Faith of Jesus--II

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This is a picture that was very comforting to me in my childhood. Many Christians my age grew up seeing this picture. It engendered a sense of safety and reassurance as I did adolescent risky things like jumping out of the neighbor's hay mow into the straw many feet below, or learned to ride my brother's motorcycle in the field in front of our house, or spent a month without family in Poland as a 15-year old. All of these things had a little bit of fear associated with them. It was wonderful to know that my angel was always near me.

The faith of Jesus certainly involves this kind of trust in the fact that God's angels are always nearby, always faithfully watching over us, yearning to help and assist us in many more ways than we realize. Of the angels, Jesus said, "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). So Jesus did acknowledge angels.

But the faith of Jesus involves a much more comprehensive knowledge that many Christians fail to grasp. It is the trust that even in pain, loss, difficulty, even death--that God and the heavenly angels are present. That God does all things well, even with the negative turn of events. That He does not always intervene. That we are not always to be protected from pain, loss, disgrace. That pain inevitably comes to Christians, but that God is over all and interposing Himself at some level, for some reason, and in a way that we might not recognize.

Jesus "steadfastly set His face to go up to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). There were so many unpleasant and risky things that He had to do during His life here. He prayed about them, determined to act, put one foot in front of the other, and did them. Again, the faith of Jesus informed Him that those things which were odious and dangerous would not deter Him from obedience. So He performed them, regardless of the consequence. Jesus knew that God was trustworthy and that there was a bigger picture than the world that His human anxieties constructed. Perhaps He reasoned that the agony would be time limited, and that if others had experienced some of the pain, that it would be within the range of human endurance. But as Jesus got closer to the cross, it became a frightening specter.

I can't imagine what it would be to live my life knowing that I would die a horrible death at the end, and that my life would be cut short because of this death. What would have been worse was the realization that so much would ride on the success of this death experience. I don't know that Jesus realized that He would feel abandoned by His Father at the end. Perhaps the knowledge of that would have so discouraged Him that He could not have endured it. It was bad enough that the Son of God lay face down in the dirt in Gethsemane, crying and begging God to find some other way for this whole thing to go down rather than for Jesus to have to suffer the way He did. He was humanly quite overwhelmed--understandably so. The Bible says that His appearance--His visage--was marred "more than the children of men." Yet when no answer materialized about an alternate plan, Jesus realized that God would see Him through the worst of the worst. He then put one foot in front of the other and moved toward something horrible, trusting God to steady Him for the experience. This is the faith of Jesus. It clearly fits the context of Revelation 14, as future difficulties are predicted for God's children.

For many years I lived in terror of these predicted times--the Great Tribulation. Persecution. Deprivation and loss. Chronic fright. Words of pastors who scared us silly from the pulpit--"Think of the worst thing you can imagine. What will happen to us will be worse than that!" These words were of questionable value, as terror is not a good motivator and certainly does not encourage the faith of Jesus. I was so troubled by the mental images that were conjured up that I sought out a pastor to ask him how I might cope with this doctrine in a more constructive way. "You don't really believe that, do you?" was his response to me.

Two therapist friends have told me that they have each provided therapy to pastors who preach about the Great Tribulation, then go home and vomit and cry for the rest of the day. It is truly a fearful thing. Perhaps though, more emphasis needs to be given to the faith of Jesus rather than the strength of the devil to try and harass us. Because if I read my Bible correctly, God will hold us with a hand that will never let us go (John 10:28). Even in the hard times. Especially in the hard times.

Every one of us lives with something painful, for which there seems to be no immediate answer. We may be victims of situations that we did not bring upon ourselves. We might be coping with a serious illness and have a tenuous grasp on our health. We may be called upon to endure taunting and discrimination because of our convictions. We may suffer emotional pain deeper than our words can describe. The faith of Jesus asks God if there is some other way to move ahead--please, if it can just be blessed by Your will and goodness. But if not, we set our faces like a flint and put one foot in front of the other, relying on God for strength to perform all that is needed, for grace to conduct ourselves as lovable and gracious people, and for wisdom in order to intelligently proceed in a way that will minimize negative results and maximize positive outcomes. We throw ourselves upon the mercy, goodness, and wisdom of God, knowing that an experience in Him and through Him, is our only safety and hope.

For the Lord GOD will help me;

therefore shall I not be confounded:

therefore have I set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

(Isaiah 50:7)