It’s a quite natural thing, really, to want protection from or deliverance out of a crisis. An ominous diagnosis threatens my health. The recent stock market mayhem threatens my financial future. A global pandemic threatens…well, everyone in some way. The rising power of communist China threatens our national security. Radical Islamic terrorists threaten anyone who’s “western.” Need I go on?
Who wants to deal with any of that? Not I!
Life in church
I grew up in church from the time I was a week or so old. My mom was a pastor’s wife, with all that goes with the territory of such a generally unappreciated role. In addition to all of that, she liked to sing and frequently sang in church, sometimes duets with my dad, but often solo numbers accompanied simply by the piano.
More than once I sat in the congregation as she sang the old gospel song, “10,000 Angels.” Ever heard it?
The song is based on an interchange between Jesus and Peter in Gethsemane. Judas and the band of soldiers came to arrest Jesus; Peter whipped out his dagger and whacked one of the men, cutting off his ear. Understandably, Peter wanted deliverance out of this dangerous, threatening crisis.
Astoundingly, Jesus didn’t commend Peter’s zeal, nor did He encourage the other disciples to follow suit! Instead, before healing the poor guy’s ear, He said,
“Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?”
Matthew 26:53, ESV
Twelve legions is approximately 10,000, hence the song title. The text of the first few stanzas of “10,000 Angels” concerns this treatment Jesus received during his arrest and that of the following “trial”:
They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where He prayed.
They led him through the street in shame.
They spat upon the Savior, so pure and free from sin.
They said, “Crucify Him! He’s to blame.”
Upon His precious head, they placed a crown of thorns.
They laughed and said, “Behold the King!”
They struck Him and they cursed Him and mocked His holy name—
All alone He suffered everything.
Refrain:
He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set Him free.
He could have called ten thousand angels…
But He died alone for you and me.
Mom passed away almost three years ago, and it’s been many, many more since I heard her soprano voice singing “10,000 Angels,” but the scene and song came back to me not long ago. I don’t recall what prompted the memory, but I jotted a note in my journal.
“He could have called 10,000 angels…to set him free.”
But He didn’t. He endured it all and died alone for you and me. For a purpose much bigger than His own comfort, ease, freedom from pain and anguish and woe.
Life today…
Then it struck me the other day.
Like most people, I don’t have a government job with a guaranteed-for-the-rest-of-my-life pension. Nor do I have any other kind of guaranteed retirement income, other than the supposed “guarantee” of a small social security check (yes, I’ve heard all the dire predictions about how insecure that is). Like so many, my retirement income is tied to what happens on Wall Street. So, all of us in this boat watched over the last couple weeks as the plug in the hull popped, and our little bark started taking on water. I’m writing several days before this posts online, so hard telling what’s going on in NYC as you read. But I have watched a huge portion of my savings evaporate almost overnight.
He could have called 10,000 angels….
He could have halted the development of COVID-19….
He could have kept the virus from spreading out of Wuhan….
He could have prevented a global pandemic…and panic…and run on toilet paper….
He could have curtailed the economic turmoil….
But He didn’t do any of those things, just as He didn’t call the angel armies to destroy the world and set Him free. He died alone for you and me.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus saw a larger purpose for His suffering and death; therefore, He didn’t call for the rescue squad to deliver Him. Today, I have no doubt that there’s something going on far greater than I can grasp. I believe in a sovereign, all-powerful God who can send “10,000 angels” to destroy anything and everything that threatens me…and you…and us. And I believe He will, if He so purposes for His greater plan. But I also recognize from the obedient mission of Jesus, God’s Son, that His greater plan for tomorrow may require the legions of angels to stand aside and watch awhile.
Jesus had a great advantage over us, didn’t he? What He was about to go through when He spoke these words in the garden was far more heinous than COVID-19 or a stock market crash, and He knew it. But He also knew why. And He knew what was coming three days later. And He knew the ultimate end of it all.
In our case, I want 10,000 angels to come and destroy all this nasty stuff and set us free.
As I sit at my desk, I flipped on the news to see where the stock market is right now. Dropped almost 3,000 points today. And I don’t know why. COVID-19 deaths have surpassed 7,000. And I don’t know why. Fear is widespread; uncertainty, even more so. And I don’t know why.
Like you, I wish I did. It would be so much easier to maintain calm, make decisions beyond today, plan for the future. But I don’t.
Yet I know Who does. He didn’t call 10,000 angels then, because He knew. He has yet to call them now—because He knows.
In these terribly unsettled times, I hope your trust and confidence is in the God who knows when to send in the legions and when to have them stand down.
Excellent article, Brother Bryan. Thank you for verbalizing the quiet assurance of knowing that a loving, sovereign God will do what is right. I love Warren Wiersbe’s quote…”God is too good to be unkind, and too wise to make mistakes”. May God bless your continuing ministry.
Thank you, Don. Trust you’re doing well in your hospice ministry.
Lovely. Even Shyanne sang along!