Prepare for Christmas: The Fourth Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

And when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” Hebrews 1:6

The heading in one of my Bibles entitles this portion of Hebrews 1, “The Son Superior to the Angels.” I don’t usually read the headings too carefully. I know that they are not part of the inspired text but are additions by some editing team, there to help us in our study, and I appreciate that, but I still often skip them. This time, however, I did not skip over the heading.

Have you ever wondered about the angels at Christmas. I have. Luke says, “And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.’” I’ve wondered how much the angels know in advance about what is going on in the world. How do they get to the right places at the right times? A lot of times when I have had a near accident or come close to something tragic, I feel sure divine intervention has taken care of me. When Peter was in prison and the disciples were praying for him, remember the little girl, Rhoda, who went to answer a knock at the door? There stood Peter, freed from prison, but she wouldn’t open the door. Instead she ran back to those praying for Peter and announced, “He looked like Peter.” And they responded, “It must have been his angel!”

So, do we all have an angel? Are they always there? How do they know when we need them? I don’t think we have to wonder how they got to Bethlehem on that Christmas morn. According to our text today, God had ordained not just a choir of angels but “all of God’s angels” to worship him.

Babies were born all the time, but a king’s birth was celebrated with pomp and circumstance. God planned an humble but glorious entry for his Priest/King Son. Imagine the sight and sound the shepherds witnessed! All the angels of heaven filled the air with their brilliance and their song! Wouldn’t David Lemly love to direct such a choir? No wonder the shepherds were, as the King James Version of the Bible says, “sore afraid!” God planned an humble but glorious entry for his Son, our Priest/King!

Prayer: Father, as we try to comprehend the enormity of this holy birth, fill our hearts so with gratitude that we, too, will sing with joy and gusto, “Glory to God in the highest.” Amen

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

messiahcob.com