Luke 1:5-20
Christmas Through Angel Eyes
\\#11\\ An angel appeared to Zacharias.
1. Angels are not recycled human beings.
a. We must be careful about getting our theology from TV.
b. It’s A Wonderful Life, Highway to Heaven, Touched by An
Angel are all wholesome entertainment, but they are not
sources for Christian beliefs.
2. Angels are unique beings created to serve God.
a. Only two are named, Gabriel and Michael
\\#Da 10:13,21 12:1 Jude 1:9 Re 12:7\\.
b. Gabriel was first mentioned in \\#Dan 8:16, 9:21\\.
c. That’s more than 500 years before Jesus’ birth.
3. Some angels stand in the presence of God to do His bidding.
Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which
stood before God…
Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was
afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved
them:…
a. Perhaps Gabriel is one of those angels.
b. Perhaps he is one of the archangels.
c. Perhaps his service to God is to deliver messages.
(1) We know he delivered two messages to Daniel.
(2) We know he delivered a message to Zacharias.
(3) We know he delivered a message to Mary
\\#Luke 1:26\\.
(4) It seems likely that Gabriel would have taken the
corresponding message to Joseph \\#Matt 1:20\\.
(5) Maybe even to the shepherds.
d. Perhaps Gabriel duty is to tell man what God is doing.
Tonight, let’s look at Christmas from angel’s eyes. Let’s see what
they see and if possible, think what they may have thought. Who
knows? We might even be following Gabriel around as he delivered
the Christmas messages.
I. \\#Luke 1:18-22\\ The Angel to Zacharias
A. Who is the man Zacharias?
1. \\#4\\ He was a very good man, a very godly man.
Luke 1:6 And they were both (Zacharias and his
wife) righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord
blameless.
a. "righteous"
b. "walking in ALL the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord"
c. "blameless"
d. You cannot get higher marks than those and you can
find a harder school in which to get those marks than
the Bible!
2. Not only so, but he displayed good sense.
Luke 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was
troubled, and fear fell upon him.
a. Some boast of their courage.
b. "I would not be afraid of an angel."
c. Yeah and you are crazy too.
d. Angels are holy beings wielding the power of God and
if one appears I suggest you duck.
e. This holy man was a thinking man with good common
sense.
3. Yet, he doubted what the angel told him.
Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel,
Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man,
and my wife well stricken in years.
a. Here is the man who first trembled at the appearance
of the angel, but now dares to challenge the angel’s
word.
(1) Zacharias was better off when he trembled.
(2) He had lost his fear and his good sense.
b. For doing so, Zacharias would be stricken mute, unable
to speak until his son would be born.
Luke 1:20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and
not able to speak, until the day that these
things shall be performed, BECAUSE thou believest
not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their
season.
B. What must the angel have thought of the human race when he
heard Zacharias’s reply?
1. I don’t know, but my guess would be, "How unbelieving
these humans are? How filled with doubt?"
2. This would have been something that Gabriel never saw in
heaven.
a. Heaven’s angels are totally loyal and obedient.
b. I cannot imagine an angel questioning what God said.
c. An angel would receive and it believer it, but not a
human being.
d. Not even a good human being who was righteous, who had
walked in ALL the commandments and ordinances of God,
who was blameless, who showed good sense!
e. Zacharias was one of the best of us!
f. How the angel must have shook his head in wonder as he
left Zachariah in the temple, wondering "How unbelieving
these people are!"
II. \\#Luke 1:26-38\\ The Angel to Mary
A. For the sake of time, I will not read the whole story just the
verse that I believe would have left the biggest impression
the angel, Gabriel.
Luke 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.
1. Of course there is so much that we do not know about Mary.
a. How old was she?
(1) Most believe she was a teenager,
(2) Perhaps very young, 15 or 16 years old.
b. Who were her parents? What did they think about all
of this?
(1) They are never mentioned.
(2) Most probably since they are never mentioned,
they had died and Mary was staying with some
other family.
c. Did Mary understand what she was volunteering for?
(1) Probably not everything.
(2) That would be a lot to understand, and I am not
sure any human brain could process that fast.
(3) But we know that she understood she was to be
"with child" and "without a husband" because she
asked Gabriel how this was possible.
Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How
shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
2. Some might ask, "Was Mary doubting when she asked her
question as Zacharias had doubt when he asked his?"
a. I don’t think.
b. Zachariah had nothing special he had to do with the
message he received, but Mary needed to know if she
was or was not to participate in this conceiving
process.
c. By the way, Gabriel told Mary she was NOT to
participate.
(1) God would take care of anything.
(2) She was to be the vessel.
(3) God would take care of the conceiving.
B. What must Gabriel thought as he listened to Mary’s reply?
1. Again we don’t know for sure, but my take on it would be,
"How willing!"
2. Here was a young lady who was willing to follow God
knowing the price would be high, but not even interested
in taking the time to count all they were.
3. Here was a woman who had concluded, "If there is a God, He
is worth everything!"
C. What might the angel Gabriel have thought as he returned to
his heavenly perch, "My! How willing!"
III. \\#Matt 1:18-25\\ The Angel to Joseph
A. Again, I won’t read all of the verses relating to this
encounter.
B. Although Mary and Joseph were linked together (they were
already legally married), they were on two opposite sides of
this issue.
1. Mary felt pregnant and Joseph felt betrayed.
2. Mary KNEW what was going on and had no question. Joseph
THOUGHT he knew what was going on and was filled with
questions.
