Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels – Readings

Commentary on Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 or Revelations 12:7-12; John 1:47-51

The Gospel reading from John is the scene in the beginning of his Gospel where Jesus meets Nathanael, who has been introduced to him by Philip. Nathanael who had somewhat sneeringly asked if anything good could come from Nazareth must have been somewhat surprised to hear Jesus say to him:

Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!

Of how many people can that be said (including ourselves)?

Puzzled, Nathanael asks Jesus:

Where did you get to know me?

Rather enigmatically Jesus tells him:

I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.

The fig tree was often seen as a symbol of messianic peace. They were words, then, of commendation. Nathanael, deeply impressed, tells Jesus:

Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!

This declaration is on a par with Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity, and concludes the list of Jesus’ titles which are given in this first chapter of John.

And yet Jesus says he will see much more:

Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these…Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

The allusion is clearly to the dream of Jacob who saw God’s angel-messengers going up and down on a ladder linking Heaven with Earth, God with his People. Jesus, as the Incarnate Son of God is the bridge which links God with his People. He is like a ladder by which God comes to his People and his People go to God.

In a sense Jesus is the Archangel of archangels, the Ultimate Messenger of God’s Truth and Love. Through Him God comes to us, and through Him we go to God.

There is a choice of two First Readings. The first is from the Book of Daniel and speaks of a vision that the prophet has of God on his Throne, which is described in graphic and apocalyptic language. Among other things we are told that:

A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

These are the angels who serve at God’s throne.

The second part of this reading is taken from the New Testament to refer to the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour King of Israel. He is said to be:

…one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven.

Some translations have it as “one like the son of man”.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.

This is an image that the Gospel will use to describe the return of the Risen Jesus at the end of time as he calls his people to himself (see Matt 25).

The alternative First Reading is from the Book of Revelation and speaks of Michael defeating Satan and the powers of evil, which was mentioned above. With the defeat of Satan:

…come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah…

These angels are symbols of God’s ever-loving relationship with us. It is a two-way communication. We listen to what God tells us and try to make it part of our lives. At the same time, we reach out to him in faith and trust and in a complete surrender of our being.

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Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

There are few explicit references to angels in the earlier books of the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament). The word ‘angel’ comes from the Greek angelos and simply means a ‘messenger’.

They begin to appear in the later books, for instance, in the Book of Daniel, and seem to date from after the Babylonian exile. However, in chapters 18 and 19 of the Book of Genesis, there are the three men who visit Abraham, who gives them hospitality. One of them seems to be Yahweh and the other two angels. While Yahweh stays with Abraham, the other two go on to Sodom. There they are received by Lot and while in his house, the people of Sodom come and demand intimate acts with his visitors. The next day, the visitors urge Lot to leave Sodom with his wife and two daughters. The city, along with Gomorrah is then destroyed.

As well, angels are mentioned in the story of Jacob, who had a dream of “angels of God ascending and descending” a stairway or ladder which reached to the heavens (Gen 28:12).

According to some Jewish texts, there were seven archangels, three of whom we remember in today’s feast—Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

Angels are mentioned frequently in the New Testament. Angels brought messages to Mary, Joseph, Zechariah (father of John the Baptist) and the shepherds at Bethlehem. There were angels ministering to Jesus during his fasting in the wilderness, consoling him during his Agony in the Garden, and standing at the tomb of Jesus after his resurrection. And it was an angel who freed Peter from prison in the Acts of the Apostles.

Only two references are made to ‘archangels’ in the New Testament—Michael in Jude 1:9, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 12:7-9; and Gabriel in Luke 1:26.

Michael
In Jude, the author is speaking against false teachers. He says they behave immorally and revile God’s “glorious ones”, perhaps a reference to angels. But unlike them, Michael in his dispute with Satan over the body of Moses never spoke judgement against him, but left it to God’s own decision.

In the First Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul is speaking about the Second Coming of Christ which he believes will come in the lifetime of the present believers. At that moment:

…the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(1 Thess 4:16)

The archangel here is understood to be Michael.

In the Book of Revelation chapter 12, in a passage speaking of the power of evil in opposition to God and his people, we are told:

…war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon [the powers of evil] and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. (Rev 12:7-9)

Evil could not prevail and was driven from the presence of God.

In the Hebrew language, ‘Michael’, means “Who is like unto God?” or “Who is equal to God?” Michael has been depicted from earliest Christian times as a commander, who holds in his right hand a spear with which he attacks Lucifer (Satan) and in his left hand a green palm branch. At the top of the spear there is a linen ribbon with a red cross.

Gabriel
The archangel Gabriel is mentioned just once in the whole Bible—in the New Testament (Luke 1:26-38). It is in the lovely scene in Nazareth where he visits the virgin called Mary and tells her that she will become pregnant, that she will bear a son who will be called Jesus, and that he will the Son of the Most High God. Mary, who is betrothed to Joseph, but not yet living with him as his wife, is alarmed. But she is assured that the Child will be born by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary then submits completely and unconditionally to God’s will:

Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)

‘Gabriel’ means “Man of God” or “Might of God”. He is regarded as the herald of the mysteries of God, especially the Incarnation of God and all other mysteries related to it. In art, he is depicted holding a lantern with a lighted taper in his right hand and, in his left, a mirror of green jasper. The mirror signifies the wisdom of God as a hidden mystery.

Raphael
The archangel Raphael appears in the lovely Book of Tobit (not found in the Hebrew Testament or many Protestant Bibles). The archangel is the unrecognised friend of Tobit who goes in search of his inheritance and a bride. The girl he finds is Sarah. Alarmingly, he discovers that all her previous husbands died on the wedding night. But God’s blessing was on this relationship. Raphael also helped Tobit catch the fish whose gall would cure his father’s cataracts and restore his sight.

‘Raphael’ means “God’s healing” or “God the Healer”, and he is depicted leading Tobit, who is carrying a fish caught in the Tigris in his right hand and holding a physician’s alabaster jar in his left.

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