STRENGTHENED BY AN ANGEL

STRENGTHENED BY AN ANGEL by Howard Vanderwell

"An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him." Luke 22:43

I’d love to have been there when this event happened. I’ve never seen an angel, but I’d really love to have seen what happened there.

The disciples hadn’t been much help to Jesus. They hardly knew what to say about all these rapidly happening events. Judas was gone now, arranging Jesus’ betrayal.

Peter, James, and John were sleeping when they should have been praying for Jesus.

Jesus was wrestling with the Father about the cup of suffering designed for him. Even though he was the eternal Son of God, this wrestling was real. His pain was intense.

So the Father sent an angel. Jesus was no stranger to angels. He had known them personally in heaven before he came to earth as a human. I’m sure he was also very conscious of them during his ministry as he encountered all the forces of evil in this world.

Even Satan referred to them in his temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, quoting Psalm 91 to say that God would command his angels to guard Jesus (see Luke 4:9-13).

Yes, I think it would have been deeply meaningful to stand alongside while the angel strengthened Jesus in his anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, I doubt that my physical eyes would have been able to see the angel. After all, I’ve been told angels take care of me every day, and I have never seen that either. Yet I believe it.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, how I thank you this day for being willing to endure the agony and suffering for my sin! Thank you for making me a child of God. In your name, Amen.