 
# The Death of Jesus Christ

###### Grace Communion International

###### Copyright 2015 Grace Communion International

###### www.gci.org

###### Cover art: Ken Tunell. Copyright Grace Communion International

###### Scripture quotations, unless noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The "NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

### Table of Contents

Good Friday and Easter Sunday

Jesus—The Complete Salvation Package

Sold...for Thirty Pieces of Silver

Pilate's Wife

The Thief's Story

Would You Have Chosen Barabbas?

Where Was Golgotha?

Born to Die

Why Did Jesus Die?

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

Appreciating Christ's Sacrifice

Why the Messiah Had to Die

Two Truths We Learn From Jesus' Death

A Death in Jerusalem

Christ Our Atonement

A Closer Look at the Crucifixion

It Isn't Just About How He Died

Don't Cry for Jesus

The Day Christ Died

Jesus Christ's Last Sermon

Did God Forsake Jesus on the Cross?

Jesus Was Not Alone

Did You Kill Jesus Christ?

Three Aspects, One Great Event

Our Strange Dead God

Commemorating the Crucifixion

How Long Was Jesus in the Tomb?

Was Jesus Crucified on a Wednesday?

About the Authors

About the Publisher

Grace Communion Seminary

Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

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Editor's note: Some of our articles about Jesus are in the volume titled _Exploring the Word of God: The Four Gospels._ They are also in smaller e-books about the Four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. See other e-books for articles about the birth of Jesus, the incarnation, the life and resurrection of Jesus.

## Good Friday and Easter Sunday

Each spring, we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. These are pivotal celebrations because all that we believe and hope for hinges on the events commemorated by Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Some sincere people put great emphasis on getting the details surrounding these events correct. Much has been written about the exact year, or precise date, or precise chronology of Jesus' arrest, trial, death and resurrection. Though most accept that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, others insist that it was a Wednesday or a Thursday. Some argue over whether Jesus was in the tomb for three days and three nights or just parts of those days. Some believe we should not celebrate the orthodox Christian days at all, insisting that the Old Testament observances are the only correct way to remember Jesus' sacrifice.

I once thought these details were important and spent far too much time trying to resolve them. I now see that it was time wasted. I don't mean to suggest that the details are insignificant. The events of Jesus' last week were carefully orchestrated by God so that prophecies of the Messiah could be fulfilled. However, if we try to establish an exact chronology, some of these questions cannot be resolved definitively, because there is some ambiguity in the scriptural record. However, even if the precise details had been recorded with the attention to chronological detail that we expect today, the details really do not matter. What is important is _what_ happened, not _when_.

If, about 2000 years ago, Jesus the Son of God incarnate was executed and then later resurrected, the destiny of every human being has been changed forever. If he was not, then, as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "Our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Corinthians 15:14). In that letter, Paul reminded his readers that if indeed Jesus had been resurrected from the dead, "Then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'" (v. 54). Here Paul was quoting from Isaiah 25:8:

#### He will swallow up death forever.  
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;  
he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth.  
The Lord has spoken.

That was probably a popular scripture. It is poetic and concise. Had Hallmark been in operation then, they probably would have put the saying on bereavement cards. Paul was showing the Corinthians that it was no mere pious platitude. Because of Jesus, what Isaiah prophesied became reality. Death had in fact been swallowed up in victory and thus Paul could write confidently: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Death—any death—does have a sting. If a particular death does not affect us personally, it might only be a small sting and the pain doesn't last long. Tragedies like a senseless shooting at a school leave us all hurting for some time. The pain of the death of a loved one goes even deeper.

Our Christian worldview gives us comfort in knowing that there is more to life than what we experience in our mortal bodies. Jesus taught that there is an afterlife, and he promised that he would go and prepare a place for us. Knowing that death is not the end for our loved ones moderates the terrible pain of loss, so that we need not "sorrow as those who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13, NLV). However, it does not take away the entire ache. We still suffer the loss of not having their companionship and presence with us while we are still alive and they are dead.

This is why death is the enemy, and even though Jesus has conquered this enemy, we still feel some of its sting when a loved one dies or when we see innocent children murdered. Though we shed tears over death, we are reassured in Psalm 56:8 that God is aware of them all: "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle" (ESV); "...list my tears on your scroll—are they not in your record?" (NIV). Whatever the translation, the point is clear: God knows our pain and suffering down to the details and has promised to eventually remove them forever.

I have been pondering the phrase that John wrote in Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Like Paul, John was reminding us of the reality of the promise in Isaiah 25:8. Consider how important that promise is. If God did not wipe away all tears from our eyes, there would be ongoing cause for weeping.

Most certainly, we'd weep over our past sins, the wasted opportunities while we were upon the earth, as well as our acts of unkindness toward others. We would weep much about the old order of things. But God says there will be no more death and the old order has passed away. In the fullness of God's kingdom, every cause of grief will be removed. In our glorified life, there will be no more death to part loving hearts. There will be no more sorrow of any kind. There will be no more crying for any reason. There will be no more pain of any sort. Instead, there will be fullness of life—a sharing in God's own kind of eternal light and love.

This is why Jesus allowed himself to be tortured and executed, only to be resurrected shortly thereafter. What he did for us he did freely and with confidence in his heavenly Father. And so we read of him: "Who for the joy set before him, endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2).

The precise chronology of Holy Week is not the important issue (if it had been important, surely God would have made it clearer). What is important is what Jesus did to fulfill the specific prophecies of the Messiah, like those given by Isaiah. Jesus changed the very nature of death and opened a pathway to our future hope when all things are made new (Revelation 21:5).

That is what Jesus did and that is what we should focus on as we commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Joseph Tkach

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## Jesus—The Complete Salvation Package

Near the end of his Gospel, the apostle John made these intriguing comments: "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.... If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 20:30; 21:25). Given these comments, and noting differences among the four Gospels, we conclude that these accounts were not written to be exhaustive records of Jesus' life. John says his purpose in writing was that "you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). The focus of the Gospels is to tell the good news about Jesus and the salvation that is ours in him.

Though in verse 31 John attributes salvation ( _life_ ) to the _name_ of Jesus, it's common for Christians to speak of being _saved by Jesus'_ _death._ Though this short-hand statement is correct as far as it goes, relating salvation exclusively to Jesus' death can stunt our understanding of the fullness of who Jesus is and all he has done to save us. The events of Holy Week remind us that Jesus' death, though vital, is part of a larger story that includes our Lord's incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension. All these are intrinsic, inseparable milestones of Jesus' one redemptive work—the work that gives us life in his name. During Holy Week, and throughout the year, let's look to Jesus— _the complete salvation package_.

### Incarnation

Jesus' birth was not the ordinary birth of an ordinary man. Unique in every way, it was the beginning of the Incarnation of God himself. In Jesus' birth, God came among us as a human in the way all humans since Adam have been born. Remaining what he was, the eternal Son of God took on a whole human life, from beginning to end—birth to death. In his one Person, Jesus is both fully divine and fully human. In this stunning statement we find an eternity's worth of significance that merits an eternity of appreciation.

Through the Incarnation, the eternal Son of God stepped out of eternity and into his creation of space and time to become a man of flesh and blood: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Jesus was indeed a genuine full-fledged man, but at the same time he was fully God—one in being with the Father and Spirit. The birth of Jesus fulfills many prophecies and is the promise of our salvation.

The Incarnation did not end with Jesus' birth—it continued throughout his earthly life, and continues today in his glorified human life. The Son of God incarnate (in the flesh), remains one in being with the Father and Spirit—the fullness of the whole God is present and active in Jesus—making the human life of Jesus uniquely significant. As Romans 8:3-4 says, "For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Paul further explains that we are "saved through his life" (Romans 5:11).

The life and work of Jesus are inseparable—all part of the Incarnation. The God-man Jesus is the perfect high priest and mediator between God and man because he partook of the nature of man and reclaimed humanity by living a sinless life. His sinless life helps us understand how he can maintain a relationship with both God and man. While we typically celebrate his birth at Christmas, the events in Jesus' whole life are always a part of our total worship, including during Holy Week. His life reveals the relational nature of our salvation. Jesus brought together, in his own person, God and humanity in perfect relationship.

### Death

For some, the short-hand declaration, _we are saved by Jesus' death_ , carries with it the unfortunate misconception that Jesus death was a sacrifice that conditioned God into being gracious. I pray that we all see the fallacy of this notion.

T.F. Torrance writes that with a proper understanding of the Old Testament sacrifices, we will see Jesus' death not as a pagan offering for the sake of forgiveness, but as a powerful witness to the will of a merciful God ( _Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ_ , pages 38-39). Pagan systems of sacrifice were based on _retribution_ , but Israel's was based on _reconciliation._ Under Israel's system, rather than sacrifices and offerings being given to earn forgiveness, God provided them to cover for and remove the people's sin so that they would be reconciled to God.

