Monday, February 28, 2022

Did Jesus Always Trust God?

Epistemic status: this is an incomplete evaluation of the question in the title. If someone points out another possible case where Jesus didn't trust God, or if I think of one, I may have to revise this.

In Is Complete Trust in God Necessary For Salvation?, I concluded that it is. But what if Jesus didn't trust God? Then not trusting God would be something God (Jesus) could do. Maybe it's okay to not trust God to some extent.

Notice that Jesus says "Don't be anxious" and then in Gethsemane says and does things like the following:

Matthew 26:

37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me."

Mark 14:

33 He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. 34 He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch."

Luke 22:

43 An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. 44 Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

It is clear that Jesus was undergoing psychological distress. Was it a case of anxiety, and if so, would that mean that he was "serving Mammon"?

Matthew 6:

24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and Mammon. 25 Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they?

27 "Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? 28 Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin, 29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

31 "Therefore don't be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?', 'What will we drink?' or, 'With what will we be clothed?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient.

The "therefore" in vs. 25 seems to connect "Mammon service" with worrying about your life. Was Jesus anxious about his physical life ending?

The English text (also true in ESV) says that Jesus "sorrowed". Maybe it's possible to sorrow over an impending situation, to the point of agony, without being anxious. You could sorrow over something you were fairly certain was going to happen, as was the case here with Jesus, rather than be uncertain in anxiety.

Somehow being anxious is connected with serving Mammon, while sorrowing isn't? It's true that anxiety drives us to want possessions to protect us from death. We pile up wealth to keep us from even getting close to death (although we die anyway). Perhaps it was the case that Jesus sorrowed and was troubled, but had no intention to try to accumulate possessions to keep him from dying? Sorrowing does not produce the compulsive urge to fix things that goes along with anxiety. Perhaps it is that compulsive urge which is service to Mammon.

Jesus did want to get out of dying:

Matthew 26:

42 Again, a second time he went away and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cup can't pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done."

Mark 14:

36 He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire."

Luke 22:

41 He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."

Presumably he may have been tempted to unilaterally reject his mission to the cross and this was a large part of his agony. He decided to ask to be relieved of his mission, or somehow have it work without him suffering and/or dying, as though that was the result of his deliberation. But he went along with God's will.

I think to have made the unilateral decision to quit would have been to have chosen Mammon over God. But Jesus trusted God instead, and so served God.

Jesus was tempted to not trust God, but he didn't give in to temptation. I think to be tempted to not trust, maybe your body (or something like your body) has to not trust. But you get to decide what you do, and thus who you are. What you feel like in the moment doesn't necessarily reflect who you are, but the courses of action you go down do.

So, if the above is valid, we don't have a case of Jesus not trusting God and we don't have evidence that not trusting God is okay.

Having said that, it's worth noting that if you don't know enough to know that God is trustworthy, you will serve Mammon, but you won't be choosing to serve Mammon rather than God. The more you know about God's trustworthiness, the more your choice of Mammon-service can be deliberate and thus potentially sinful. But whether you worship an idol sinfully or without intending any rejection or rebellion against God, because the part of you that values is tied to something other than God, you are bound to something that competes with God, which is an obstacle to your salvation.

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