One
of the most important contributions of the early Jewish-Christian community to
our understanding of Jesus is the connection they made between Jesus and the
Angel (or Messenger) of the Lord.* This
mysterious being appears in several places in the Hebrew Bible. He has the appearance of a man, yet speaks
and acts like God. This identification
was an important early step in the development of the idea of the Trinity: that the Angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate
Word of God, is God himself, yet is distinct from the Father.