Wednesday, April
19, 2017
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from
heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.
His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him,
and they fell into a dead faint. Matthew
28:1-4(NLT)
Are angels softly playing violins in the
background to put the baby to sleep? Or
are they robustly fierce enough to make battle-hardened Roman soldiers faint?
I have to confess that every time I see an
angel depicted as a harp-strumming effete, I wonder if the artist ever actually
read the Bible. Angels are never characterized
in Scripture as weak or
dainty; rather they’re warrior-like. They serve God around the throne, but they
are also sent on missions that involve battle with demons and the unseen
powers.
If the little cute statues sold in curio shops
and other places you find trinkets actually represented real angels, frankly I’d
have a bit of a problem thinking Jacob wrestled all night with one at Jabbok,
or had a three day slug-fest with Satan.
· Macy’s
will sell you a shapely feminine Waterford™ crystal
angel for $130, free shipping, of course
Now, I’m
not really angry at the merchandisers; it’s their job to sell stuff. My real problem is how gullible and unknowing
we can be to surround ourselves with such nonsense.
I have
often thought of the psychological reasons we want insipid, non-threatening
angels anyway. Perhaps every time you
look at it there is a warm and fuzzy feeling that you’re connected with sweet goodness
and a candy-cane God Who would never hurt you and always give you what you want.
Hmmmmm…gotta
be a problem with that; do you remember the golden calf Aaron constructed while
Moses was up on the mountain receiving instructions from the real God? When Moses came back down from the mountain a
lot of people who wanted that comforting calf-god died, swallowed up in the pit
along with the idol.
Well, I’d rather take my chances with warrior
angels, thank you.
For You Today
It’s always a good thing to
examine the “what, where, why, how and when” you do what you do; God is more
than willing for the conversation.
NOTES
I Title
image: William-Adolphe
Bouguereau [Public domain], via Wikimedia
Commons and Gustave Doré, via Wikimedia
Commons
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