Good Friday - the day Jesus was crucified and died.
How are we to view his death? How are we to think of his dying?
One of the most common ways of thinking about his death - if not the most common way - is to see him dying in our place. The underlying thinking is ... we were the guilty ones - the sinners; we deserved the sentence of death; but Jesus took our place. That's what we mean when we say "Jesus died for me."
This thinking views Jesus's death as a matter of justice. A wrong had been done. For justice to be served, someone had to be held accountable and be punished.
I struggle with this way of viewing Jesus's death, popular though it is.
In this way of thinking, God's laws have been broken. God has been offended. God's anger must be appeased. Someone has to die.
The problem with this way of thinking - in my opinion - is its view of God. It portrays God as a king who expects unquestioning obedience. It portrays God as a God of wrath who gets angry when that obedience is not given. It portrays God as a judge who doles out punishment for the wrong that is done. It creates God in our image. It says God deals with wrongdoing the way we do - with anger, with judgment, by punishing.
The witness of scripture - particularly the Hebrew Scriptures - is God is not like us. God is holy, that is, different. (The Hebrew word holy is an adjective that means different.) In Isaiah 55, the LORD clearly says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways" (Isaiah 55:8). The way God deals with our sin was clearly revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Because the LORD is merciful and gracious, God does not get angry at our sin. God's love for us never wavers or falters. God never gives up on us or abandons us. God forgives our sin (Exodus 34:6-7).
We struggle to embrace this understanding of God because it is so unlike us and our ways.
Another problem with this popular way of thinking about Jesus's death is it makes his death a transaction - a business agreement. If we ... then God will .... It reflects merit-based thinking ... deserving thinking ... again, the way of thinking that governs how we relate to one another. We think God relates to us the way we relate to each other ... based on merit.
Again, the witness of scripture is clear. God "does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward (us), as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for (us)" (Psalm 103:10-13). And as the New Testament writer said, "for by grace you have been saved ... it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). God relates to us out of who God is - out of the divine character - not in reaction to who we are or what we do. God's love and forgiveness are given freely and lavishly without any thought about what we deserve. It is who God is. It is how God relates to us. Jesus's death was not some legal transaction.
One other problem with the popular way of viewing Jesus's death: it makes his death about us. It keeps the focus on us. We were sinful. Jesus had to die for us. Because Jesus died for us, we can go to heaven. It is all about us. It is a self-centered, self-serving way of thinking about his death. As my professor would say, it creates a man-centered Christianity.
So how are we to think about Jesus's death on the cross?
I suggest we view the cross through the lens of God's character ... through the lens of grace, not merit ... as an expression of God's steadfast love that never wavers or falters, that never gives up on us or abandons us.
Jesus's death on the cross does say something about us. It reflects how we treat one another. It reflects how we avoid dealing with our own shadow side by scapegoating others - judging, finding fault, blaming, condemning. And it reflects what we are capable of doing as we scapegoat others. We are capable of killing another in the most cruel, inhumane way possible. What we did to Jesus - God embodied-in-human-flesh - is what we routinely do to one another. Jesus's death on the cross is a mirror in which we can see our own shadow. And it is an invitation to a different way of thinking, relating, and living.
Jesus's death on the cross is an expression of God's steadfast love that never wavers or falters, that never gives up on us or abandons us. Rather than judging us for who we are and what we do, God embraces us as we are. Rather than abandoning us to what we deserve, God comes alongside us in our brokenness. Rather than punishing us, God takes on our pain so that He can transform it. Rather than giving up on us, God gives himself to us to heal us, transform us, and mature us into the likeness of Christ. Jesus's death on the cross proclaims "this is what God's love looks like!"
This way of understanding Jesus's death on the cross invites us to open our lives to God and God's steadfast love. It moves us beyond guilt about our sin into the courage to deal with the deeper issue of what causes us to sin - our shadow. It sets us free ... from guilt and shame ... to move beyond self-effort that tries harder to do better ... to fail and learn from our failure ... to grow . It fills our life with peace and joy and genuine thanksgiving. It gives us power to do what we cannot do in our own strength ... to become more than we are ... to love as Jesus loved.
What Richard Rohr said about Jesus's death on the cross captures the heart of what I am trying to say: Jesus did not die on the cross to change God's mind about us; Jesus died on the cross to change our mind about God!
May it be so for us on this Good Friday! After all, how we think about Jesus's death on the cross matters!
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