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What would Christmas be without angelic hosts to proclaim the Saviour’s birth, watching in awe as “He became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In his book, Come Thirsty, Max Lucado tells us that wherever you see them in the pages of Scripture, and there are more than 300 listings, the adjectives that most describe them are these: many and mighty. He says “Angel study is Biblical whale watching. Angels surface just long enough to grant a glimpse and raise a question but then disappear before we have a full view.” Unlike our modern view, they are not magical servants who find lost keys and rescue wandering pets or other mundane chores. No, the angels of Scripture are heavenly messengers who are always about their assigned tasks.

Over and over we read of “thousands and thousands of angels” in joyful assembly (Heb.12:22), coming down from Sinai (Deut. 33:2) and “ten thousand times ten thousand” pictured coming with the Lord in Revelation 5:11. They offer unending praise before the heavenly throne and rejoice as sinners repent and come to salvation (Luke 15:10), and from time to time they reveal themselves to us. They are the many, and they are also the mighty.

2 Thessalonians 1:7 tells us that Christ “will come with his mighty angels,” and the word for mighty is dunameos in Greek, the word from which we get dynamite—tremendous power in a small package. Over in Psalms, David said that angels were “mighty creatures who carry out His plans” (Ps.103:20). They exist to do God’s bidding, and they are at work, among us, even to this day. They are His ministering spirits, and they “watch over us wherever we go” (Psalm 91:11).

But most of all, angels exist, not for their own purpose, or reputation, or accomplishment, or glory…but solely to glorify the One who created them and do His will. Maybe, with all the “angelic” reminders this holiday season, we can purpose in our hearts to follow their good example as we go about our daily life. Maybe, just maybe, we can keep the focus where it belongs this Christmas season: on the Christ of Christmas!