Sunday, December 02, 2007

The Angel Who is a Shepherd

What kind of an angel carries a staff?

In Judges 6, Gideon is carrying out some surreptitious wheat threshing, and an angel appears to him, promising good in spite of the very bad circumstances the Israelites found themselves in.

Gideon correctly realizes that this is no ordinary angel, because he fears that he will die (vs. 23). This angel, this "angelos," this messenger is the pre-incarnate Son of God, Christ our Savior.

This angel carries a staff, something that only a shepherd would have (vs. 21). The angel uses the staff to receive Gideon's offering.

In a few weeks, we celebrate the taking of flesh by this Angel, this Son of God, our Savior. These are precious weeks, a time to prepare our hearts for God who slept in a cradle.

Welcome to Advent.

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