July 24, 2023
Is Everything Easy for God?
Father God,
In the opening scene of the wonderful musical, Children of Eden, the stage is in semi-darkness when a deep, basso profundo voice intones: “Let….there….be….” Then the lights surge up, and the whole cast sings out: “Light!” This is just what happens in the book of Genesis; You create the world through speech! (Gen 1:3) To most of us, at first glance, this might seem as though creation is easy. You are great and Your voice is great, so with a deep breath and a deeper bass, You simply open Your mouth and everything instantly flashes into being.
I wonder.
What got me thinking about this topic was looking at modern photos of what we can see of the cosmos. I see stunning nebulae flung across the deep blackness of space in tortuous shapes, as though created in agony. So when You said, “Let there be light,” was it just a tossed-off phrase? Or did it come rising up from untold depths? And take time? I suspect that You work hard to do what You do – surely You expend much trouble, much care, much effort.
Of course, scripture reports that You have done many things instantaneously: When Moses was demanding that Pharoah let his people go, You turned water into blood, along with many other miracles; fire rained down upon soaked wood when You commanded; Jesus brought a 12-year-old girl back to life merely by saying, “Little girl, get up!” And numerous other examples.
However, from my point of view, there is plenty of evidence in scripture showing that You indeed work for what You do. For instance, on the 7th day of creation, You rested! (Gen 2:2) I don’t suppose You actually lay down and snoozed, but something about Your resting tells me creation is weary work. And this is right at the beginning of things!
In later writings, while Israel is in desolation from foreign invasion, You tell the prophet Isaiah that there will be destruction for the idolaters:
I have kept silent for a long time, I have kept still and restrained myself. Now like a woman in labor I will groan, I will both gasp and pant. (Is 42:14)
Surely here You are laboring to accomplish what is needed to rescue Israel from the idolaters.
Some people might say to me, “But this is all anthropomorphism. God does not really gasp and pant.” Well, why not? I believe that the Hebrews had deeper, more elemental awareness of who You are than we often do. Even their language is full of mystery. (Who can really say what “I am who I am” means?) I believe that what they wrote, they meant. And I take them seriously. They were inspired by You!)
In the writings of St. Paul in the New Testament, both God the Holy Spirit and creation are said to labor: “…the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Rom 8:26) “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” (Rom 8:22)
I notice that all this labor is for the good of humanity. You love us so much that You endure great pains to care for us.
Likewise, Your Son Jesus often seems to put forth effort in what He does. Jesus felt power going out of him when a sick woman touched His robe, expecting healing:
Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’ (Mark 5:30)
Jesus takes two steps to heal a blind man:
And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, He asked him ‘Do you see anything?’ And he looked up and said, ‘I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.’ Then again He laid his hands on his eyes and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. (Mark 8:22-25)
After Jesus comes down from the mount of transfiguration, His disciples ask why they were not able to heal an epileptic:
And He said to them, ‘Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.’ (Mat 17:20-21; emphasis mine)
I assume this means that even God the Son must pray and fast to accomplish Your work.
A moving situation occurred when Jesus visited Mary and Martha after their brother Lazarus’s death. When He saw Mary and others weeping, He “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled [literal Greek means “angry,” which I believe means He was angry at Death]. Then, moved by the others’ grief, “Jesus wept.” Their suffering was shared by Jesus. (John 11:-33-35)
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus battled in earnest, asking You to remove the cup of torture and death from Him:
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. (Luke 22:42-44)
People might say to me, “But Jesus was doing all these things in His human nature, so naturally He has sometimes to make an effort to tap into His Godly nature.” I disagree. Jesus’ human and Godly nature were inextricably mixed – one did not operate without the other in full attendance. “I and the Father are one.” (Jn 10:30)
And did You, Father, not suffer along with Your Son? Could a love as great as Yours look upon Jesus’ cross without a tear? Can anyone begin to say the crucifixion was easy for You?
I also think of the battles in Revelation: Surely You could defeat the hordes of Satan without so much effort. But You use angels and spiritual creatures in war to effect Your victory.
I do not know what the famous evangelist Oswald Chambers would have said about that I have written above, but here is something from his My Utmost for His Highest: “…it takes God all time and eternity to make a man and woman after His own purpose.” (emphasis mine)
Indeed, You seem to be taking time and care and effort in bringing Your creation to a climax. Here is a note on Ex 21:12-36 in the Didache Bible, Ignatius Bible Edition, 2001:
Throughout the Old Testament, God prepared his people for the coming of the Messiah through a gradual process, and the arrival of Jesus marked the ideal time for the Mosaic Law to be dramatically perfected by the long-awaited Messiah. (Emphases mine.)
Yes, Lord, You are omnipotent: You can do anything. But I believe that you deliberately hold Yourself back, even to the point of suffering, in order to bring us gradually into the glory which we are not yet ready to tolerate.
What difference does it make whether You work to achieve Your goals or do them, so to speak, “in the twinkling of an eye”? To me, it does not diminish or weaken You. In my eyes, You are greater than ever. The thought of your labor actually brings You closer to me and gives me a broader view of what You have created and in great compassion continue to nurture. It makes me appreciate all the more what You have done for us, from creation to forgiveness of sins to eternal life. It reveals just how magnificent is Your love for us.
You are a Master Craftsman, who deliberates over every detail. You have the highest standards. You can do anything at any pace You choose. But through the cross of Jesus, I get the message that there is no life without suffering or at least hard work. Is His suffering perhaps a mirror of Your own? Whoever has seen Jesus has seen You. (Jn 14:9) Jesus freely chose to obey Your will and suffer. (Heb 5:8) Can it be that You too choose to suffer in order to create, redeem and sustain us?
In opposition, some may quote Hebrews 9:25-26 here:
…nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by His sacrifice of Himself.
In reply, I would say that yes, Jesus died only once, but that time is different in heaven, where Father and Son now dwell. As Peter says: “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”(2 Pet 3:8)
So perhaps your suffering is both singular and eternal at the same time.
Also, New Testament authors state clearly that Jesus’ suffering continues to be completed by our own: “…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death….” (Phil 3:10)
“But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings….” (1 Pet 4:13)
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions….” (Col 1:24) (emphases mine)
To my knowledge, only Catholics have taken these verses at face value. I have never heard these passages addressed in Protestant churches. If we are sharing in or completing Christ’s sufferings, then to me it means that His suffering is not finished, but it is ongoing.
I have since learned that this idea is not original with me. I must have heard about it in seminary. Here is what physicist/theologian John Polkinghorne has to say. He is summarizing what theologian Jürgen Moltmann says in his book, The Crucified God, MCM Press, 1974:
…concept of divine participation in creaturely suffering through the cross of Christ. He[(Moltmann] emphasizes that the Christian God is the crucified God, the One who is not just a compassionate spectator of the suffering of creatures but a fellow-sharer in the travail of creation. (John Polkinghorne, Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship, Yale University Press, 2007, p. 21)
Polkinghorne’s own words; “The Christian God is the crucified God, truly a fellow sufferer who understands.”
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Perhaps these words – “Is everything easy for God?” – seem like heresy to some. But to me, the idea of Your “sweat equity” is beautiful. It magnifies You. It is possible, in my mind, that You have put forth a most superb effort to make this world a place that will both nurture us and bring us joy in this life and indeed prepare us for the life to come. That both awes and comforts me. I rest in the confidence of Your love and profound care.
Thank You, God!