What if Jesus’ life was first and foremost a response to his acute awareness of Yahweh’s affection, to the depth of being known and loved by his Father? In this sense, the progression is reversed: Jesus’ behavior follows God’s pleasure. First, before anything, God is infinitely pleased—he’s just that kind of God to begin with—and then Jesus responded with behavior that was reflective of one who is supremely confident that he is infinitely loved by God. In this sense, as he grew, Jesus increased in his awareness of God’s pleasure. He did not simply grow in what he knew about God, but in his felt awareness of God’s pleasure with him, God’s joy in Jesus’ presence. Jesus’ life was a living, breathing, fearless response to his experience of a God who contingently pays attention to his creation and takes great joy in its presence. Consider the following passage written by King David, with which Jesus would have been quite familiar:

You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. . . .How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. (PSALM 139:1-12, 17-18)

Imagine Jesus taking in David’s experience. He comes to know a Yahweh who is intimately involved in the life of his individual creatures. This is mentalizing of the most profound nature. If we lived as if we believed this was true, would we, too, not be free from anxiety and fear? Would we not be comforted? Would we not feel deeply cared for and protected? Yet as a consequence would we not seek justice and peace? Would we not rather give generously than hoard? Would we not be more patient with our spouses? Would we not be better behaved parents at our sons’ and daughters’ baseball and soccer games? Would we not remember the Sabbath more often and live less harried, less frenzied lives? Would we not be more creative in our handling of punishment for criminals and third world debt? You know the answer. It is no wonder, given his immersion in the life of this kind of God, that from Jesus would emerge the Sermon on the Mount, the multiple healings, the longing and weeping over Jerusalem, the crimson sweat of Gethsemane, the journey to Golgotha, and his ultimate trust in God’s vindication that came with the brilliance of a Sunday morning.

Anatomy of The Soul; Curt Thompson, M.D., pg 144-145