Israel's sacrificial system was designed to make manifest and to witness to God's love and mercy, pointing to the purpose of Jesus' death, which is reconciliation with the Father. Jesus death also defeated Satan and the power of death: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14-15). Paul adds that Jesus "must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). Jesus' death is the atoning part of our salvation.

### Resurrection

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus' resurrection, which fulfills many Old Testament prophecies. The author of Hebrews tells us that Isaac being saved from death is a picture of resurrection (Hebrews 11:18-19). The book of Jonah tells us that Jonah was in the stomach of the sea monster "three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17). Jesus related that event to his death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 12:39-40; Matthew 16:4, 21; John 2:18-22).

We celebrate Jesus' resurrection with great joy because it reminds us that death is not permanent. It's a temporary step toward our future—eternal life in communion with God. At Easter we celebrate Jesus' victory over death and the new life we will have in him. We look forward to the time spoken of in Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." The resurrection is the hope of our salvation.

### Ascension

Jesus' birth led to his life and his life led to his death. But we cannot divorce his death from his resurrection and we cannot separate his resurrection from his ascension. Jesus didn't just come out of the grave and live as a human being. Now a glorified human, Jesus ascended to the Father, and it was not until that great event occurred that he finished the work he started.

In the introduction to Torrance's book _Atonement_ , Robert Walker wrote this: "The ascension is Jesus' taking of our humanity in his person into the presence of God into the union and communion of the love of the Trinity." C.S. Lewis put it this way: "In the Christian story God descends to re-ascend." The glorious good news is that in ascending, Jesus took us up with him: "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7).

Incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension—all vital parts of our salvation and thus our worship during Holy Week. These milestones point to all Jesus has accomplished for us through his whole life and whole work. Throughout the year, let's take in more and more of who Jesus is and all of what he has done for us. He is the complete salvation package.

Joseph Tkach

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## Sold...for Thirty Pieces of Silver

Skimming the pages of a book about Jesus recently, my eye fell on a caption: "The Messiah sold for thirty pieces of silver."

I was struck by the enormity of the meaning of that caption and even the absurdity of it. The Messiah, the Savior, the One by whom all things were created, sold for 30 pieces of silver! I am always disarmed by the humility of our Lord who, time and time again, suffered indignities and insults at the hands of his own creatures. In this instance, that it was done by one of his own disciples must have been a source of great sadness for him. The procession to the cross, ugly and violent as it was, had to be triggered by someone, and so it was Judas who set it off. It was to be expected, of course, but that didn't make it any easier for Jesus.

When Judas left the upper room to betray Jesus, he had already made arrangements with the chief priests, who wanted the charismatic teacher and his ministry destroyed. Jesus had been with his disciples in the home of Mary of Bethany six days before the last supper.

At great expense and with a heart brimming with devotion, Mary had poured perfume on Jesus' feet and reverently wiped them with her hair. The disciples, and in particular Judas, objected vehemently to her anointing, claiming it was a waste of money that could have been used for the poor. This was hypocritical criticism by Judas, who had already stolen funds from the money bag.

Jesus defended Mary and held her up as a shining and beautiful example. The fact that Jesus took Mary's side, telling the disciples to leave her alone, must have ignited rage in Judas. He left Mary's home and went directly to the chief priests and elders inquiring what they would give him if he delivered Jesus over to them. Delighted, they counted out 30 silver coins, a sum equal to compensation for a dead slave. Thus the series of events that would be the most tragic in all of human history, and yet the most important and meaningful, began to unfold.

Though Judas' conduct was especially hurtful and destructive, the reaction of the rest of the disciples was also disheartening for Jesus. In the end, with the exception of John, Jesus was deserted by his disciples, who fled into hiding behind closed doors.

Their lack of support added even more misery to the crushing weight of the cross that he bore. Starting with Mary's anointing, only the women in his close circle of companions somehow understood that he needed the reassurance of his beloved friends.

What would my reaction have been had I been there? I like to think it would have been the same as Mary's. On the other hand, to paraphrase a line from a praise song, would I have been ashamed, hearing my own mocking voice call out among the scoffers?

Even though it all started with 30 pieces of silver and betrayal, Jesus' lonely path to Golgotha ended gloriously by ushering in the salvation of all humanity.

Joyce Catherwood

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## Pilate's Wife

Matthew 27:11-66

I woke up suddenly, startled and shaken. I stared at the ceiling, momentarily relieved, thinking my nightmare about Jesus was only a dream. But angry voices coming through the windows of our residence brought me back to reality. My heart sank. I had been deeply disturbed by the news of Jesus' arrest as I retired for the evening. I didn't know why he had been taken and accused of crimes that could cost his life. He had helped so many in need.

From my window, I could see the judgment seat where my husband Pilate, the Roman governor, conducted public hearings. I heard him shout: "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?" I knew this could only mean that events throughout the night had not gone well for Jesus. Pilate may have naively thought the hostile crowd would free him. But the mob had been enraged by wild accusations from the jealous chief priests and elders, so they screamed for Jesus to be crucified. Some of these were the same people who only weeks before had followed him everywhere receiving healing and hope.

Jesus stood there so alone, despised and rejected. He was not a criminal. I knew that, and my husband knew that, but things were out of control. Someone had to intervene. So I grabbed a servant by the arm and told him to go tell Pilate not to have anything to do with those proceedings, and that I had suffered greatly because of a dream about Jesus. But it was too late. My husband gave into their demands. In a cowardly attempt to rid himself of any responsibility, he washed his hands in front of the crowd, declaring he was innocent of Jesus' blood. I moved from the window and slumped to the floor, weeping. My soul ached for this compassionate, humble man who traveled everywhere healing and delivering the oppressed.

As Jesus hung on the cross, the brilliant afternoon sun gave way to an ominous darkness. Then as Jesus gasped his last breath, the earth shook, splitting rocks and leveling structures. Tombs broke open, releasing dead people who came back to life. All of Jerusalem had been brought to its knees. But not for long. These terrifying events weren't enough to stop the Jewish leaders. They scrambled to Pilate and conspired with him to secure Jesus' grave so his disciples could not steal his body and claim he rose from the dead.

Three days have now passed, and Jesus' followers are indeed proclaiming he is alive! They insist they have seen him! Those who came back from their graves now walk the streets of Jerusalem. I am overjoyed! I dare not tell my husband, but I will not rest until I learn more about this amazing man who defied death and promises eternal life.

Joyce Catherwood

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## The Thief's Story

#### "Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left" (Mark 15:27).

Our cell was deep in the prison, but we could hear the noise of a riot in the courtyard. People were shouting Barabbas' name. Barabbas must have heard it too, but he said nothing. He did not seem to be afraid. Barabbas never showed fear, not even now, when he was soon to be crucified.

None of us knew his real name. Barabbas meant "son of the father," and the mystery only added to his popularity. He was a thief and a murderer, but he hated the Romans, and he never missed an opportunity to cause them trouble. So, in spite of his crimes, our people thought of him as a hero. Some even followed him.

I was one of them. Life with Barabbas had been exciting. We didn't think of ourselves as criminals. We were patriots, fighting to free our nation from the Romans. We were known as "zealots." All our little band could do was tweak the mighty Roman nose occasionally, but Pontius Pilate was afraid of any trouble in Judea, and was determined to crush us.

They caught us just before Passover. It was our fault. Barabbas had led many riots, and we had always gotten away. But perhaps we had become too confident. The Romans brought extra guards to Jerusalem during religious festivals, and we were caught.

They captured two of us along with Barabbas. We did not expect mercy. There was only one punishment for the likes of us—crucifixion. There would be no delay. Things were always tense in Jerusalem during the Passover season, and the Romans wanted Barabbas out of the way before the festival began.

"We'll have a good crowd for you," the guards had taunted. "They'll all come out to see Barabbas hung up." Then they left us, chained to the wall in the dark to await our fate.

The guards came for Barabbas in the middle of the night. I heard footsteps and then a scraping sound as they unbarred the door to our prison. Several soldiers burst in and seized Barabbas.

"You're a lucky man," said one, unlocking the chain. "The Governor is letting you go." They hauled him to his feet, and kicked him into the corridor.

"Does that mean... ?" I asked.

"Not you. You two are still for the cross. We poor soldiers have to do something to earn our keep, don't we?" said the guard. "Don't worry. It will still be a good show. We are going to hang you up with the King of the Jews."

"Herod?"

"No, someone called Jesus of Nazareth, who thinks he is the Messiah."

The door slammed and the cell was again dark. I heard a curse and a rattle of chains as Demas settled back to sleep. He, like Barabbas, seemed resigned to his fate. I knew I would get no more sleep. The last day of my life had begun.

