In this inquiry, let us remind ourselves that our goal should be and is to accurately understand what the Scriptures teach. Our goal is not to validate or defend “orthodoxy” or any doctrine or tradition or creed of the “church”. What we desire to know is what the Scritures teach.

Below we examine some reasons why we often believe that the Scriptures teach that Jesus was not an angel.

Reason 1:
Angels Are Servants but Jesus is A Son—the Son of God

Since Angels are servants, we think of Jesus being an Angel as incompatible with Jesus being Son of God and inappropriate, even blasphemous, to regard or call him one. We even find this inclinition in Christians who hate to be called servants of God and think it contradicts their being sons of God.

1. Scripturally, however, sons serve their fathers [Mal 3:17; Luk 15:29], therefore, Jesus being Son of God does not mean that he cannot and is not a servant.
2. Jesus serves the Father [Mat 4:10] and is called a servant of God—God calls him so [Mat 12:18ff.; Isa 49:5-6; 52:13; 53:11; Zec 3:8].
3. Although not often realized, Jesus’ death was actually an act of a servant becoming a bond-servant to God [Psa 40:6 cf,. Exo 21:5-6,2-6]. This means that he was a servant and that through his death he became bound to God.
4. Again, Jesus death and purchase of men was in service to God, it was in service to God that he was slain and bought men with his blood [Rev 5:9]
5. In fact, in serving those who will inherit salvation [Mat 20:28; Luk 22:27] Jesus plays the role of an angels for angels are “sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” [Heb 1:14]

While a servant may not be a son, Scripturally, a son is a servant of his father, therefore, sonship and servanthood are not incompatible. Therefore, Jesus being the Son of God does not exclude his being a servant to God. As a matter of Scriptural fact, Jesus is called a servant of God and plays the role of a servant to God his Father.

Reason 2:
Angels are A Class of Beings To Which Jesus and Men Do Not Belong

We often believe that “angels” refers only to a class of beings, and so only they can be rightly called “angels”. The record of scriptures, however, show that the title is more for describing function than for describing specie.

1. Names and titles in scriptures are meaningful. For example,
   1. “Adam” indicates the material from which man was made [Gen 2:7; 3:19]. Adam (אדם—'adam) was created from אֲדָמָה ('adamah), i.e., “earth” in Hebrew.
   2. “Woman” indicates the origin of women as being man [Gen 3:23,21-23].
   3. “Eve” indicates that the first woman was the one from whom all ‘life’, i.e., all human life, originated [Gen 3:20 cf., Gen 3:16].
   4. We could consider also Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Israel, etc.
   5. As for angel—mal'âk (מלאך) in Hebrew and aggelos (ἄγγελος) in Greek—it simply means “messenger”. It doesn’t reveal anything about origin or creation or destiny, rather it reveals a role, a function.
   The truth of scripture is that, though there is a class of creatures generally associated with “angel”, anyone or thing can be called an angel as long as it is sent.
2. When we think of angels we often think of celestial, spirit beings [Heb 1:7], but even men are called angels.
   1. John the Baptist is called an “aggelos”—translated “messenger”—in Scriptures [Mat 11:10; Mar 1:2; Luk 7:27]
   2. The men John the Baptist sent to Jesus were called “aggelos” [Luk 7:24]
   3. The disciples of Jesus whom he sent ahead of him to go and preach the gospel were called “aggelos” [Luk 9:52]
   4. James calls the spies sent to Jericho, whom Rahab hid, “aggelos” [Jas 2:25]
   5. God calls His priest, the Aaronic priests, “the mal'âk of Yahweh” [Mal 2:7]
   6. The people of Israel are called Yahweh’s “mal'âk” [Isa 42:19]
   7. The prophet Haggai calls himself “Yahweh’s mal'âk” [Hag 1:13]
3. When we think of angels, we usually think of God’s angels, however,
   1. Satan also has his own angels, i.e., his own messengers [Mat 25:41; Rev 12:7]. Demons are angels to Satan [2Co 12:7]
   2. And as we just saw above, John the Baptist (and Jesus Christ) had human angels

The title of angel is not inappropriate for Jesus as that is what he in fact is. If we realized that Jesus was in fact an angel, then we would naturally realize and consider him to be the greatest Angel of God.

