God Plays Favorites. How Fair Is That?

In his reflections on Psalm 2, John Calvin speaks of the nations’ rebellion and rejection of God’s Anointed One, the Messiah or Christ, whom Calvin believes is Jesus. Calvin asserts that although “the Lord shall have for a time apparently taken no notice of the malpractices of those who oppose the rule of his Son, he will suddenly change his course, and show that he regards nothing with greater abhorrence than such presumption.”[1] Calvin references Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel: “Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:23). In light of such texts, Calvin asserts that “it is of great importance to hold fast this inseparable connection, that as the majesty of God hath shone forth in his only begotten Son, so the Father will not be feared and worshipped but in his person.”[2] Elsewhere, Calvin claims, “God is defrauded of his honour if he is not served in Christ.”[3] In other words, God plays favorites.

In our moralistic therapeutic deistic age, we might find it unfair that God plays favorites. Fairness is the name of the game. After all, according to MTD’s unwritten creed, “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.”[4] But everyone has favorites, even God. According to the Bible, God’s Messiah is his favorite.

It is worth reflecting on the character and nature of the Messiah’s person. He is not the brightest and best by the world’s standards. He’s not even the most interesting man in the world, by Dos Equis’ standards. In fact, according to Isaiah 53:2b-3, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” In spite of his disapproval ratings in various circles, he is the person who according to the Bible is made of the greatest moral fiber or substance, and who according to the Nicene Creed, is of the same substance as God.

One need not resort only to creedal formulations for getting a sense of Jesus’ identity as unique. N.T. Wright references Jesus’ awareness of God as “Abba” Father, accounting for his “deeply personal presence and purpose, strength and guidance” in Jesus’ life and what his understanding entailed for his identity and mission.[5] Wright reconstructs Jesus’ identity “from below,” that is, from history, rather than “from above,” namely, theology proper. Based on his historical reconstruction, Wright concludes that Jesus, who proclaimed the kingdom, also viewed himself as the Messiah, or coming king. Wright states, “To suppose that because the early Christians regarded Jesus as messiah, any suggestion that Jesus himself shared this belief must be a retrojection from later Christian theology is to let the hermeneutic of suspicion play dog-in-the-manger to actual historical reconstruction.”[6]

As to his moral substance, Jesus cared for the oppressed and marginalized in society over against the cultural elites and favorites in positions of power (See Matthew 9:35-38). He was and is gentle and humble of heart, caring for us, seeking to bear our burdens, if we will only follow him (Matthew 11:28-30).

Why wouldn’t anyone wish for God to play favorites with Jesus, especially those marginalized and oppressed? He will raise them up, and rule the nations with fairness and equity. Calvin asserts that Jesus’ reign would lead to abiding peace for humankind were it not for “the wickedness and malice of men,” who view his rule with disfavor whenever it emerges “from obscurity into open view. . . .”[7] In an age driven by the pursuit of personal happiness, how foolish and irrational it is to oppose what would bring lasting happiness: whenever one sees Christ’s “kingdom divided, diminished, and broken down, this proceeds from the wickedness of men, which renders them unworthy of being under a reign so happy and so desirable.”[8]

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[1]John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, in Calvin’s Commentaries, vol. 4 (Originally printed for the Calvin Translation Society, Edinburgh, Scotland; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1979), pages Calvin, 14-15.

[2]Calvin, 12.

[3]Calvin, 24.

[4]Christian Smith, “On ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’ as U.S. Teenagers’ Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith,” page 47: https://www.ptsem.edu/uploadedFiles/School_of_Christian_Vocation_and_Mission/Institute_for_Youth_Ministry/Princeton_Lectures/Smith-Moralistic.pdf.

[5]N. T. Wright, “The Mission and Message of Jesus,” in Marcus J. Borg and N. T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), page 35.

[6]Wright, “The Mission and Message of Jesus,” page 47.

[7]Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 12.

[8]Calvin, 19.