Return to the Beginning

In Lesson 1, we began with this:

"Right now, as you read this, a being of pure intelligence that has existed since before the first star was formed — a being that knows more about the structure of creation than the greatest scientist who ever lived — is present with you."

We called it the teaching of the Church, and we said it was not poetry. Eighteen lessons later, we can say something more specific:

That being belongs to the ninth choir of a nine-choir hierarchy that includes the Seraphim who burn before the throne of God, the Cherubim who have guarded the sacred since Eden, the Thrones who embody the stability of divine justice, the Dominations who direct the governance of all creation, the Virtues who sustain every physical law and execute every miracle, the Powers who defend the cosmic order, the Principalities who guard nations and the Church itself, and the Archangels who were created for the most important missions in the history of creation.

All of that — the entire cosmic structure of nine choirs in three hierarchies — culminates in one angel, assigned to one person, standing beside you in this moment.

The map is now complete. Let us read it one final time.

The New Testament: Angels at Every Pivotal Moment

The Old Testament prepared. The New Testament fulfills.

The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38). Gabriel — created for this moment before time began — comes to Nazareth. Mary says yes. The Word becomes flesh. The most important event in the history of creation is initiated by the delivery of a message by a created being.

The Birth of John (Luke 1:11-20). Gabriel appears to Zechariah during the incense offering in the Temple — at the precise moment of the daily liturgy. Heaven's message arrives at the meeting point of human prayer.

The Nativity (Luke 2:8-14). An angel announces the birth to the shepherds — the marginalized, the night-workers, the ones who are not in the Temple. Then the "multitude of the heavenly host" appears, praising God. The Incarnation is met with an angelic choir. The first announcement of the Gospel is an angelic concert.

The Flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13). An angel warns Joseph in a dream. The infant God is protected by the intervention of an angel.

The Temptation (Matthew 4:11). After forty days in the desert, "angels came and were ministering to him." The Son of God, in His human nature, was sustained by angels. What Elijah received under the broom tree, Jesus received in the wilderness.

Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). "There appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him." At the most agonizing hour in human history, in the garden where the entire weight of sin was being taken up, an angel was sent to strengthen the Savior. The Seraphim who had burned before Him since the beginning of time; the Cherubim who had guarded the sacred since Eden; the Thrones, the Dominations, the Virtues, the Powers, the Principalities, the Archangels — all of them present, in some sense, in that garden. And one was sent.

The Resurrection (Matthew 28:2-7). An angel rolls back the stone. His appearance is like lightning; his clothing white as snow. The guards become like dead men. And the angel says the words that define the entire Christian proclamation:

Matthew 28:6 "He is not here, for he has risen, as he said."

The resurrection is announced by an angel. The being created at the beginning of time, present at creation's first dawn of praise, is there at the dawn of the new creation to announce it.

The Ascension (Acts 1:10-11). Two angels in white appear: "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go." The promise of the return. The Church begins its waiting — and is told by angels that the waiting will end.

The Church in Acts. Peter freed from prison (Acts 5:19); Cornelius directed to send for Peter, beginning the Gentile mission (Acts 10:3); Peter freed again (Acts 12:7). The early Church in its most vulnerable years is protected, directed, and sustained by angelic intervention. The Principality of the Church is not absent.