I had heard of Jesus of Nazareth. He was a wandering preacher who talked about the "kingdom of God." Nothing much seemed to have come of it. Some said he could do miracles. There was even a rumor that he had raised people from the dead. I saw him once. He was talking to a crowd about love and forgiveness. I didn't take much notice.

He had a small group of followers who believed he would lead them against the Romans. He seemed more concerned with annoying the Pharisees. Jesus seemed to be just another religious fanatic, and the Romans were usually tolerant of the likes of him. So what had he done to get himself crucified?

But a condemned man does not dwell long on such things. I had my own problems to worry about. In a few hours I was going to be crucified—nailed to a cross and left to die.

### On the road to Golgotha

The guards came for us in the morning. I had seen people crucified, and I knew what to expect. They would flog us, then parade us through the streets to Golgotha.

Demas was the first to be beaten. He was dragged to a stone pillar in the prison yard, and his hands tied to an iron ring above his head. Two massive soldiers stood on each side of him, each holding a whip made from strips of leather in which were embedded sharp stones, bits of broken glass and nails. The whips were already soaked in blood—we were not the first to feel them that day.

Demas cursed and screamed as the soldiers began to beat him. Then he fainted, but they did not stop. I thought they would kill him—victims often did not survive the Roman scourge. But the soldiers knew what they were doing. This was only the start of our punishment.

They took down Demas, and tied me in his place. I am not a stranger to pain. I had been in many fights, and my body had scars to prove it. But nothing I had ever suffered prepared me for those first blows. I heard myself scream and the soldier grunted with satisfaction. The other man waited a few seconds—it seemed like hours—then he hit me too. So it continued until I too fainted. I revived as they were untying me from the pillar.

I collapsed, but the soldiers dragged me to my feet. A centurion pointed at two beams of wood leaning against the wall. They were the crosspieces that the condemned men had to carry to their execution.

Two soldiers picked up one of the beams and dropped it across my bleeding shoulders. They tied my wrists to the beam so that I could not drop it. The rough wood bit into my torn back. Somehow I stayed on my feet as the guards led us out of the prison and into the street.

A crowd was already forming. I saw a man, or what had once been a man, surrounded by soldiers. He was bowed under the weight of a beam like ours. It was Jesus of Nazareth.

What had they done to him?

Every part of his body was covered with bruises and cuts, and his eyes were swollen shut. On his head they had placed a crown made from thorn branches. He seemed already near death as he stood quietly while the crowd jeered and mocked him.

The guards—there were four for each of us—ordered us to move. Jesus was first. I was behind him, and Demas was last. The guards seemed nervous. If Barabbas had been with us, there might have been a rescue attempt. But surely no one would risk their lives for us. Most of Jesus' supporters seemed to be women.

Behind me I could hear Demas, defiant to the end, cursing the crowd, the guards, the Emperor, and even God. Had the man no fear? But it was Jesus who was the center of attention. As he stumbled along the narrow streets, the spectators mocked him. But he said nothing. He even tried to comfort some of the women who were weeping.

I wondered if perhaps he was out of his mind and had no idea what was happening to him. He seemed to be more like an unsuspecting animal being led out to slaughter than a man being driven to a horrible death.

Jesus had obviously been a strong man, but the beatings must have weakened him. Our miserable progress was halted several times as he fell down under the weight of the crosspiece.

The guards kicked him and screamed at him to get up, but he could go no further. The centurion pointed to a big man in the crowd and ordered him to pick up the crossbeam. The man shrugged, put the heavy wood on his shoulder and joined the procession.

Eventually we arrived at Golgotha, where a little way up the hillside there were several poles in the ground.

### Crucified

Two guards kicked my legs out from under me. A soldier holding a hammer and a bag of rough nails looked down at me, grinning. He placed a nail over my wrist, and smashed it through my flesh into the wood. I screamed. He quickly nailed my other arm the same way, and then moved across to Demas. Finally they gestured to the man who was still holding Jesus' crosspiece to drop it on the ground. Then they nailed Jesus to it. He moaned, but I heard no curses.

One by one the soldiers dragged us over to the upright poles. Jesus in the middle and Demas and I on either side. We pleaded and cursed in fear and pain, but Jesus still said nothing. Using ropes they hauled me up until the crosspieces dropped into a slot in the upright pole, leaving me hanging by my wrists. Then, bending my legs, they smashed another long nail through my ankles and into the wood. Jesus was next, and then Demas. Finally, a guard fixed a board with our names and crimes written on it to the pole above our heads. Mine said simply "robber," but on Jesus' board they had written "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

So began our last hours in this world.

After the first shock of hanging from my wrists, I fainted. But I came to with a terrible pain in my chest. Hanging from my arms made it impossible to breathe, and I felt myself suffocating. So I pushed myself up on the nail holding my legs, so that I could at least fill my lungs. But soon that pain became unbearable, and I had to sink back down. There was no relief. This would go on, hour after hour, maybe for several days until exhausted, tormented by the heat, thirst and biting insects that were even now feasting on my blood, I would die.

I cursed my fate, the Romans, the guards and the crowd of people who had come to watch my suffering. But through my pain, I realized their taunts and insults were not aimed at me. All the attention seemed to be on Jesus. As he hung beside me, twisting and writhing as he fought for breath, his tormentors kept up a stream of insults: "He saved others, but he can't save himself." "If you really are the King of the Jews, come down from the cross and we will believe in you."

Then I heard him say, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." He was mad! They did know what they were doing—they were killing us in the worst way they knew, and enjoying it. I wanted to see them thrown into the deepest pit of hell—not forgiven.

Some women and one or two men gathered at the foot of his cross did not join in the insults. A middle-aged lady seemed particularly upset, and yet more under control than the others. She was probably his mother, and the young man looking after her was perhaps his brother. Relatives were allowed to attend an execution, if they did not interfere.

None of my relatives had come to see me die. I had been a disappointment to them for years, and they finally disowned me for their own safety when I joined up with Barabbas.

I thought of my own mother. She was a good, God-fearing woman, and it wasn't her fault that I had chosen a life of crime. She had done her best to teach me our Jewish faith. "Fear God, my son," she told me long ago, "and when you die you will live forever in paradise." But to a young man, paradise seemed a long way off, and I had chosen the excitement of a life with a gang of thieves. We justified our crimes by claiming we were fighting for the liberation of our homeland. Now we were paying for it, hung up to die with this failed "King of the Jews" who had claimed he could save Israel, but couldn't even save himself.

Demas, hanging on the other side of Jesus, was cursing him. I began to do it too—Jesus' calmness was infuriating. He was suffering as much as we were. Why not show it, instead of "forgiving" people for doing this to us? Who did he think he was?

Who did he think he was? He was accused of being the King of the Jews, the Messiah, and the Son of God. The religious leaders who had come to watch him die were particularly happy to see him powerless. Why? What threat was he to them? In his preaching he often exposed their hypocrisy. But they had won—and he was being crucified. He seemed almost at peace, although he was, like us, in agony, struggling for every breath. Yet he showed no bitterness, nor any anger against anyone—the crowd, the soldiers or even the leaders who had accused him. He surely was a good man—why was God allowing this to happen to him?

### The rescue

The taunts of the crowd provoked another outburst of anger from Demas: "If you were the Messiah you could get us down from here."

You fool, I thought. Leave him alone. In a few hours we would all be facing the judgment of God. At least Jesus knew God. He had called him "Father" when he asked forgiveness for those who had nailed him to the cross. We might need his help if we were to escape hell. Maybe he could ask God to forgive us, too.

I called across to Demas: "Don't you fear God? We are getting what we deserve. He has done nothing wrong." My words only provoked more blasphemy and scorn from Demas. But Jesus suddenly raised his head, and looked directly at me. Although his face was covered with bruises and blood, I saw a look in his eyes. What was it?

Gratitude for a kind word? No, it wasn't that. Sorrow that he was a failed Messiah who could not help me? No, it wasn't that either. It was a look of—I can only describe it as compassion, confidence and authority. It was the way my father used to look at me when, as a child I expected punishment, but found forgiveness and acceptance. This was no madman who had lost his mind. Although he seemed to be as helpless as we were, Jesus' look showed me that he was in control. Even though he was sharing my fate, he seemed to be reaching out to me.

What was he trying to tell me? Jesus was not afraid to die. But then, he could look forward to the approval of God when this torture was over. Then I understood.

He was offering to help me. This man who asked God to forgive his torturers would ask for forgiveness for me too. Somehow, I knew I could trust him.

I heard myself say, "Jesus, will you remember me when you come into your kingdom?"

He tried to smile, and although his voice was hoarse, and he had to struggle to get out each word, he said clearly: "I tell you the truth. Today you will be with me in paradise."

