Through the years, the song “Ten Thousand Angels” has become one of my personal favorites. It is based on the words Jesus says to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:47-53).

The song shortchanges the number of angels Jesus says He could have called. He says that He could have called “more than twelve legions of angels.” A Roman legion contained 6,000 soldiers. Twelve legions contained 72,000 soldiers. Jesus could have called more than 72,000 angels to come to His and rescue Him from His enemies!

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the power of angels. In Isaiah 37:36-37, we find one angel killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. Jesus could have stopped all that was going on in the garden on the night of His betrayal.

What would have been the consequences for us if He had done that?

There would have been no death of Jesus.

  • Jesus died for a purpose (1 Corinthians 15:3; Hebrews 10:10; Romans 5:9; 1 Peter 1:18-19). He died for our sins!
  • If the Lord doesn’t die, we cannot be justified and reconciled to God.

There would have been no resurrection of Jesus.  

  • The resurrection is the key foundation stone for our faith.
  • If the resurrection did not occur, Jesus would be a liar and deceiver (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 12-19). It also would mean that our faith is vain, and we are still in our sins.
  • The resurrection confirmed that Jesus is everything He claimed to be (Romans 1:4).

There would be no Pentecost.  

  • The day would have come (as it always did), but the significant events that occur on it after the resurrection of Jesus would not have (Acts 2:1-4, 36-41).
  • No plan of salvation would have been announced (Acts 2:38). No church would have been established (Acts 2:47). There would have been no saved people if Jesus did not shed His blood on the cross.

The Scriptures would not have been fulfilled.  

  • The Old Testament is loaded with prophecies about Jesus (Isaiah 53; Psalm 16:10; 22:7-8; 110:1 Zechariah 11:12-13; Daniel 7:13-14). None of them would have been fulfilled if Jesus had called those angels.
  • Thank God that through Jesus going to the cross, His plan and promises were fulfilled!

There would be no hope of heaven.  

  • If Jesus doesn’t go the cross, there is no hope of heaven for any of us (Colossians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
  • All we would have in our future is an eternity of misery and spiritual death.

Conclusion:

Be thankful that the Lord didn’t call His angels and willing went to the cross.