Reason 3:
Jesus is Never Called an Angel

We often do not realize that Jesus is in fact an angel and is called an angel and so, in combination to the fact above, we are opposed to the idea of Jesus being an angel.

1. Since an angel of God is a messenger of God, then it means that Jesus is in fact an Angel of God because he was sent from God [Joh 3:34; 4:34; 5:23-24,30,36-38; 6:29,8-39,44,57; 7:16,28; 8:42]
2. The Septuagint translation of Isa 9:6 calls the Messiah, the Son to be born the “Aggelos of Great Counsel”.

Even if Jesus was not called an angel, he is in fact one, nevertheless, he is in fact called an angel.

Reason 4:
Jesus Has Inherited a Better Name than Angels

Since Hebrews contrast Jesus with angels and shows him to be far superior, we often, and quite easily, conclude that he was never and is not an angel.

1. Hebrews in fact starts out by comparing Jesus with prophets pointing out that he is far greater than them, nevertheless, Jesus is certainly a prophet [Mat 13:57; Mar 6:4; Luk 24:19-20; Joh 4:19; Deut 18:15-19; Joh 1:45; Act 3:22-23; 7:37]. Therefore, comparing him to angels does not automatically mean that he is not one himself.
2. Hebrews saying that Jesus has inherited a better name than angels does not in fact mean that Jesus does not bear the name they bear. As we have seen, the names “Son of God” and “Angel of God” are not mutually exclusive names or titles—because you bear one does not mean you cannot bear the other at the same time. One person can bear both names.
   1. That Hebrews does not have mutual exclusivity in mind can be seen from the fact that the description of angels he points out—“wind… and flames of fire” [Heb 1:7; Psa 104:4; 2Ki 2:11; 6:17; Dan 10:6]—is true even of Father, how much more Jesus.
   2. The Father is a “spirit” [Joh 4:24] or wind [Joh 3:8] and is a fire, the Consuming Fire [Heb 12:29; Deut 4:24; Exo 24:17; Eze 1:27-28; Dan 7:9-10; Rev 4:3].
   3. Of course, since Jesus is the “the exact representation of his being” [Heb 1:3], then he is certainly a spirit [1Co 15:45] and a consuming fire [Rev 1:14-15].
3. Jesus has a better name than prophets, nevertheless, he is a prophet. Jesus has a better name than men, nevertheless, he is a man. Jesus has a better name than angels does not mean that he does not bear the name angel it only means no angel bears the name “Son of God” which he bears.

Reason 5:
Jesus Cannot Be an Angel Since Angels are Not To be Worshiped

The scriptures condemn the worship of angels [Col 2:18; Rev 19:10; 22:8-9]. Jesus, however, is to be worshiped [Mat 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9,17; Act 13:2]. For example, God commands all His angels to worship Jesus [Heb 1:6].

1. Though Jesus is worshiped, it does not mean that he is not a man for he certainly was [Joh 1:14; 1Jo 4:2; 2Jo 1:7] and is [1Ti 2:5; Heb 2:17]. Now, just as angels are not to be worshiped so too are men not to be worshiped [Act 10:25-26; 14:11-15]. Therefore, if worshiping Jesus does not mean he is not a man then, worshiping him, by itself does not mean that he is not an angel.
2. Since the Law of Moses which forbids the worship of other “gods” [Exo 20:3] and permits only the worship of God [Deut 6:13-14; Mat 4:10], it quite clearly forbids the worship of angels. Jesus, quoting the Law of Moses rejected the worship of Satan [Mat 4:10]. Yet, while still camped at Mount Sinai, shortly after the giving of the command, the people of Israel worshiped the Angel of Yahweh who was in the pillar of cloud and fire [Exo 33:9-10].
   1. This, significantly, was during the lifetime of Moses, certainly with his knowledge and so evidently with his approval.
   2. Joshua also worshiped the Angel of Yahweh, the Captain of the Hosts [Jos 5:14-15].
   3. Clearly, the Angel of Yahweh is not included among the angels that are not to be worshiped. Clearly, since God alone is to be worshiped, it means that the Angel of Yahweh is considered to be “God”.
3. Understanding why angels are not to be worshiped makes it clear why Jesus as a man or angel can be worshiped. Jesus was worshiped because he was the Son of God, the King [Mat 14:33; Joh 9:38]. The reason why angels and men and other creatures are not to be worshiped is not because of who/what they are but because of who/what they are not. They are not “God” but Jesus is God [Joh 1:1; Heb 1:1-2].
   1. The events in Lystra confirms that the reason why Jesus can be worshiped is because he is God who took on human form [Act 14:11-15]. Being human form is not why Paul and Barnabas were not to be worshiped but not being God. Since Jesus, though a man, can be worshiped, it means that Jesus was a God come down in human form. Careful considered, the account and Paul’s words show that he believed that Jesus was a God who had come down in human form.