We tried to smile at each other—and I knew at that moment that I was going to be all right. Although every muscle and joint in my body was still racked with pain, and every breath was torture, I was not afraid anymore.

### The end

I don't remember much of the next few hours. It became harder and harder to breathe. The day became very dark, like when the sandstorms came in from the desert. Most of the crowd went home.

Jesus died first. I heard him cry out, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Demas was mostly quiet now, but he still found energy to blaspheme and curse the guards, so I knew he was not dead.

The end, when it came, came quickly. The guards decided not to leave us hanging on the crosses during the Passover night. So as dusk approached, they found a board to use as a club to break our legs.

I saw the guard hit Demas just below his knees, and heard the bones break. The guard then looked up at Jesus, and saw he was dead. He stabbed him with his spear to make sure, and blood and water gushed out. Then he came to me. I felt my bones break, and then I could no longer push myself up on my legs to breathe.

It would not be long now. I looked for the last time at the city that had been my home, with its wall and the temple. I looked at the body of the man on the cross beside me. I tried to remember what he had said just before he died: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." I tried to say that too. As I felt life slipping away, I knew that whatever came next, I was going to be safe.

Author's note: In trying to tell the story of the crucifixion from the point of view of the repentant thief, I have side-stepped many issues that have preoccupied theologians for centuries. They are genuine questions, and worthy of discussion. But let's not allow them to obscure the lesson of the story of the first human being to look to the crucified Jesus for salvation. You don't have to be good enough. You don't have anything to offer. You don't have to qualify. You just have to trust him to forgive and to save.

John Halford

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## Would You Have Chosen Barabbas?

Pontius Pilate knew he had no real reason to have Jesus killed. But the mob outside, urged on by their religious leaders, were clamoring for his blood. The Roman governor thought he saw a way out.

It was his custom at that time of year to release a prisoner as a goodwill gesture. He had planned to offer Barabbas, a robber and rabble-rouser. But now he could offer Jesus instead. Just a few days before, Jesus had been escorted into the city by an adoring crowd. Surely some of them were in that mob outside. Surely they would ask for him to be set free.

But they didn't. Urged on by Jesus' enemies, the mob called for Barabbas.

"What do I do with Jesus then?" asked the governor.

"Crucify him!" yelled the mob.

"But why? What has he done?" protested Pilate. But the mob was beyond reason.

"Crucify him! CRUCIFY HIM!"

So Jesus was led away to be flogged and crucified.

What would _we_ have done if we were in that crowd on the night Jesus was arrested? What would you have done if you had been in that crowd? Would you have joined in the clamor for Jesus to be killed?

"Certainly not!" you say?

Don't be so sure.

The people who chose Barabbas lived in an angry, confused, cruel and frustrated world. They had learned to survive in it, going with the flow without fully endorsing its worst aspects. Most of them would probably not have described themselves as "good people," but surely they were good enough.

Jesus was a likeable fellow. He was kind, fun to be around and generous. He exposed hypocritical public figures. He did fascinating miracles and gave great sermons. No wonder people liked to follow him around. You never knew what was going to happen next, but you knew it would be exciting.

Jesus said he represented a kingdom "not of this world," where love, forgiveness and peace are the way of life. He said the future belonged to the poor, the powerless and the disenfranchised. But the future is a long way off, and right now, the poor were still poor and powerless and disenfranchised.

He spoke often of repentance and forgiveness — which was fine, but divine forgiveness didn't pay the tax man and didn't keep hypocritical public figures from taking your property and killing your children.

Jesus had a disconcerting way of including "good-enough" people among the sinners. He seemed to expect them to make changes in how they lived, too. "Why do you call me Lord, and don't do what I tell you?" he'd ask.

Jesus threatened the status quo at every level. He still does, and we don't like that, especially if we are comfortable. When we are confronted with the reality of Jesus, many of us good-enough people would prefer to do like Pilate, and wash our hands of him. We have nothing against him personally, but we don't like to be faced with the truth about our own greed, selfishness, double standards and hypocrisy. Save sinners by all means, but not in my backyard!

So Jesus was brutally put to death with the cries of ordinary people ringing in his ears. Three days later, he was resurrected. It was not just the triumph of one man over his own death. It is God's triumph over all sin and death — once and for all. Christians understand this, and we love, honor, praise and worship the one whose sacrifice has opened the way to our eternal life.

At least, we like to think we do. But let's be honest with ourselves. What would we have done if we had been in that crowd on the night Jesus was arrested?

We may not have liked Barabbas, but we understood him. He was of our world. We would not have wanted him as a next-door neighbor, but providing he posed no threat to us personally, we could let him live.

But that other fellow? He offered us promises we could not see, and he confronted us where it hurt most, invading our innermost being, challenging us to share, to serve, to be humble, to be honest, to put God first, to love others as much as we love ourselves and to forgive those who wrong us.

That is all very well in theory, and makes for wonderful prayers and praise songs. But in reality, that is not the way we do things down here. Better to play it safe with the devil you do know. Are you sure you would not have chosen Barabbas?

John Halford

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## Where Was Golgotha?

#### Where did the pivotal event of all the ages take place?  
Modern archaeology sheds new light on an old controversy.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the most significant event in all history! The precise location where he was crucified, buried and resurrected has intrigued Christians for many centuries. The fact of that great event does not depend on locating the authentic site. But it is only natural that Christians would have an interest in knowing where their Savior died—and where he rose again.

What does the Bible tell us about the location? The Gospel writers call the place where Jesus was crucified _Golgotha—_ an Aramaic word meaning "the skull." _Calvary_ is the Latin form of the word. Scripture does not reveal the precise location of Golgotha. It simply states that Jesus' crucifixion took place _outside_ the city of Jerusalem, though near it (John 19:20; Hebrews 13:12). Jewish law did not permit executions and burials inside the city.

Further, we know that Jesus was crucified near a well-traveled road, since passersby mocked him (Matthew 27:39; Mark 15:21, 29-30). The Romans selected conspicuous places by major highways for their public executions. The crucifixion probably took place on a hill, because it was visible at a distance (verse 40). As for the tomb or sepulcher, we're told only that it was in a garden near the place of crucifixion (John 19:41).

### Rival sites of Jesus' crucifixion and burial

Various locations around Jerusalem have been suggested as the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. But in recent times, only two have been deemed worthy of serious consideration. The traditional site lies within the area now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (below), in the Christian Quarter of the Old City (see map below). The huge church embraces within its walls a hill called Latin Calvary, and nearby, the traditional tomb of Christ.

The other contending location is a rocky hill—commonly called Gordon's Calvary—just north of Jerusalem's Old City (see map). It was named in honor of a British military leader, General Charles Gordon, who promoted the site in the 19th century. Near Gordon's Calvary is a quiet garden, with a rock-hewn tomb popularly called the Garden Tomb, held by some to have been the sepulcher of Jesus.

### Golgotha outside city walls

In recent decades, archaeological excavations have revealed more facts about the Jerusalem of Jesus' day—including the route of the city walls at that time. As we have seen, the Bible requires that Golgotha lie outside those walls.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is inside the walls of today's Jerusalem. Does that disqualify it as the authentic site? No. The walls that now surround the Old City are not the walls of Jesus' day. They were built in the 16th century. Excavations and literary evidence show that when Jesus was crucified, the line of the city wall ran south of the site on which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre now stands (see map).

Ancient tradition is another important consideration when evaluating alleged holy sites. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has a longstanding tradition in its favor that can be traced back to the time of Constantine, the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. According to tradition, Queen Helena, Constantine's mother, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in a.d. 326. The Christians living in Jerusalem at that time pointed out the location of Calvary and Jesus' tomb to Helena and her traveling companion, the historian Eusebius.

It was an unexpected place—they claimed that the holy site lay underneath Jerusalem's Temple of Venus (or Aphrodite), which had been built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian a century after Jesus' crucifixion, when pagan temples were built in the city after the Jewish revolt of a.d. 135.

Helena ordered the pagan temple demolished and removed to uncover Jesus' tomb and Calvary. The excavations revealed several ancient tombs. Evidence pointed to one in particular as the tomb of Christ. The workmen also uncovered a rocky outcrop that was identified as the hill of Calvary. A church was built adjacent to the site in a.d. 335—the forerunner of today's Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Can we trust a tradition as late as the fourth century? Though Hadrian banned all Jews from Jerusalem in a.d. 135, Christians not of Jewish ancestry could and did live in Jerusalem from Hadrian's time on. Eusebius even preserves a list of the Gentile bishops of Jerusalem. A tradition could therefore have easily been passed down through generations of Christians to Constantine's time.

