Kerygma: Week One Follow-up

Week One: Why did Jesus have to die?

Welcome to week one of our study on the message of our faith! This week we are going to tackle a central question at the heart of the Good News: Why did Jesus have to die? That Jesus was crucified is probably the most historically evidenced fact of our faith story. And all over the New Testament it is evidenced that Jesus freely gave his life for our salvation. But why did he have to? How does his death work to save us? 

Problems with Atonement

We often speak of the Gospel in “simple” terms while glossing over the underlying meaning and significance of those terms. Perfect theology is not required for a real relationship with the Living God. We leave room to be surprised and to grow in love with our Creator. However, bad/poor theology can lead to some very destructive practices in our world! Let's take a look at a popular explanation of the salvation story:

God created the universe and called it good, and he set humans as caretakers over creation. It wasn’t long until we messed it up due to our free will and tendency toward sin. In order to be saved from God’s just wrath and be reconciled to God, Israel was set apart and given the gift of the Law so that they might make atonement for their sin through blood sacrifice and know where they stand. However, no amount of sacrifices were sufficient to completely make amends for our sin, so God in His mercy sent His Son Jesus to give the ultimate sacrifice and pay the price for our sins once and for all. 

Sound familiar? This story engenders a good deal of sorrow about our sin, appreciation for Jesus' gift on the cross, and thankfulness for the chance of new life. However, there are a few problems with it...

1. Whether it is appropriate or not, this understanding of atonement has been the cornerstone of Christian anti-Semitism (a horrible thing, if you weren't for sure). Christians pin the blame on Israel for not getting things right in the first place and also for killing the innocent Son of God. We forget that all of humanity was guilty of those same things and that it was through Israel that Jesus came.
2. We are still left with the question as to why God demands blood in the first place.
3. Vicarious sacrifice & dying/rising again are not particularly unique to Christianity. In fact, what IS unique is how crude and violently specific Christianity is about this vicarious death. Other religions seem to have much more eloquent sounding myths surrounding the vicarious sacrifice.
4. The emphasis on suffering and the cross has led to victims of abuse sensing a need to passively accept abuse as their "cross to bear." The cross is viewed as some sort of divinely authorized case of child abuse.
5. The idea of an innocent victim taking the punishment for a guilty person actually seems patently unjust. Why would Jesus' death as God's innocent Son appease God's wrath over our sin rather than increasing God's anger?
6. FINALLY, this view of sacrifice does not even equate with OT sacrifice. Sacrifice is always used as a means of cleansing the temple and the community so that God can dwell with them, NOT an offering to appease God's wrath. To be sure, God's wrath is real. However, God's wrath is not appeased by sacrifice, but by repentance, obedience, and faithfulness to God's covenant.

So...if Jesus is not stepping in to bear God's punishment on our behalf, then why did Jesus have to die?

Jesus' Parable

Remarkably, while Jesus predicts his death an astounding amount of times and notes that it is for the salvation of many, he has a lot less to say about how. However, Jesus does give us one parable that makes blatant reference to his coming and his death. Mark 12:1-12 reads:

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all,saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

Why did Jesus have to die? The father and owner of the vineyard is not happy to look at the death of his son as a payment for the tenants misdeeds. The father does not demand the death at all! It is the tenants who conspire. 

Why did Jesus have to die? Because for God to walk in human flesh among us and live a perfect life means that we will inevitably kill him out of greed, pride, and malice. Jesus did not have to die. Jesus chose to die to reveal the depths of our sin. His blood cleanses us by urging us toward repentance. We are forgiven not because the price has been adequately paid. That is not forgiveness at all! It's called payment. We are forgiven because Jesus utters the words on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:24).

This is the good news - even while we were sinners, Christ approaches us with the word of life and forgiveness. May we respond with repentance and faithfulness!

Hopefully you've found this helpful and challenging. May we continue to search out the scriptures to find what God has to say to us. Check in next week as we explore how the early apostles talk about the good news!

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