During my morning meditation, I came across the section of John where Jesus is addressing a crowd in the temple. He has explained that he must die, and that where he is going, they cannot follow unless they believe in him.

John 8:28-30:

So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."

The second half of the last sentence is what stuck with me. As I thought about it, it reinforced one of the most comforting truths about God.

I think many Christians have the tendency to divide God into three perfectly individual beings. While in a mysterious way this is true, it is also true that the Trinity is in absolute, perfect unity with itself.

We may have the tendency to think of God the Father as the wrath bearer, almost trigger-happy, to zap sinners; Jesus the Son as the gracious one, calming God the Father’s hot temper; And the Holy Spirit as a kind of courier for each of them. The reality is that the emotions of God in the trinity are in exact alignment.

Jesus does not dish out grace that God is not longing to give. When Jesus propitiates for the sins of mankind, it isn’t something that foils God’s plans for wrath, but something that pleases his desire to give grace.