Consider, too, that Jerusalem's Christians were _so certain_ the tomb lay under the Venus temple that they persuaded Helena to pay for the demolition of the temple. Had they not been certain that a tomb and rocky hill lay beneath it, they would been less likely to suggest the costly work. Their conviction must have been tied to a long and consistent tradition.

### The place of the skull

What of the notion that Golgotha was named because it in some way resembled a skull? The rough shape of a human skull—with eye sockets, nose and mouth—is visible in the cliff face of Gordon's Calvary (see photo below). Scripture, however, requires no such features.

Gordon's Calvary

The Garden Tomb

The notion that Golgotha, "The Place of the Skull" (Matthew 27:33), was named because of the appearance of the hill is a modern idea. From early Christian times, virtually all commentators held that Golgotha was so named simply because it was a place of execution, where the skulls and bones of criminals lay scattered.

Further, Gordon's Calvary was probably part of a ridge—not a separate hill—in Jesus' time. The features of the hill that make it look like a skull were not present in the first century. Archaeologists believe it to be a quarry or mine developed only in the past two or three centuries. In other words, its skull-like appearance is the result of modern quarrying operations.

The fact that Gordon's Calvary was suggested only recently is, in itself, clear testimony that the hill did not resemble a skull until relatively recent times. Otherwise, it would have been suggested as an alternative candidate for Golgotha in earlier centuries. Yet no ancient or medieval tradition connects the crucifixion with the place.

### Garden Tomb is too old

Jesus' tomb was a "new tomb" (Matthew 27:60). Any tomb not identifiable as a first-century tomb is out of the running. Archaeological work has shown that the ancient rock-cut tombs within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are indeed _first-century_ tombs, as required by Scripture.

The Garden Tomb, by contrast, was originally hewn out centuries earlier—in the Iron Age, in the eighth or seventh century B.C., during the time of the later kings of Judah. This determination is based on the plan and characteristics of its rooms, the type of chisels used in cutting out the tomb, the artifacts excavated inside, and other factors. Thus, it does not qualify as a "new tomb" of the first century.

### Is it important to know?

The verdict of archaeology seems to be clear: Gordon's Calvary and the Garden Tomb have little evidence in their favor. What of the site now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? It seems to have the weightier claim as the actual location of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. We cannot know with 100 percent certainty, and it is not important that we know. Salvation does not hinge on a particular location, but on the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

_Readers who would like to know more about the archaeological investigations into the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre may consult the March/April 1986 and May/June 1986 issues of_ Biblical Archaeology Review.

Keith W. Stump

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## Born to Die

The Christian faith proclaims that at a specific time and place, the Son of God became flesh and lived among us. However, Jesus was such a remarkable person that some people even wondered whether he was human at all. The Bible therefore goes out of its way to say that he was flesh, born of a woman, in very nature a human, made like us in every respect except for sin (John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:17). He was really human.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is often celebrated on Christmas, even though the incarnation would have actually begun when the pregnancy began—by traditional calendars, on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation (formerly called Festum Incarnationis, or Feast of the Incarnation).

### Christ crucified

As important as the conception and birth of Jesus are to our faith, however, that is not the primary focus we carry to the world. When Paul preached in Corinth, he preached a much more provocative message: Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23).

The Greco-Roman world had many stories about deities being born, but they had never heard of one being crucified! It was preposterous—like saying that people could be saved by believing in an executed criminal. How could anybody be saved by a criminal?

That was just the point—the Son of God died shamefully on a cross like a criminal, and then was he resurrected to glory! Peter told the Jewish leaders: "The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead.... God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel" (Acts 5:30-31). Jesus was resurrected and taken to heaven so our sins could be removed.

But Peter did not omit the embarrassing part of the story: "whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree." The word _tree_ would no doubt remind the Jewish leaders of Deuteronomy 21:23: "Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse." Ouch! Why would Peter bring that up? Peter did not try to sweep the public-relations problem under the rug. Rather, he made sure that he included it. The message said not only that Jesus died, but that he died in a shameful way. That was part of the message—it was essential to the message.

When Paul preached in Corinth, he characterized his message not merely as proclaiming that Christ died, but that Christ died by crucifixion (1 Corinthians 1:23). In Galatia he may have used some visual aids: "Before your eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified" (Galatians 3:1). Why would Paul go out of his way to describe a hideous death that the Scriptures call a sure sign of God's curse?

### Was it necessary?

Indeed, why had Jesus suffered such a horrible death? Paul had probably thought long and hard about that question. He had seen the risen Christ. He knew that God had approved this man as the Messiah. But why would God allow his Anointed One to suffer a death the Scriptures call cursed? (In a similar way, Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified. They believe he was a prophet, and God wouldn't allow that kind of treatment for a prophet. Muslims believe that someone else was crucified instead of Jesus.)

Jesus prayed in Gethsemane for some other way, but there was no other way. Herod and Pilate did only what God had already "decided beforehand should happen"—that he should die in this accursed way (Acts 4:28).

Why? Because Jesus died for us, for our sins, and we, because of our sins, had come under a curse. Our sins are as ugly to God as a crucifixion. All humanity is accursed because of sin. The good news, the gospel, is that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Jesus was crucified for every one of us. He took the pain, and the shame, that we deserve.

### Other analogies

But this is not the only analogy the Bible gives us, and Paul explains the crucifixion as a curse in only one of his letters. More often, he simply says that Jesus "died for us." At first glance, this phrase looks like a simple substitution: We deserved to die, Jesus volunteered to die instead of us, and now we don't have to.

But it is not quite so simple. For one thing, we still die. From another perspective, we die with Christ (Romans 6:3-5). In this analogy, Jesus' death was both representative (he died in our place) and participatory (we are included in his death by dying with him). The main point is clear: We are saved by the crucifixion of Jesus, and we can be saved in no other way than through the cross of Christ.

Another analogy, one that Jesus used, was that of a ransom: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). It is like we were held captive by an enemy, and Jesus' death secured our freedom. Paul uses a similar analogy when he says we were redeemed. This word would remind some readers of the slave market, others of the Exodus. Slaves could be redeemed from slavery, and God redeemed Israel from Egypt. The Father paid a price by sending his Son.

Colossians 2:15 uses a different analogy: "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." The picture here is a victory parade: the victorious military leader brings the captives into town, disarmed, in chains, humiliated. The point in Colossians is that Jesus Christ, by means of his crucifixion, has broken the power of all our enemies and given us victory.

The Bible is giving us _images_ of salvation, not precise formulas that we must insist on. Substitutionary sacrifice, for example, is only one of the many pictures that the Bible uses to get the point across. Just as sin is described in several ways, the work that Jesus did to remove our sins can also be described in several ways. If we think of sin as violations of law, we can think of the crucifixion as payment of a legal penalty. If we think of sin as a violation of God's holiness, then we can view Jesus as an atoning sacrifice. If sin makes us dirty, then Jesus' blood makes us clean. If sin is bondage, then Jesus is the redeemer, the victorious rescuer. If sin creates hostility, Jesus brings reconciliation. If we see sin as ignorance or stupidity, then Jesus is the one who enlightens us and makes us wise. All these images can be helpful.

### Appeasing God's wrath?

God has wrath against ungodliness, and there will be a "day of God's wrath" when he judges the world (Romans 1:18; 2:5). People who "reject the truth" will be punished (verse 8). God loves them and would prefer that they change, but if they refuse, they will suffer the consequences. If the truth of God's love and mercy is rejected, the result is punishment.

But God is not like some angry human who needs his "pound of flesh" to calm down. He loves us and provided the means by which our sins could be forgiven. They were not simply wiped away—the sins were given to Jesus, and there were real consequences for them.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus became a curse for us, became sin for us. It's like our sins were given to him, and his righteousness was given to us "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (same verse). We are given righteousness by God.

### Righteousness of God displayed

The gospel reveals the righteousness of God—that he is righteous to forgive us instead of condemn us (Romans 1:17). He does not ignore our sins—he takes care of them through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The cross demonstrates God's justice (Romans 3:25-26), and it demonstrates his love (5:8). It demonstrates justice because it is appropriate for sin (rebellion against the author of life) to be punished by death; it demonstrates love because the person who forgives is accepting the pain.

Jesus paid the price of our sin—the personal price of pain and shame. He achieved reconciliation (a restoration of personal fellowship) through the cross (Colossians 1:20). Even when we were enemies, he died for us (Romans 5:8).

Righteousness involves more than legal requirements. The Good Samaritan did not have a law telling him to help the wounded man, but he acted righteously when he did so. When it is in our power to rescue a drowning person, we should do so. When it was in God's power to rescue a sin-enslaved world, he did so by sending Jesus Christ. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). He died for everyone, even while we were all sinners.

### Through faith

In showing mercy, God is showing himself to be right. He is right to consider us righteous even though we are sinners. Why? Because he has made Christ to be our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). Because we are united to Christ, we share in his righteousness. The righteousness we have is not our own, but it comes from God and is given to us by faith (Philippians 3:9).

