risen from the dead. God did not depend on human messengers to make the first announcement of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

This reflection is important for us who struggle in our Christian faith because of the many human voices that are continually sending out messages which stifle the Good News and often undermine Christ’s saving powerful love. This is particularly true today in this age of deliberate misleading social media influencers and the technological manipulation of artificial intelligence in creating fake news. And in addition to this worldly confusion, there is the problem of the silence of many good people who feel powerless. So many good people feel overwhelmed by the direction that the world is taking in removing Christian faith from public discourse and even by punishing and marginalising people who follow the moral teachings of the Lord Jesus in their work- places. 

But we must take courage and not allow the worldly powers to undermine what we know to be true and eternal in the revelation of Jesus Christ. We must not allow the noise of the worldly and the silence of the good people to rob us of the greatest message and blessing made known to humanity, made known to us through the angels of God.

During this new year of 2024, let us listen anew to the message of salvation being announced to us from God through the angels, the heavenly hosts, which no worldly or human power can hide or silence. God makes sure that the Good News of Jesus Christ is announced to the world and no human power can prevent this message from reaching us. This encourages us never to give up on our faith and witness of life in the Spirit of Christ. It is a divine message which we have received and no worldly power, no matter how great, can silence it.

Let us listen to the song of the angelic hosts and the response of the shepherds in Luke 2,14-15:

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”  

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 

May the Lord confirm this divine message in your life, wipe away your sins and bless you with the peace of the Lord Jesus who is risen from the dead, now and forever.

Bishop Joao Rodrigues