Angels Tutorial - preface to discussing Michael

Michael

The archangel Michael is mentioned in three places in the Bible. Before discussing him overall, I’d like to explain the most mystifying passage about him:

Jude 1: 8-9
In like manner do these men also defile the flesh, disregard authority, deride majesty. Yet when Michael the archangel was fiercely disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, he did not venture to bring against him an accusation of blasphemy, but said, “May the Lord rebuke thee.”

Here is what happened between Michael and the devil about Moses, and how St. Jude came to obtain this knowledge.

As you know, Moses died before reaching the Promised Land, although he did see Canaan from the top of the mountain Nebo. He is buried there in the land of Moab, in a valley, by the Lord himself with his own hands, and his tomb remains an unknown place and will not be located. When Moses died the devil saw an incredible opportunity. He began to spread among the Israelites the notion that God was being “unjust” in not letting Moses enter the Promised Land in honor. The devil hoped to sow not only dissension and deceit against the word of God, and disbelief, but he also hoped to persuade the Israelites to actually tarry until they had found Moses’ body, dug him up, and “took him in honor to the Promised Land,” carried by the Israelites. Not only would people sin and disbelieve even more (if they bought into the argument that God was “unfair” to even his greatest servant Moses), but the devil also hoped that a dead body would become a revered object of worship. It is to this purpose he wished to place Moses, through the hands of the Israelites, not through his own magical abilities, since of course he cannot do any such thing; he must always work through humans. Michael responded in kind. This is why Jude relates that Michael did not accuse the devil of blasphemy, but was “fiercely disputing.” Michael spoke through Aaron and the other faithful to oppose this temptation. The temptation was overcome after people argued among themselves, and they moved on as God willed.

Now, when Jesus lived, he went up a mountain with Peter, James, and John, where Jesus was transfigured.

Matthew 17:3 And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Now read very carefully these passages:

Matthew 17:9-10 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” And his disciples asked him, saying ‘Why then say the scribes, that Elias must come first?”

Jesus told the three apostles not to tell the vision to no "man," but Jesus did not mean that they could not tell the other apostles, and even other disciples. Jesus did not want the general populace to know about the reappearance of Moses and Elias because they would have run with this, interpreting the news all sorts of crazy ways, and no longer let Jesus' ministry unfold as it was intended to. So the transfiguration and the appearance of Moses and Elias was freely discussed among the apostles and disciples. We know this because the first question that Matthew records is from “his disciples” about Elias; he is not recording a question from Peter, James or John. So the appearance of Moses and Elias was a great source of conversation and questions between Jesus and the apostles/disciples, and of course Jude was there. This is how Jude learned about what happened to Moses, because in the course of trying to understand whether Moses was a resurrected body or a spirit, Jesus explained to them that Moses’ body is still buried where God laid him to rest in Moab. Jesus also told them that the devil had strove to persuade the people to find Moses’ body and defy God’s will, break their faith, and build their resentment against God. The purpose of Jesus telling them this was to help them to recognize more clearly how the devil works. Jesus had just recently instructed them in the devil’s ways when he explained how the temptation of Jesus by the devil in the desert transpired. The devil often works to seem more “fair” than God, and to stir up false grievance and resentment against God. The devil tried that when Jesus was fasting, by implying that Jesus should have rule over earth and more food and comforts, just as he was fasting. The devil tried to look more considerate toward Jesus’ needs than God! So Jesus told the apostles and disciples when the subject came up of whether Moses was resurrected dead or a spirit from heaven in order to provide them with another example of how subtly the devil works, and seeks to look “fairer” and more “just” and “kind” than God. Because this was not new teaching, but considered part of the general instruction of the apostles and disciples, it was not made a point of the gospels. But it made a great impression on St. Jude.

This is part of the origin of St. Jude’s strong intercession when things are “impossible,” because he was known among the apostles and disciples as being, how should I put this…. He had a personality that was interested in hearing the gospel of Jesus that highlights how nothing is impossible through God. It was kind of his special inspiration as a man, and as a follower of Jesus, to attend most closely to those parts of the gospel that bolstered faith in even the direst of circumstances. This is why the story of the dispute between Michael and the devil made such an impression upon him. What could have seemed more sad and dire than the death of Moses, on the border of, but not within, the physical Promised Land? Especially with the great tendency of the people to fall into sin and idolatry even when Moses lived? So St. Jude saw this as an example of how even when one’s leader, Moses, dies, and the devil seeks an opening to tempt, that people are never really alone if they heed Michael as a speaker of the will of God. And of course, when Jesus died and resurrected, this story came back to St. Jude’s mind, of how just because Jesus is now gone from them, that God and his agents are not gone. So this is the explanation of the dispute over Moses’ body and how St. Jude came to know of it, and why it was so important for him personally to include it in his sparse writings.