#### This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:22-26)

Jesus' sacrifice was effective for everyone, but only those who have faith in Christ enjoy the benefits of his sacrifice. It is only when we accept the truth that we can experience the mercy. We see his death as ours (as a substitute and as something we participate in), we see his punishment as ours, and we see his victory and resurrection as ours. In this way God is true to his nature: merciful and righteous. Sin is not ignored, nor are sinners ignored. God's mercy triumphs over legal requirements (James 2:13).

Through the cross, Christ has reconciled the whole world (2 Corinthians 5:19). Through the cross, the entire universe is being reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20). Everything will experience redemption because of what Jesus has done (Romans 8:21). That expands our understanding of the word salvation, doesn't it?

### Born to die

The bottom line is that we are saved through the death of Jesus Christ. He became flesh for this very purpose. In bringing us to glory, it was fitting that God have Jesus suffer and die (Hebrews 2:10). Because he wanted to save us, he became like us, so he could save us by dying for us.

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (2:14-15). It was by God's grace that Jesus experienced death for everyone (2:9). "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

The Bible gives us many ways to think about what Jesus did for us on the cross. We do not understand how all of it "works," but we accept that it does. Because he died, we can enjoy eternal life with God.

I'll close with one more way to think about the cross—as an example:

#### "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:9-11).

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## Why Did Jesus Die?

In March or April of each year, Christian churches typically set aside a day to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ. And whenever we participate in the Lord's Supper or Communion, we commemorate the death of Jesus. It's an important part of Christian faith and practice. Today, I'd like to explore some of the reasons for this, and I would like to begin by asking a multiple-choice question:

Why did Jesus die?

Actually, there are multiple answers.

For example, there is a medical answer to the question of why Jesus died. Maybe it was dehydration, or heat stroke, or an electrolytic imbalance in his bloodstream that caused the muscles in his heart to stop working.

And there is a social or political answer to the question of why Jesus died: the religious leaders were afraid that he was going to cause a rebellion against Rome, and that would cause Rome to kill thousands of people. So Jesus was put to death to avoid the risk of a war. He died because the religious leaders wanted him dead.

And there is a spiritual answer, too, and again there is more than one right answer. The Bible tells us that

Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8).

He died for our sins (Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Colossians 2:14).

He died to justify us, to declare us righteous (Romans 5:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

He died to redeem us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).

Jesus died to destroy the devil, and to free us from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15).

He died to reconcile all of us to the Father (Romans 5:10; 1 Peter 3:18).

He died to win a victory over powers and authorities (Colossians 2:15).

He died so that we could live for him (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Now, some of these biblical statements are just the tip of the iceberg.

For example, the Bible says that Jesus died "for our sins." But there is a deeper question right after that. Someone might ask, Why does his death have anything to do with our sins? What's the connection between him dying, and us living? How does this work?

Theologians have answered this question with various "theories of atonement." Depending on how you count these theories, there are a half dozen or so. All of them have some biblical support, and each of them makes sense to at least a few people.

Atonement is an old English word meaning at-one-ment, the condition of being "at one" with God – what the Bible calls reconciliation. But in modern theological usage, the meaning of _atonement_ is usually focused on the connection between Christ's death and the forgiveness of our sins. There's more to salvation than just the forgiveness of sins, so the question can be expanded even larger than that, but to keep our discussion a manageable size, let's just look at what Jesus' death does for our salvation.

One common theory of the atonement is called the penal substitution theory. The word penal comes from the Latin word _poena,_ from which we get the legal word subpoena, and the English words pain, and penalty, and penitentiary and penance and penalize. A list of punishments for crimes is called a penal code. When England sent criminals to Australia, it was called a penal colony. The word refers to a penalty prescribed by a judge.

This theory, when it comes to Jesus, is that Jesus was a substitute for us, paying our penalty for us.

One song puts it this way: I owed a debt I could not pay, and he paid a debt he did not owe. That's really a financial metaphor, but it's a similar idea. One person is a substitute for another, paying a penalty on behalf of someone else. We deserved to die, but Jesus died for us, so we don't have to.

Now, like I said, that is a common theory. In fact, it is so common that some people think that it's the only explanation for why we can be saved by the death of Jesus. Maybe it was the explanation that made the most sense to you, and maybe it is the way you have explained the gospel to other people.

But as we have just seen, the Bible gives a number of other explanations, and they each add something to our understanding of how we are saved by the death of Jesus.

Actually, if we take a closer look at the penal substitution theory, we will see a few problems with it, and we will see that it's a good thing the Bible gives some additional explanations as well. If we are going to explain the gospel as a substitute punishment, it will be helpful for us to know where the difficulties are, so that we can avoid some mistakes.

1. The first problem I will mention is not in the theory itself, but the way it is sometimes used. The story sometimes goes like this: God is perfect, and he gives us perfect laws, but we don't keep them. We sin, and God's sense of holiness and justice says that we deserve to die. He is angry at us and wants to punish us.

But along comes Jesus, who loves us and volunteers to die for us. Hey, Dad, he says, if I pay the penalty for them, will you stop being angry at them? So the Father and the Son make a deal, and Jesus dies for us, and God is happy with us if we have faith in Jesus.

The big problem with this is that it makes Jesus quite different from his Father. God the Father looks like an ill-tempered grump who has to be talked into loving us, who has to be paid off, and Jesus is the nice guy who figures out a way to change his Father's mind.

But this is not the way that the Bible describes God the Father and God the Son. The Bible says that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, God made human, a person in whom the fullness of the deity lives. Jesus told Philip, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). The Father and the Son are in perfect agreement. The Father loves us just as much as Jesus does, and Jesus hates sin just as much as the Father does.

And it's not like Jesus figured out a way to convince God to be merciful – God was already merciful, and the Father is the one who _sent_ Jesus to save us. The Father was not angry with us in the sense of wanting to punish us. No, quite the opposite – the Bible says that God wants everyone to escape the punishment. He is angry at sin, but he wants us to escape the results of sin. So the death of Jesus was not designed to change God's attitude toward us. Rather, it expressed what God himself did for us.

2. Now let's consider something else. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Everybody deserves to die, and it's like we are all on death row, waiting for our execution. Along comes Jesus and says, Hey, I am willing to die for these people. If we are on death row, that sounds like a pretty good deal.

But an impartial observer says, That's not justice. Justice does not mean punishing an innocent person and letting guilty people go free, even if the innocent person volunteers for it. If somebody is sentenced to 20 years in prison, we do not let anyone else serve the time for them – and if one person deserves to be executed, we don't let anybody else volunteer to take their place, especially if they are innocent. That's not justice.

Maybe you didn't know this, but in the Middle Ages, punishments could be transferred. If the king's son got into trouble, then they beat the son's servant instead. That is the origin of the term "whipping boy." The servant got whipped, and the prince had to watch him get a beating, and in the Middle Ages, they thought that justice had been served. The penalty had been paid, even if it was by someone else.

But today, many people do not think that this is fair. It does not seem to fit into any category of justice for God to let condemned criminals go free just because Jesus volunteered to die for them. Maybe our sense of justice is wrong, but it will be difficult to argue for that in our culture. Maybe there is a better way to explain what's going on.

3. Third, the penal substitution theory focuses on the final penalty of sin – in a court of law at the last judgment, we will be found guilty and deserve the death penalty. Now, that is pretty serious, but I would like to point out that the penalty of sin at the last judgment is only part of our problem. It's only part of the problem of sin, and only part of what Jesus came to die for.

Sin is a real problem in this life. Paul describes sin as a power that grips our lives and enslaves us (Romans 6:20-21), causing us to make bad choices in life – bad choices that hurt us, and hurt the people around us. That's a real problem, and the good news is that Jesus has done something to solve this problem.

Just paying a future penalty is only part of the salvation that we need. Jesus frees us from the grip of sin – he liberates us from its enslaving power – and by the Holy Spirit, he begins to change us from the inside out. This is doing something about sin from where it begins, not just where it all ends up. This is saving us from our own corrupt selfishness, not just from a judicial verdict. That's good news, and the penal substitution theory doesn't say anything about it, but that is one of the reasons that Jesus died.

4. My last point here is that the penal substitution theory says that our salvation was completed by the death of Jesus. The substitute was offered on the cross, and the penalty was paid in full. But there is something important that is missing from this picture, and that is the resurrection of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul said that if Christ had not been raised, then we would still be in our sins. The crucifixion is not enough – for the simple reason that the penalty is not the only problem that has to be taken care of, and the atonement of Jesus involves more than paying a penalty on our behalf. In Romans, Paul tells us that Jesus was raised to life for our justification, and we are saved not just by his death, but also by his life.

