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ON NOT FORGETTING THE ANGELS
By Peter Cook
The other Sunday our church celebrated St. Michael and All Angels Day
I don't know how much Jesus talked to the disciples about angels, but in the Garden of Gethsemane Peter sure forgot whatever he may have learned when he lashed out with his sword and struck the servant of the high priest. Twelve legions of angels, that's what Jesus said he could call on if needs be.
Twelve legions? It makes you wonder why Jesus bothered to ask before they left for the garden, "How many swords do we have?" Why did he say two were enough? My own theory is that Jesus wasn't throwing out a hook on which later ages could hang their arguments for a "Just War." Rather, he was thinking of what would deter the high priestly party from taking the disciples into custody, and not merely himself.
But, back to the angels. What did their availability signify in the garden that night? Just as Jesus battled in prayer and prepared himself for the ordeal of Good Friday, so the availability of angels signifies the cosmic battle to come. They were God's support troops preparing to surround Jesus on the cross, where the battle was not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. They helped secure the cross's victory against sin, the devil, evil and death.
Like Peter, we sometimes forget that the purpose of the angels is not just to be God's messengers on special occasions, but to minister to God's people (to Elijah - 1 Kings 19:5-9), to guard or rescue (Peter - Acts 12), waging war against enemies (Elisha and the Syrians - 2 Kings 6:17; St. Michael against Satan - Rev. 12:7-9). The night Jesus and the disciples were in Gethsemane , I doubt if St. Michael was much impressed with Peter's sword play. Wrong action; wrong victim; lousy swordsmanship. That's what happens when you lash out in your own strength, forgetting the angels.
If we are to believe that God relies on angels, we might recall the image Jacob saw in his dream: the heavenly ladder with "angels ascending and descending" (Gen 28:12); or Jesus' promise to Nathaniel that he will see "the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." What angels do is serve as God's emissaries between earth and heaven. They make God's presence known, his power felt, and his purposes clear. Angels are God's pure witnesses, they add clarity to God's revelation, and they give assurance of God's heavenly power.
---the Rev. Dr. Peter J.A. Cook, M.A., is rector of St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, Lake Charles, in the Diocese of Western Louisiana
