Ten Thousand Angels

“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)

I play the bass guitar and sing with the worship band at my church. Having also been a worship leader, I like to keep informed on what people are doing and saying in the contemporary worship arena. I read an article recently which posed the question “Did Jesus Really Have a Choice?” In this article, the author makes reference to the old hymn, “Ten Thousand Angels”, and asks, could Jesus really have changed his mind and come down off the cross? The author did not offer answers, but petitioned comments from his readers. An intriguing question to ponder, inviting some interesting opinions.

The song's chorus goes like this:

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.

Jesus helped by Simon of Cyrene, part of a series depicting the stations of the Cross. Chapel Nosso Senhor dos Passos, Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Oil on canvas, XIXth century, unknown author. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I did some research on the hymn and discovered that it was written by Ray Overholt in 1958, who was not even a Christian at the time. His own story reveals that after writing many secular songs he wanted to write a Christian song, so he opened a Bible, which he admittedly knew little about, and began reading in Matthew 26:51ff where Jesus tells Peter to put away his sword. Jesus then says to Peter that he could at any time ask his Father and He would send 12 legions of angels. Mr. Overholt did not know at the time that 12 legions was 72,000, nevertheless he thought 'Ten Thousand Angels' sounded like a good song title! He then did some additional investigation to fill in the verses for the song. In a nutshell, it was Mr Overholt's most well-known song, and he became a christian only after singing it in a small country church where he responded to the preacher's message that followed.

In the article I read, the author was questioning the validity of lyrics in songs that may be doctrinally unsound. Although it could result in a popular song, he asks... is it actually true? Could Jesus really have come off the cross? If he could, would God have to rethink His plan of salvation? If Jesus didn't die on the cross, what about all the OT Scriptures that foretold of his suffering and death? What if Jesus didn't complete his mission on the cross, would he be guilty of sin – disobedience to the Father? If he sinned, could he be God?

I found it fascinating to realize that the writer of the song, although not a believer at the time, got it right about Jesus own will. Now, in crediting Mr. Overholt for 'getting it right', I don't mean to suggest that he was correct in all points of the song's lyrics. In context, it was about Jesus fulfilling his destiny (see Matt 26:54), by going through with the suffering of the cross, not about calling angels to take him off the cross. Nevertheless, Jesus himself said that he could have called on his Father to send 12 legions of angels (Matt 26:53) which is a powerful revelation, not only of Jesus' special relationship to the Father, but of his own free will! And, calling on the angel armies may suggest that Jesus could have bypassed man's salvation and went directly to judging the world!

Very often as I hear those who teach and preach, remarks are made about Jesus' “free will”, but it's as though they are speaking from both sides of their mouth. On the one hand they say he could have rejected his passion on the cross, and on the other that his Deity drove him to the obedience of the cross, making it beyond his ability to change. This is the kind of thinking revealed in the various comments that were given to the article to which I refer. As I read through each comment I knew I had to offer a view of my own.

The following is an edited version of what I wrote in response to the article:

Yes! Without a doubt, he could have rejected the cross, but I'm so glad he did not! There is no mystery here. The fact that he didn't call on the angel armies to free him and subsequently, died on the cross, is the reason God raised him from the dead and exalted him as both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), and also why he is now worthy of our worship. Rather than asking the the question posed in the article, I think we should be asking "is it right to use language such as "robed in flesh", “three in one”, “Holy Trinity”, “triune God” and "God the Son" in our songs of worship, and doctrine. These terms are not found in Scripture, nor do they describe Biblical ideas! Instead, they are based on inferences and misinterpretations of Scripture which severely detract from the truth that Jesus was a genuine human being, a real man, the second (or last) Adam (1Cor 15:45, Rom 5:14ff), and that His Father is the only true God (John 17:3, 5:44).

John 1:1 says the "word was God", not that the word was "God the Son". John tells us Jesus was given the Spirit "without measure"(John 3:34). Paul defined this further when he wrote "For in him (Christ) the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily." (Col 2:9). Note also that in Col 1:19 it was pleasing to "The Father" that this should be so. If Jesus was in fact, God, there would be no need for Paul to write that the fulness dwelt in him. Naturally, all the fulness would be in him if he was God! The fact that Paul even writes it, proves that he did not think of Jesus as God. Further, Paul tells us It was God (The Father) who "in Christ" was reconciling the world to Himself. (2Cor 5:19).

Brothers and sisters, God cannot sin, God cannot be tempted, and God cannot possibly die! But Jesus, the man could do all three. That he was tempted “in all points” just like every other man means he could have sinned; he could have been disobedient. The fact that he was tempted, yet without sin (Heb 4:15), made him unworthy of death, since death comes by sin (Rom 5:12). And there is no dispute (at least among Christians) that he truly died, otherwise he could not have been truly resurrected from the dead! But God did raise him from the dead and thereby he became the "first-fruits" of those who sleep! (1Cor 15:20-23) Praise God, because Jesus overcame sin and now lives forever, we have forgiveness of sins and are promised eternal life as well.

The real question here is: “Are we interested in truth, or just keeping our tradition?” Our worship and doctrine took a wrong turn in history and we have unwittingly replaced the worship of God the Father with Jesus, as “God the Son”, worshiping him as God to the exclusion of The Father! But in John 4:23-24, Jesus says true worshipers will worship "The Father" in spirit and truth and that The Father is seeking such to worship Him.

Music is a powerful medium! Unfortunately, a vast majority of Christians learn theology from the songs we sing. We should stick to Biblical language in our songs and worship and refrain from terms, phrases, and concepts, which have no Biblical foundation. It's time for the Church to rethink doctrines like the Trinity which has gone virtually unscrutinized by most believers, and became the "official" doctrine of the Church through a history of ecclesiastical power wars, violence, and Imperial edict.

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