New Testament Christianity
by J B Phillips
2. THE ANGELS' POINT OF VIEW
On Palm Sunday many of us sing
a hymn containing these lines:
The
Angel armies of the skies
Look
down with sad and wondering eyes
To see the approaching Sacrifice.
That, of course, is "only
a hymn", but we have at least one piece of evidence from the Gospels that
the angels of God are interested in human affairs. For Jesus Himself said:
"I tell you there is joy among the angels in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth." (Luke 15:10). If, then,
there is joy, why should there not be sorrow? And why, indeed, should
not those other beings which God has created, different though they may be from
ourselves, watch the unfolding of the human drama with the deepest interest?
These celestial beings live, as far as we know, perpetually in the Royal
Presence. Apart from the fact that they are sometimes used as messengers, seen
or unseen, from that world to this, we know nothing of the reasons for their
existence. Nevertheless, it helps sometimes to break in imagination the fetters
of earth and try to see things from the angels' point of view. We might even go
so far as to say that this is part of Paul's thought when he talks of it being
possible to "sit together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:6).
It
may give us a fresh perspective on life, if for a few moments we shed the
limitations of earthbound thinking and detach ourselves deliberately from
modem pressures and problems. Let us pretend for a little while; the pretence
may be fanciful, but it may help us to let the real truth break over us afresh.
Once upon a time a very young
angel was being shown round the splendours and glories of the universes by a
senior and experienced angel. To tell the truth, the little angel was beginning
to be tired and a little bored. He had been shown whirling galaxies and blazing
suns, infinite distances in the deathly cold of inter‑stellar space, and
to his mind there seemed to be an awful lot of it all. Finally he was shown the
galaxy of which our planetary system is but a small part. As the two of them
drew near to the star which we call our sun and to its circling planets, the
senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning very
slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis‑ball to the
little angel, whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had
seen.
"I want you to watch that
one particularly," said the senior angel, pointing with his finger.
"Well, it looks very small
and rather dirty to me," said the little angel. "What's special about
that one?"
"That,"' replied his
senior solemnly, "is the Visited Planet."
"Visited?" said the
little one. "You don't mean visited by --‑?"
"Indeed I do. That ball,
which I have no doubt looks to you small and insignificant and not perhaps over‑clean,
has been visited by our young Prince of Glory." And at these words he
bowed his head reverently.
"But how?" queried
the younger one. "Do you mean that our great and glorious Prince, with all
these wonders and splendours of His Creation, and millions more that I’m sure I
haven't seen yet, went down in Person to this fifth‑rate little ball? Why
should He do a thing like that?"
"It isn't for us,"
said his senior a little stiffly, "'to question His "why's"
except that I must point out to you that He is not impressed by size and
numbers, as you seem to be. But that He really went I know, and all of us in
Heaven who know anything know that. As to why He became one of them ‑ how
else do you suppose could He visit them?"
The little angel's face
wrinkled in disgust.
"Do you mean to tell
me," he said, "that He stooped so low as to become one of those
creeping, crawling creatures of that floating ball?"
"I do, and I don't think
He would like you to call them 'creeping, crawling creatures` in that tone of
voice. For, strange as it may seem to us, He loves them. He went down to visit
them to lift them up to become like Him
The little angel looked blank.
Such a thought was almost beyond his comprehension.
"Close your eyes for a
moment," said the senior angel, "and we will go back in what they
call Time."
While the little angel's eyes
were closed and the two of them moved nearer to the spinning ball, it stopped
its spinning, spun backwards quite fast f or a while, and then slowly resumed
its usual rotation.
"Now look!" And as
the little angel did as he was told, there appeared here and there on the dull
surface of the globe little flashes of light, some merely momentary and some
persisting for quite a time.
"Well, what am I seeing
now?" queried the little angel.