Now, if people are really worried about the last judgment and the penalty of their sins, then the penal substitution theory addresses their main concern, and it might be enough for them. But some people have different concerns, and they need a message of salvation that addresses those other concerns. As we mature in the Christian faith, we all need to know that the problem we have, and the salvation that Jesus gives us, involves much more than removing a penalty at the end of this age.

So today, let's look together at a passage in Paul's letter to the Colossians that describes several of the ways in which the death of Jesus saves us from our sins.

We can start in Colossians 2, verse 8 – this is the setting for what Paul says about Jesus: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Paul is dealing with some false teachings that were circulating in the city of Colosse. We don't know exactly what they were, but we do see how Paul responded to them – and in doing so, he tells us about the salvation that Jesus brought us.

He starts in verse 9 by telling us who Jesus is: "...in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." In other words, Jesus Christ is fully divine, in a human body. Jesus was able to do what he did because he is both God and man. He represents God to us, and he represents humanity to God. Hebrews calls him a high priest, a mediator between God and humanity.

He came to earth and he became human precisely for this purpose, to become our representative. As a representative of all humanity, he died on our behalf – but not only that, as a representative of all humanity, he was raised to life on our behalf. He has joined himself to us, so that we might be joined to him in his journey from earth to heaven, in moving on the path from death to life. More on that in a moment.

Verse 10: "and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." So, we have been given everything we need in Christ. We don't need special rituals or extra works, and we don't need to appeal to any other powers or authorities. He has all the power and authority that we need.

For example, verse 11: "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ."

Wow – did you know that? You have all been circumcised – even the women have been circumcised – in Christ. Paul is not talking about physical circumcision, of course – he is talking about a figurative meaning – he is talking about putting off the sinful nature. That is exactly what we need. When we are enslaved by sin, when we see that wrong desires live within us, then this is one aspect of sin that we need to be saved from, and Paul is saying that Jesus in some way separates these wrong desires from us, like cutting off a piece of flesh that we don't need. A little corrective surgery, you might say.

How does Paul figure this? He figures it because Christ is our representative, and what he did counts for us. We see more of this in the next verse, verse 12: "having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead."

As Paul says in Romans 6, we died with Christ, and we were buried with him, as symbolized in our baptism, and we were raised with him. We are connected to him, united with him. So when he died, he was not our substitute in the sense that we don't have to die. No—Paul says that we died with him. He was not a simple substitute, but an inclusive representative.

When he died, we died—and I think that is really good news. That's because there are parts of me that I wish would die. There are wrong inclinations in me that I don't want to struggle with for all eternity. So I am happy to know that when I die, those parts of me will stay dead, and only the good me will be resurrected. The death and resurrection of my body will be a cleansing process in which the weeds are thrown away and only the good grain will be gathered into the harvest for eternal life.

Sometimes people wonder, if all my sins have been forgiven in advance, and in the final judgment I am guaranteed a favorable verdict, why should I make any effort in this life? Maybe the reason that they ask this question is because the only way that they have ever looked at Christianity is through the lens of the penal substitution theory. If the only problem with sin is the verdict at the final judgment, and that verdict has already been taken care of, then the logical conclusion is that sin is not a problem anymore.

Now, most people know that that's not right, but they might have a hard time explaining why, because they are used to thinking that the only reason Jesus came was to forgive us at the final judgment. You've probably noticed that there is a problem with sin even in this life. If your brother sins against you, it hurts. If your spouse cheats on you, it hurts. If somebody steals your money, it hurts. And on the other hand, if you lie, cheat and steal, then you find out that nobody likes you, and that hurts, too. Sin hurts all the way around, both the people who do it and the people around them.

That is why God doesn't like it. When God tells us to avoid something, this is not just an arbitrary rule that God has put in our way to see if we can jump over it, knowing quite well that we are going to stumble at some point or another. No, God is not out to trip us up. Quite the opposite—he is out to save us. The reason that he tells us to avoid certain behaviors is because he knows that those behaviors cause problems in our lives.

When God forgives us, he is saying, Look, folks. You don't have to worry about the final exam, because you're going to pass. But you still have a life to live, and I'm telling you, if you make wrong choices, you are going to hurt somebody, most likely including yourself. We know, and God knows, that sometimes we aren't very good about doing even the things we know are right. We break our promises, we let other people down, we betray the trust they give to us, and we feel bad about it. So we need help. Jesus gives us help, and his death is an important part of that.

See, part of us needs to die, and in his death, Jesus gives us a way for those bad parts of us to die, and to stay dead. He is not only our representative – he also includes us in his death. Paul talks about it elsewhere, saying that the old person, or the old self, is dead, and the new self lives, created new in Jesus Christ. We are being recreated, bit by gradual bit, by the work of Christ in us.

There's a process of "out with the old, and in with the new." The Holy Spirit works within us to make this process possible. And when we die, the old selfish self will stay dead, and only the new person, created in Christ to be like Christ, only that good part will live into eternity. The old self will die, and the new self will live. We will be saved, and thankfully, we will not be the way we were. All the bad parts will be gone, and we'll be really glad they are.

My point here is that even though the final judgment has been guaranteed for us, it _does_ matter what we do in this life. The problem with sin is not just a judicial verdict at the return of Christ—it's got something to do with who we are on a day-to-day basis. We as humans were made in the image of God, and _that_ is who we are supposed to be like. Christ is the perfect human. The more we are like him in this life, the more we are like the way God designed us to be.

All of us start out as a mixture of good and evil, and we look forward to an age in which there is only good. We want to live in a world in which there is no more crying, there are no more tears and there is no more sin. We want to live in a world in which there is only love, and never any betrayal. If we really want that way of life, we want it now. We want to love other people, and never betray them. We want to be 100 percent faithful. We want to tell the truth rather than falsehood, we want to be generous rather than greedy, we want to be kind rather than resentful, etcetera.

The evil inclinations that enslave us, we want to put to death, and in Jesus they have been put to death. What happened to Jesus on the cross is not just something that happened to him—it happened to us as well, and this is the key to the change that we each want to happen within ourselves.

1 Peter 2:24 puts it this way: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, [why was he crucified?] so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness." Jesus died not just to take care of the future day of judgment, but also to make a change in the way we live right now.

Let's go back to Colossians 2, and pick it up in verse 13: "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins." We were dead in our sins – living the way that leads to death. And we were spiritually uncircumcised: our sinful nature was in control.

So without Christ, we had two problems: First, that we were dead; we were on the path that leads to death. And second, that we had this sinful nature in us, enslaving us. Christ takes care of both problems for us – not just the verdict on the day of judgment, but also in the day-to-day way in which we live.

What is involved in this? First, it says, "he forgave us all our sins." Notice that this is in the past tense. When did he do it? Let's read verse 14: "having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross."

Now, this verse has had some translation difficulties, but some archaeological discoveries have made the meaning pretty clear. The NIV has "written code" here; the Greek word is _cheirographon,_ which means handwriting. Archaeologists have discovered that this word usually refers to a handwritten note of debt. We had a debt that was against us, a debt that stood opposed to us, and Jesus took it away from us and nailed it to the cross. The debt is gone, which is another way of saying that Jesus forgave us all our sins.

He didn't just forgive some of them, such as the ones we happen to be aware of, and the ones we happen to repent of. He does not wait for us to itemize everything we've ever done wrong and say "sorry" for each one of them. In fact, he doesn't wait for us at all. This is all past tense – he did it when he died, before we were even born.

As it says in Colossians 1, verses 21-22: "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight."

Once we were enemies, but even when we were enemies, God sent Jesus to die for us, because he doesn't want us to be enemies. He doesn't want to punish us, or to have us suffer from the consequences of sin. So he sent Jesus, and through the death of Jesus' physical body, we have been reconciled to God. That was done even before we knew about it. It was done before we were born. It was done because God wanted us to be friends rather than enemies.

We might call this a unilateral cease-fire. We might continue struggling against God, but he does not retaliate against us. He does not want to punish us – he sent Jesus to earth so that we could escape the negative consequences of sin. He wants to save us, to help us escape. So he cancels the debt – he tells us that we will be declared righteous on the day of judgment.

Now, this advance declaration of "no penalty" doesn't do us a lot of good if we insist on living in sin, if we insist on banging our head against the wall and shooting ourselves in the foot. If we act foolishly, then there may not be any penalty in the next life, but there sure is a penalty in this life. God does not take that away. Jesus did not die to somehow make it OK to sin. Sin still produces pain and suffering, and God wants us to stop it, because he loves us and he loves the people around us.

You have probably noticed that it's not very easy to just stop sinning. We've got habits. As Paul says in Ephesians 6, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but spiritual forces that are our enemies. We need victory over those spiritual forces that lead us into sin. Thankfully, Jesus did that for us, too—and he achieved that victory not by force, but by his death on the cross.

