Angelic Help

The Scriptures contain many interactions between people and angels as God’s ministers. When Adam and Eve sinned, God placed them outside Eden and appointed cherubim with flaming swords to guard the Tree of Life (Gen 3:24). God sent two angels to protect Lot in Sodom (Gen 19:1). They appeared in Jacob’s dream as messengers ascending and descending on the ladder between God and people (Gen 28:12). The list continues. Yet, scholars — ancient and modern — find their appearances somewhat unsettling.

Among the Gospels, Luke alone narrated that when Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, told the disciples to pray, went away by himself to pray, knelt on the ground a stone’s throw away from the disciples, and prayed (Luke 22:39–42), an angel appeared.

“The angel appeared from heaven, strengthening him. Becoming in agony, he earnestly prayed. And his sweat became as drops of blood falling upon the earth.” (22:43–44)

From the 2nd century on, scribes and scholars were unsure whether to include this angelic appearance in the story. This is why many English translations have these two verses in parenthesis. It’s common knowledge that Luke’s gospel varies greatly from Matthew and Mark, with nearly 50% unique materials. For example, he included favorite parables like the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son only in Luke. Unlike Matthew, who included Joseph’s lineage, Luke included Mary’s. Instead of the Magi’s visit, Luke recorded the shepherds’ visit after they saw angels. Luke alone told the parable or story that when a poor man, Lazarus, at the rich man’s door died, angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom (16:22). When the female disciples couldn’t find Jesus’s body, the angels told them he was alive, and that was why he wasn’t in the tomb (24:23). With these and many more such examples of new materials in Luke and Luke’s frequent reference to angels involving in earthly and people’s affair, we shouldn’t be surprised one of them met with the Lord in his loneliness, when his friends were asleep, and tried to minister to him. Perhaps the same happens to us without us even recognizing it.

The Lord’s pain, however, was severe: “Becoming in agony, he earnestly prayed.” The angelic help wasn’t sufficient. He needed his Father’s voice and changed will.

“Father, if you will, remove this cup from me; again, let not my will but yours be done.” (22:42)

Once again, scribes found Jesus’s words offensive because he used an imperative, a form often used for a command — e.g., “Shut the door” — and changed it. While in English, a command signifies importance and demands obedience, in Greek, imperative verbs imply people’s will is involved and thus represent something farther from certainty. One of my teachers said about imperatives, “Those who have strong-willed children understand this!” (Wallace). When we say, “Shut the door,” that doesn’t mean a child would automatically shut the door; a compliant will, while a strong-willed will not.

Jesus knew God’s desire and determination would happen. Yet, he thought he would try to persuade the Father to do something different. The Father wasn’t swayed by Jesus’s appeal, but that didn’t prevent him from sending a helper, an angel, to strengthen him.

When we suffer, we, too, want the Father to change his determination or plans and make our sufferings go away. He might not be persuaded, but he would always provide help, angelic or otherwise.