Why Do I Need Confessed To Angels?

Question: I noticed in the article on confession that Jesus said he would confess us before the angels of God. I know why Jesus would need to acknowledge me before God the Father on Judgment Day, but why do I need confessed before the angels?

Answer: For those who may not have read the other article, Jesus said in Luke 12:8-9, "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men; the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.” The question is why Jesus needs to acknowledge or confess us to the angels of God.

In the Jewish teaching (and Jesus teaching), it is the angels of God who transport the souls of the dead to Paradise and Hades at death and Heaven and Hell at the final Judgment. So if Jesus did not acknowledge you to the angels they would drag you from his presence and cast you into outer darkness with a weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out. (See Matthew 13:49-50 and Mark 9:48)

A first century non-Christian Jewish Historian named Flavious Josephus wrote in his book Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades the following,

“But as to the unjust, they are dragged by force to the left hand by the angels allotted for punishment, no longer going with a good-will, but as prisoners driven by violence; to whom are sent the angels appointed over them to reproach them and threaten them with their terrible looks, and to thrust them still downwards. Now those angels that are set over these souls drag them into the neighborhood of hell itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself; but when they have a near view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, and in effect punished thereby.”

Josephus’ teaching was the common Rabbinical teaching of the day on the afterlife. This was what the Pharisees and most Jews in Jesus’ day believed. And if you read his complete writings on this subject, you will find they match up with Jesus teaching very well. It is one thing the Pharisees seemed to have gotten right. You can read his complete teaching on the afterlife by clicking here. Not only did Jesus teach that angels transport us after death, but that they will separate us based on our salvation or damnation on the Day of Judgment.

Jesus depicted the role of the angels of God in several parables. For example in one parable Jesus compared Himself to a king giving a wedding banquet. Matthew 22:10-13 says, “So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The servants of the king in this parable are obviously representing the angels of God.

Jesus told them another parable in Matthew 13: 24-30, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’"

Jesus explains the above parable in Matthew 13:37-42 saying, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus makes it very clear in Matthew 13:47-50 when he says, "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

On the Day of Judgment when we all stand before the throne of God and an angel, who is separating the righteous from the wicked, takes hold of you, and says, “Jesus, what do I do with this one?” What do you want Jesus to do? Do you want to Him to acknowledge you or disown you? Do you want him to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:23) or do you want him to say, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?” (Matthew 22:13) The choice is yours to make now. Your fate will be determined by what you do now, not at Judgment. (See 2 Corinthians 5:10)

Luke 12:8-9 says, "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men; the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.”