Guardians - Pt 4

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. (Revelation 10:1-3 ESV).

Pietro da Cortana painted “The Guardian Angel,” seen here, in 1656 AD. It is now a part of the collection of the National Gallery of Ancient Art located in Rome, Italy. It is a fitting choice for the end of our little series. As beautiful as this art is, I rather doubt its accuracy. The baroque style of religious art often portrayed these heavenly beings as weak, pale, effeminate characters. That is not how the Scripture describes angels. Our reading today gives us a very different picture. We see them as beings who comprise the entourage of titans surrounding the throne of God! We would do well to remember that as we go forward. Let me illustrate a bit. Suppose you were going to receive the son of the greatest king today. You know that he is the son of a king. He might arrive at your estate walking with two guards. In that case, he would be worthy of the greatest respect, simply because he is a king’s son. But in fact, he is going to arrive with one hundred terrifying titans of greatest strength and beauty surrounding him on every side. These beings are the elite guard and agents of the king. When you see this entourage, the point is not that this entourage gives the king’s son a greater glory than he already had simply by being the king’s son. Rather this is a reminder of what it is like to be the king’s son. I think this is what Jesus wants us to think when the least impressive disciple of Jesus walks into a room. There is no counting these angels, since more or less every angel in the world serves “for the sake of” this disciple (cf. Hebrews 1:14). And these angels always see God’s face — they have a rank and dignity corresponding to direct access to God. We ought to be reminded that this angelic entourage affirms who his older brother is. No wonder the Apostle Paul instructs us to put our hand over our critical mouth, and show great esteem (cf. Philippians 2:3) to all ordinary, childlike disciples. If having God as their Father, and Jesus as their Lord does not cause us to exchange our derision for deference, then let the terrifying advocacy and rank of their magnificent angels wake us from our ignorant stupor! Or as Jesus says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10).