THE FATHER’S CONSOLATION

 

THE FATHER’S CONSOLATION

The more that we learn about Jesus’ relationship with his Father, the more we learn about our own relationship with the Father, through him.  Jesus came into the world to reveal the Father, who is hidden from us, “for no one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (John 1:18).  Jesus’ purpose in revealing the Father was that all who believe in him might come to know the Father, almost as he knows him.  Jesus summed up this purpose in his closing prayer at the Last Supper: “O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these [the apostles] know that you have sent me.  I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:25-26). 

By their ministry after the Ascension the apostles and their collaborators made known the teachings and life of Jesus.   They taught from their own experience and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Through the writings and traditions they left us we have the privilege of observing and listening to the Lord, as they did.  Christ joined them to the Father: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).  He desires to do the same for us.  Jesus prayed at the Last Supper, saying “I do not pray for these only but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:20-21). 

Given this background, I would like to consider for our instruction two intimate moments between the Father and the Son which are presented in the Gospels.  The first took place at the initiation of Jesus’ public ministry, which was his baptism by John; the second was his glorification on Mount Tabor before Peter, James and John.  I believe that these experiences were given not only for the sake of the disciples and for us – that we may heed the voice of the Father and may know for certain that Jesus is the Son of God – they were given first to fortify Christ.  By his beautiful and profound words at his baptism and transfiguration, the Father strengthened Jesus for his coming trials.  Christ is fully divine and fully human.  He had every human need, including the need for love and affirmation from his Father.

God declares twice in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) that Jesus is his beloved Son.  The first time is at his baptism by John: “And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and behold, a voice from heaven, saying ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Mt 3:16-17).  The second time is in the Transfiguration.  The Father says from a cloud, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Mt 17:5).  He speaks to the three disciples in such a way that Jesus hears himself referred to as his chosen and beloved one (see Mk 9:7 & Lk 9:35).  Surely, this gave him pleasure. 

Jesus knew that he was beloved by the Father and that he pleased God in all that he did, as he once told the Pharisees, “I always do what is pleasing to him” (John 8:29).  Yet, in his humanity, one might indeed suppose that the Son of God needed encouragement.  He is like us in all things but sin.  We need affirmation and encouragement to do what is good.  Jesus would always do what is good, but the kind words of his Father must have strengthened his human virtues and lifted his heart.  The Father’s respect for the human qualities of his Son is seen also in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he sends an angel to console Christ in his agony, as he did after his forty-day fast in the wilderness and the devil’s temptations.  If such consolation and encouragement is helpful to the Son of God, how much more is it needed by us?  Surely, we require divine affirmation, for we are his sons and daughters.  Debilitating discouragement is often the result of a lack of prayer, from a failure to listen to the Father.  If Jesus needed the Father’s affirmation, how much more do we?