"You are watching this
little world as it was some thousands of years
ago." returned his companion. "Every flash and glow of light that you
see is something of the Father's knowledge and wisdom breaking into the minds
and hearts of people who live upon the earth. Not many people, you see, can
hear His Voice or understand what He says, even though He is speaking gently
and quietly to them all the time."
"Why are they so blind and
deaf and stupid?" asked the junior angel rather crossly.
"It is not for us to judge
them. We who live in the Splendour have no idea what it is like to live in the
dark. We hear the music and the Voice like the sound of many waters every day
of our lives, but to them ‑ well, there is much darkness and much noise
and much distraction upon the earth. Only a few who are quiet and humble and
wise hear His Voice. But watch, for in a moment you will see something truly
wonderful."
The Earth went on turning and
circling round the sun, and then quite suddenly, in the upper half of the
globe, there appeared a light, tiny but so bright in its intensity that both
the angels hid their eyes.
"I think I can
guess," said the little angel in a low voice. "That was the Visit,
wasn't it"
"Yes, that was the Visit.
The Light Himself went down there and lived among them; but in a moment, and
you will be able to tell that even with your eyes closed, the light will go
out."
"But why?
Could He not bear their darkness and stupidity? Did He have to return
here?"
"No, it wasn't that,"
returned the senior angel. His voice was stern and sad. "They failed to
recognise Him for Who He was ‑ or at least only a handful knew Him. For
the most part they preferred their darkness to His Light, and in the end they
killed Him."
"The fools, the crazy
fools! They don't deserve --‑"
"Neither you nor I, nor
any other angel, knows why they were so foolish and so wicked. Nor can we say
what they deserve or don't deserve. But the fact remains,
they killed our Prince of Glory while He was Man amongst them."
"And that I suppose was
the end? I see the whole Earth has gone black and dark. All right, I won't
judge them, but surely that is all they could expect?"
"'Wait, we are still far
from the end of the story of the Visited Planet. Watch now, but be ready to
cover your eyes again."
In utter blackness the earth
turned round three times, and then there blazed with
unbearable radiance a point of light.
"What now?" asked the
little angel, shielding his eyes.
"They killed Him all
right, but He conquered death. The thing most of them dread and fear all their
lives He broke and conquered. He rose again, and a few of them saw Him and from
then on became His utterly devoted slaves."
"Thank God for that,"
said the little angel.
"Amen. Open your eyes now,
the dazzling light has gone. The Prince has returned to His Home of Light. But
watch the Earth now."
As they looked, in place of the
dazzling light there was a bright glow which throbbed and pulsated. And then as
the Earth turned many times little points of light spread out. A few flickered
and died; but for the most part the lights burned steadily, and as they
continued to watch, in many parts of the globe there was a glow over many
areas.
"You see what is
happening?" asked the senior angel. "The bright glow is the company
of loyal men and women He left behind, and with His help they spread the glow
and now lights begin to shine all over the Earth."
"Yes, yes," said the
little angel impatiently, "but how does it end? Will the little lights
join up with each other? Will it all be light, as it is in Heaven?"
His senior shook his head.
"We simply do not know," he replied. "It is in the Father's
hands. Sometimes it is agony to watch and sometimes it is joy unspeakable. The
end is not yet. But now I am sure you can see why this little ball is so
important. He has visited it; He is working out His Plan upon it."
"Yes, I see, though I
don't understand. I shall never forget that this is the Visited Planet."
Imaginary? Fanciful? Certainly, but a good deal truer
than some of our current modem thinking. For in the eyes of the Eternal
World this little planet is of the highest importance simply because it is the
Visited Planet. We may not realise it at all, but we are right plumb in the
middle of a vast drama, a tremendous battle between light and darkness. The
whole core and essence of the Christian Faith, which many of us hold so
lightly, is that Light Himself visited our darkness, scaled down to fit the
human scene. It is true that since the Visit we know for certain that this
rolling ball is by no means our permanent home; our destiny is higher even than
that of the angels. But today, and every day that we live in the here‑and‑now,
we are part of the vast Experiment, the age‑long
on to 3. God Makes News