The command not to worship angels and other gods does not mean that Jesus is not an angel.

Reason 6:
The Word Spoken by Angels vs. the Word of the Son of God

Hebrews seems to plainly imply that Jesus is not an angel and was never an angel,

“For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, ₃how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord…” [Heb 2:2-3]

This question may not be straightforward to answer, so let us consider the following observations,

1. First, let us acknowledge he connection between connection of Jesus’ sonship to his humanity. In Hebrews, and really, in Scriptures, the Sonship of Christ Jesus rests on his humanity—his humanity is essential to the reason why he is heir. In other words, if Jesus was not a man, he wouldn’t be a heir [Heb 2:5-9] and if he wasn’t a heir, he wouldn’t really be a Son [Gal 4:1—(inheritance is what really marks a son in the family)]. If we may put in very strong terms, “Jesus was not really a Son of God before his humanity”.
   1. First, inheritance is what really marks a son in a family [Gal 4:1]. We usually think of a family or household as father, mother and children. However, in scriptures, a family or household includes servants as well [Joh 8:35; Gen 14:14; 17:12-13]. In the family, inheritance is what practically and meaningfully marks the sons [Gen 21:10; Gal 4:30; Gen 31:14-15; Pro 12:22; 17:2].
   2. It is to men that God has given the world (to come) [Heb 2:5-9; Psa 8:3-6; Gen 1:26,28; Psa 115:16]. In other words, only men can be heirs—only men can be sons. Therefore, since sonship is about heirship, for anyone, even Christ, to be a heir of the world, he must be a man.
   3. Therefore, until Jesus became a man, even though he had the glory and power, he was not a Son since he couldn’t have been a heir. Therefore, though the same person, Christ from his humanity forward and Christ before his humanity are not really the same.
2. Now, let us observe that while Hebrews acknowledges Jesus as having existed before his humanity and having spoken words before, for example he created all things, Hebrews only really makes reference to his words as a human, as the Son of God. In other words, Hebrews and others never include the pre-human words of Jesus when speaking of the words of Jesus, yet they teach and acknowledge that Jesus actively existed before his humanity.
   1. “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” [Heb 1:2]. Yet, this does not mean that God never spoke to us through Jesus [Joh 8:39-40,56-58]
   2. Having become a man and died, “…he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” [Heb 1:4]
   3. It is as a man that was faithful as a son over God’s house [Heb 3:5-6 , Heb 2:17; 4:14-15]
   4. It was as a man that God declared Jesus to be his Son and appointed him as high priest [Heb 5:1,5; 1:5]
   5. Focusing on his earthly ministry, Hebrews speaks of the consequence of disobeying Jesus [Heb 10:28-29; 12:25]
   6. It almost feels like Jesus never had a relationship with men until his humanity, yet this is not the case [Joh 1:10-11; 8:39-40,56-58; 1Co 10:3-4; Eph 2:12]
3. So, since the focus of Hebrews is on Jesus’ words as Son of God, and he wasn’t really Son of God before his humanity, then this does not mean that Jesus was not an Angel of God.

In conclusion, these words of Hebrews do not require Jesus not to have been an angel, they only require him to be the Son of God.

In similar manner, when Paul writes that he was “sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ…” [Gal 1:1], or when he writes that he did not receive the gospel he preached from any man but by revelation from Christ [Gal 1:12], he does not mean that Jesus is not a man.

Conclusion

There is really no scripture that teaches that Jesus Christ was not an angel.

So, since in the book of Hebrews, Jesus was not a Son before his humanity, what was he before?