Outside of Himself who would be the greatest of all the creatures God made? Who would be second in importance, rank, and honor next to Him? Wouldn't it seem like the angels should be second, next to Him? After all, they were probably created before man was, and they were created as different beings, not made of earthly flesh and blood like we. They are spirits who dwell with God in heaven and interact with Him in all that they do. They shine with godly glory and heavenly splendor. They sing the most beautiful of songs to Him. They are powerful enough to beat back the devil. They know things that we can't even begin to imagine. So, putting it all together, wouldn't you think that the angels are surely second in importance, rank, and honor to God?
Ah, but what does the Bible tell us? At one time Jesus called a little child to Him, placed the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.18:2f).
A grown man or woman who humbles him/herself in faith to the level of a little child is greatest in God's world.
Consider something else. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews ( 1:14 ) says about the angels' role: “Are not all angels ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels are servants who minister to believers. A servant serves one who is greater than he is. So, adding that to what Jesus said, wouldn't it be better to say that, at least in this sense, the humble Christian is greater than the angels in God's kingdom?
That's an astonishing fact of grace, also borne out by our text today. Here we again see the authority that Christ gave to His disciples. I wonder how the angels reacted to it.
The Lord Jesus had just sent 72 of His disciples out on a preaching tour on which they witnessed some very great things. Our text records for us Jesus' words as they excitedly reported to Him all that had taken place. We read….
I. As we think about what took place here, consider the following story. A kindergartner once asked his pastor: “Why are the angels smiling?” The pastor had been showing the class different items in the church and explaining their meaning to them. As he was explaining the various items, one of the children had fixed his eyes upon the sculpted angels that decorated the points where the high, overhead arches met their supporting columns at the wall. The little boy wasn't listening to the pastor, but was looking at the smile that was depicted on the face of each angel. Why were they smiling?
Why Do Angels Smile? Surely you can think of some reasons why the angels smile. They are present when God's people worship (1Co.11:10). That certainly must make them smile. They are happy when the news of God's salvation is proclaimed (Lk.2:10-11). And the Bible tells us that they rejoice greatly when a sinner is brought to repentance (Lk.15:10). That's why the angels smile. And we want to smile with them for the same reasons.
Think of it from the standpoint of the disciples in our text. Two by two the 72 returned from one of the first missions Christ gave them. They were bubbling over with excitement and joy. Eagerly they reported their success, capping it off by exclaiming, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.” Using our Lord's power, they had been able to cast demons out of people's lives – those angels whom God had once created holy, but then rebelled against Him and fell into sin. Now such demons are led by Satan, their evil captain, to destroy people on earth. But they had to submit when the disciples came in Jesus' name.
Actually, the disciples weren't telling Jesus anything new. In spirit, He had gone with them and witnessed their success over the powers of darkness. Through His eyes He had seen it as though Satan, like a great jagged bolt of lightning, was hurled to the ground from his seat of power in this fallen world. Just as God had promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after their fall, Christ had begun the crushing of Satan's head. He would finish the job on Calvary 's cross.
So, it was no accident that His disciples could subdue demons. Behind their victories stood Christ's upcoming victory over Satan. Because of that, they would be able to “overcome all the power of the enemy.” With these words Jesus was not promising them supernatural ability to walk over snakes and scorpions, but heavenly mastery over the devil and his angels. No matter how much those hellish forces would strive to inject their poison into human veins, the disciples would have the antidote in God's Word.
Like Martin Luther wrote in the hymn A Mighty Fortress, “Tho' devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us; we tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us; this world's prince may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none, he's judged the deed is done; one little word can fell him.” That word is “Christ.” Wield just that word and the devil falls before it.
So, dear friends, every time you hold a home devotion, bring your family to church, tell the gospel of Christ Jesus to loved ones or a neighbor – every time you wield God's saving Word, you cause Satan to topple. Every time you support Christ's church with your efforts, prayers, offerings, he falls again. With Jesus' power working through the Word growth is fostered here and across the world, in Springfield , Marshfield , St. Louis , Hong Kong and Japan . If it were possible for us to see this growth and report back to our Lord, like these disciples did, wouldn't it be with smiles on our faces and joy in our voices, too? And the Angels Smile with Us.
II. What we can do for Christ with His gospel causes us and the angels to rejoice. But even greater joy can be found not in what we do for Christ, but in what Christ has done for us. Jesus told the 72, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Not what we can do for the Lord Jesus but what the Lord Jesus has done for us is the best reason for smiling. What's He done?
He sums it up with a delightful picture used several times in the Bible. It's as if God keeps a family record in heaven. Have you ever seen a Bible that listed all the names of the close relatives in the front or middle? My grandma used to have one like that – a family Bible where all the names of the children and grandchildren were recorded on a family tree. That's the picture Christ uses.
Now, the omniscient Lord certainly doesn't need a written record because He knows who all His children are. Through their faith in the Savior, their names are written permanently in His loving memory. They are the redeemed, restored, forgiven children and heirs of heaven. That's more cause for rejoicing.
How did our names get there? Obviously, we had nothing to do with it. If we had our own way, our names would still be on Satan's register with an eternal room number in hell assigned, because we had sinned. But God in His grace wiped the believer's name off the devil's list, and recorded it above. Into this world and onto a cross He sent His own Son, more precious to Him than any thing else. He took on our flesh, He took on our sin, endured the full force of hell's fury for them, and overcame it all. Then He sent His Holy Spirit into our stony hearts to call us with the Gospel, enlighten us with His gifts, sanctify, and keep us in the true faith. That's how a believer's name gets recorded in heaven. God's golden pen, dipped in Christ's blood, puts it there. Should that not be our greatest reason for smiling with joy?
Imagine how the angels , who are already there, smile too when that happens. Again and again, with great delight, they watch as Satan falls like lightening from heaven - as his power is trampled on and his evil head is crushed – when a new-found believer turns from his way of sin, repents and clings to Christ Jesus for salvation. Oh, how the angels smiled with delight when that happened to you.
But you know, dear friend, we have every reason to smile even more broadly than the angels do. After all, we are those sinners whom Christ has called into His kingdom and whose names are written in heaven above, who are even now protected from the evil one by these messengers we call “angels.” Oh, how this all makes us smile in our faith. God grant us such faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.