Angels are ubiquitous in Christmas imagery. The artistic
representations are often feminine, though where gender is ascribed to angels in
the Bible it is male, but the teaching material specifies they are without
gender in the sense we think of it. Angels do appear in both Matthew and Luke’s
nativity accounts. As we have been doing all through these twelve days, I
suggest paying attention to just what the text says and try to avoid cliché and
stereotype imagery. To start you on your exploration, I will observe that the
angels in Matthew appear in dreams, and those in Luke seem to appear in person.
Joseph gets a visit in Matthew and Mary in Luke. But they are not the only
ones. You’ll have to go back into Luke 1 to get all of the angels there.
So on this final day of the Twelve Days of Christmas, read
both Matthew and Luke to see only and exactly what they both say about the
angels and their roles in the story of Jesus’ birth. As you reflect on that,
consider all you have encountered since Christmas began on December 25. How has
your appreciation of the Christmas story been enriched? How has God encountered
you? How have you been changed?
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