3. Mary made her decision instantly, but Joseph had been
thinking night and day on what he should do.
C. It is not hard to figure out what Joseph was thinking about.
1. He knew Mary was pregnant.
2. He knew he had nothing to do with it.
3. All Mary had to say about it was that an angel named
Gabriel said it was of God.
D. I imagine these thoughts had been on his mind day and night
for some time.
1. The Bible says an angel appeared to him in a dream, but
for a man with these thoughts, that doesn’t mean it was
at night.
2. I tend to believe it was not.
E. An angel appears to Joseph in his dream.
1. Not sure how God does that. Not sure how God does
anything!
2. But in the place where Joseph is most troubled, his mind,
the angel appears with a message.
3. The angel’s name is not mentioned, but he gave to Joseph
the assurance that Mary was undefiled and that she was
with Child by the degree and act of the Almighty.
4. And the angel of God made a suggestion.
Matt 1:20 …fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife…
a. I am not sure if that is officially a command or not.
b. But even if it is just a suggestion, a suggestion from
God ought to be obeyed and this one was.
Matt 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep
did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and
took unto him his wife:
(1) The Bible did not say "When Joseph awoke…"
(2) It says, "Joseph being raised…"
(3) The angel not only delivered the message but woke
Joseph up, as in Joseph, you go marry that girl
right now.
(a) And I think he did.
(b) Joseph cinched his tunic, combed out his
beard, went to Mary’s house, and took her
to the church.
F. What might the angel have thought as he watched what Joseph
did from heaven’s front-row seats?
1. I don’t know for sure but from my prospective, I would be
thinking, "How obedient!"
2. This man knew what marrying Mary would cost.
3. Unlike Mary, he had plenty of time to think about it.
4. He was one of those who was inflicting the payment upon
Mary, and after having done so, I am sure he could not
wait to get under that heavy load with Mary to help her
bear it.
5. And, in my mind, I see Joseph rushing to the altar to be
married.
G. "How obedient!" this man is.
1. Would it not be good if we could impress every Christian
not just to obey but to obey immediately?
2. It is a wonderful thing to have obedient children, but it
is even better to have instantly obedient children.
3. Let’s impress an angel today with our quick obedience to
the Lord.
IV. \\#Luke 2:8-12\\ The Angel to the Shepherds
A. A single angel came first with a message \\#9\\ to be followed
by a host of angels \\#13\\.
1. No names are mentioned for the angels, but it could easily
be Gabriel, our messenger angel.
a. The message was simple and straight forward.
b. The One who is Christ, Savior, and Lord is born in the
city of David, which would be Bethlehem.
2. No command was given for them to go, but the suggestion
was made.
a. You cannot "find the babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manager" if you don’t go.
b. A suggestion from God should be obeyed.
B. As suddenly as the angel came, the angels left.
1. What might the angels have thought of these shepherds
after delivering to them their message?
2. We can’t know for certain, but I would be thinking, "How
blessed!"
a. The human race sinned against their Creator, but now
the Creator dons human flesh to restore them. How
blessed!
b. To reveal God’s plan to them, the Creator will walk
among them, teach them, and heal and help them. How
blessed!
c. And then the Creator will pay the ultimate price.
(1) He will be beaten, tortured, and barbarically
crucified by the very ones He came to love and to
save.
(2) How blessed. How blessed! HOW BLESSED!
3. The angels, although far more intelligent than us, cannot
comprehend the love God has for us or the sacrifice He
made, but then—neither can we!
a. When we think we understand it, we don’t.
b. God’s love and sacrifice is too big for smaller minds
to understand.
c. But one thing the angels and humans should be able to
agree upon, we are blessed!
C. What might be seen of Christmas through angel’s eyes?
1. How blessed the human race is.
2. More than any other beings that God has created!
V. \\#Matt 2:13\\ The Angel about Herod
Matt 2:13 And when they (the wisemen) were
departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth
to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the
young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt,
and be thou there until I bring thee word: for
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
A. Here the angel appeared to Joseph but the message delivered
was a warning about someone else, about King Herod.
1. Once again, the messenger angel did not introduce himself.
2. That is not unusual.
3. Angels are servants not egotists.
B. The message was for Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt, taking
the Baby Jesus with them for Herod would try to kill the
Baby.
1. What might the angel have thought as he delivered that
message?
2. I don’t know for certain, but I don’t think it would take
guesses for us to get it.
3. How evil!
a. How evil is this Herod who would kill any child!
b. How evil and foolish is this Herod who thinks he can
kill God!
c. How evil this race of beings is!
4. I do not think this would be the first time God’s angels
have thought this of us. Our sins against one another
and God are so great that we are surely known by our
wickedness throughout the corridors of heaven.
5. Neither do I think this was the last time God’s angels had
cause to think this of our species.
a. If they watched what we did around Jesus…
b. If they watched what we did to Jesus…
c. If they watched what we have done since Jesus left…
d. Then sure they have thought more times than can be
counted, "How evil!"
C. And what of tonight?
1. Having heard afresh who Jesus is.
2. Having heard afresh what Jesus came to do.
3. Having heard afresh what Jesus offers.
4. Could we be so evil as to turn our backs and coldly walk
away?
5. Could we celebrate another Christ-less Christmas?
6. Could we celebrate a Christmas knowing that we are not
yielded to the Christ?
7. What must the angels think? "How evil!"
Christmas though angel’s eyes. What must it look it like to them?
Even more important, what does it look like to Jesus?
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