Why did Jesus not ask for the angels to rescue Him?

Matthew 26:57-68

If you had been in heaven on the night that Jesus was brought before Caiaphas the high priest, the elders and scribes, you would have been aware that the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus.  Why, because they did not have a case, they needed liars, and if you were in heaven that night you would have been aware that Jesus did not answer His accusers.  You would have seen Peter following at a distance and when they entered into the courtyard of the high priest Peter sat with the guards also keeping his mouth shut.

I do not know what took place in heaven on that night, for God did not choose to reveal His thoughts, nor did He allow us to look into what was going on, but this I know from Scripture that the angels watch us to see what we will do with our free will.  When Christ came into the world as a baby the angels were there, praising God and glorifying the Son of God.  And as Judas came with his band of men to take Jesus by force, do you recall Jesus words; “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”  Twelve legions of angels on standby, it will only take one word and they come and rescue their Creator, and yet Jesus was silent, and that silence was in accordance with the will of the Father. 

In the gospel of John it is spelled out for us in the tenth chapter, picking up the account in verse 11, “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  When we grasp the magnitude of God’s love we see in John 3:16, we bow our knee and our hearts to a love that is beyond human understanding, and yet is freely given by our Father in heaven.  Picking up the account in John 10:14, I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Heaven stood still that day because of love for you, you were those other sheep Jesus was referring to in John 10:16. 

Many years ago in San Antonio, Texas I met a young teenage girl name Carol, and she had written down a talk she had with God.  It went like this:  “Carol, how much do you love me, Lord?

God, I love you so much Carol that I did not let my emotions and feeling for my Son get in the way of everything that had to happen to Him for your sake.  I didn’t give in to the terrible hurt and anguish I felt as they rejected and beat my Son.  I never lost sight of what was best for you as I watched them mutilate and tear my Son’s body apart.  Your life is more important to me than preserving any dignity or thought for myself.”

Why did Jesus not ask for the angels to rescue Him, it was because of love for sinners like you and me, sinners with no hope?  If Jesus had asked the Father to rescue Him, we would be without hope, now and forever.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice