Luke 1:11-17 – And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
The Son of God was born as a baby to Joseph and Mary, taking the battle from heaven to earth. God sent an angel to tell them Jesus was coming. Can you imagine the enormity of this experience? No one ever went to the backwater town of Nazareth. Then an angel showed up to announce the choice of an unlikely young woman for the most important task ever assigned to any mere mortal.
This was just the beginning of angelic ministry in the life of Jesus. In fact, angels served in Jesus’ earthly life in thirteen ways:
- An angel promised the birth and ministry of John the Baptizer.
- An angel named Jesus.
- An angel told Mary she was chosen to be Jesus’ virgin mother
- An angel told Mary and Joseph to parent Jesus.
- Angels told the shepherds Jesus was born.
- Angels worshipped Jesus at His birth.
- Angels warned Jesus’ parents of the coming genocide so they could flee to Egypt.
- Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation battle with Satan.
- An angel strengthened Jesus in Gethsemane before the cross.
- An angel rolled the stone away from Jesus’ tomb.
- An angel told two women at the empty tomb that Jesus had risen.
- Two angels comforted Mary Magdalene and reunited her with Jesus.
- Angels promised that Jesus would be coming again.
And still yet to come, angels will declare Jesus’ victory and ride into history with Him for war in the end.
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For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series (starting Sept. 29) from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.