Colossians 2:15: "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." This is what is often called the _Christus Victor_ theory of the atonement. It means Christ is the Victor, the one who conquered not just death, but all spiritual enemies, by his death on the cross. One of the enemies that he conquered was death itself, and one of the reasons that he died a public death is to demonstrate to everyone that he has indeed won a victory over death itself. He has been there and come out the other side.

We win our spiritual battles only because he has triumphed over all our spiritual enemies, and that even includes our own tendencies to sin. Christ conquered every spiritual enemy that we have. It is his strength that is the key to the Christian life.

Colossians 1:20 says that Christ has reconciled to himself all things. Romans 8:21 says that Christ has redeemed the entire creation. By his death on the cross, he has won a cosmic victory that is much, much larger than the verdict given to humans on the day of judgment. The entire creation needs to be fixed, and simply paying the penalty of human sin is only a small part of what Christ did on the cross. Yes, he gives us a verdict of "righteous." But he does a lot more than that – he takes care of every enemy, and everything.

So why did Christ die? He died to forgive our sins, so that we escape the final judgment. He died so that we would die with him, so that our old and corrupt self might be eliminated, so that we can get rid of everything within us that isn't like what God created us to be. And third, he died to give us victory over every spiritual enemy. He died to liberate us from the power of sin that resides within us. He died to liberate us from the power of death itself.

And last, and perhaps this is overlapping with the meaning of Easter, he died so that we might live, so that we might be raised with him into newness of life, into life the way it ought to be lived, into life the way that it _will_ be lived in the eternal age to come. Amen.

Michael Morrison

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## Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

Jesus had an amazingly productive ministry, teaching and healing thousands. He attracted large crowds and had potential for much more. He could have healed thousands more by traveling to the Jews and Gentiles who lived in other areas.

The Old Testament tells us that God appeared on earth on several occasions. If Jesus wanted only to heal and teach, he could have simply appeared. But he did more: he became a human. Why? So he could die. To understand Jesus, we need to understand his death. His death is part of the gospel message and something all Christians should know about.

But Jesus allowed this work to come to a sudden end. He could have avoided arrest, but he chose to die instead of expanding his ministry. Although his teachings were important, he had come not just to teach, but also to die.

Death was an important part of Jesus' ministry. This is the way we remember him, through the cross as a symbol of Christianity or through the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. Our Savior is a Savior who died.

### Born to die

Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). He came to give his life, to die, and his death would result in salvation for others. This was the reason he came to earth. His blood was poured out for others (Matthew 26:28).

Jesus warned his disciples that he would suffer and die, but they did not seem to believe it. "Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'" (Matthew 16:21-22).

Jesus knew that he must die, because the Scriptures said so. "Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?" (Mark 9:12; 9:31; 10:33-34). "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.... 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day'" (Luke 24:26-27, 46).

It all happened according to God's plan: Herod and Pilate did only what God "had decided beforehand should happen" (Acts 4:28). In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus knew that he would soon be crucified, Jesus asked his Father if there might be some other way, but there was none (Luke 22:42). His death was necessary for our salvation.

### The suffering servant

It was written in the Old Testament, Jesus had said. Where was it written? Isaiah 53 is one of the prophecies. Jesus quoted Isaiah 53:12 when he said: "It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment" (Luke 22:37). Jesus, although without sin, was to be counted among sinners. Notice what else is written in Isaiah 53:

#### Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

#### For the transgression of my people he was stricken.... Though he had done no violence... it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer... the Lord makes his life a guilt offering.... He will bear their iniquities.... He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (verses 4-12)

Isaiah describes someone who suffers not for his own sins, but for the sins of others. Although this man would be "cut off from the land of the living" (verse 8), that would not be the end of the story. "He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many.... He will see his offspring and prolong his days" (verses 11, 10).

What Isaiah wrote, Jesus fulfilled. He laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:15). In his death, he carried our sins and suffered for our transgressions; he was punished so that we might have peace with God. Through his suffering and death, our spiritual illness is healed; we are justified, accepted by God.

These truths are developed in more detail in the New Testament.

### Dying an accursed death

"Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse," says Deuteronomy 21:23. Because of this verse, Jews considered any crucified person to be condemned by God. As Isaiah wrote, people would consider him "stricken by God."

The Jewish leaders probably thought that Jesus' disciples would give up after their leader was killed. It happened just as they hoped — the crucifixion shattered the disciples' hopes. They were dejected and said, "We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel" (Luke 24:21). But their hopes were dramatically restored when Jesus appeared to them after his resurrection, and at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled them with new conviction to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ. They had unshakable faith in the least likely hero: a crucified Messiah.

Peter told the Jewish leaders, "The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree" (Acts 5:30). By using the word tree, Peter reminded the leaders about the curse involved in crucifixion. But the shame was not on Jesus, he said—it was on the people who crucified him. God had blessed Jesus because he did not deserve the curse he suffered. God had reversed the stigma and shame.

Paul referred to the same curse in Galatians 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'" Jesus became a curse on our behalf so we could escape the curse of the law, which is death. He became something he was not, so that we could become something we were not. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

He became sin for us, so that we might be declared righteous through him. Because he suffered what we deserved, he redeemed us from the curse of the law. "The punishment that brought us peace was upon him." Because he suffered death, we can enjoy peace with God.

### Message of the cross

The disciples never forgot the shameful way that Jesus died. Indeed, sometimes that was the focus of the message: "We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 1:23). Paul even called the gospel "the message of the cross" (verse 18). Paul reminded the Galatians that "before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified" (Galatians 3:1). That was how he summarized the way that he preached the gospel.

Why is the cross good news? Because the cross is the means by which Jesus rescued us from death. Paul focused on the cross because it is the key to Jesus being good news for us. We will not be raised into glory unless in Christ we are made "the righteousness of God." Only then do we join Jesus in his glory. The crucifixion is part of the process by which we are transformed from the old creation to the new.

Paul says that Jesus died "for us" (Romans 5:6-8; 2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:10); he also says that he died "for our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4). "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24; 3:18). Paul also says that we died with Christ (Romans 6:3-8). Though our union with him in faith, we participate in his death.

It is as if we were on the cross, receiving the consequences that our sins deserved. But Jesus did it for us, and because he did it, we can be justified, or proclaimed as righteous. He takes our sin and death; he gives us righteousness and life. The prince became a pauper, so that we paupers might become princes.

Although Jesus used the word _ransom_ to describe our rescue, the ransom wasn't paid to anyone in particular—this is a figure of speech to indicate that it cost Jesus an enormous amount to set us free. In the same way, Paul talks about Jesus redeeming us, buying our freedom, but he didn't pay anyone.

God loves people—but he hates sin, because sin hurts people. God wants everyone to change (2 Peter 3:9), but those who don't will suffer the result of their own sins.

In the death of Jesus, our sins are set aside. But this does not mean that a loving Jesus appeased or "paid off" an angry God. The Father is just as merciful as Jesus is, and Jesus is just as angry about sin as the Father is. He is angry at sin because sin hurts the people he loves. Jesus is the Judge who condemns (Matthew 25:31-46), as well as the Judge who loves sinners so much that he dies for them.

When God forgives us, he does not simply wipe away sin and pretend it never existed. Sins have serious consequences—consequences we can see in the cross of Christ. Humanity's tendency to sin cost Jesus pain and shame and death.

The gospel reveals that God acts righteously in forgiving us (Romans 1:17); his mercy is part of his righteous character. He does not ignore our sins, but takes care of them in Jesus Christ. Metaphorically, God presented Jesus as a sacrifice for our forgiveness. Sin has consequences, and Jesus volunteered to suffer the consequences on our behalf. The cross demonstrates God's love as well as his justice (Romans 5:8).

As Isaiah says, we have peace with God because of what Christ did. We were once enemies of God, but through Christ we have been brought near (Ephesians 2:13). In other words, we have been reconciled to God through the cross (verse 16). It is a basic Christian belief that our relationship with God depends on Jesus Christ, including his death.

Christianity is not a list of things to do—it is accepting that Christ has done everything we need to be right with God—and this was done on the cross. "When we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son" (Romans 5:10). God reconciled the universe through Christ, "making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). He did this before we believed it, before we were even born. Since we are reconciled through him, all our sins are forgiven (verse 22)—reconciliation, forgiveness and justification all mean the same thing: peace with God.

### Victory!

Paul uses an interesting image of salvation when he writes that Jesus "disarmed the powers and authorities" by making "a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15). He uses the word for a military parade: the winning general brings captured enemy soldiers in a victory parade at home. They are disarmed, humiliated, and put on display. Paul's point here is that on the cross, Jesus did this to our enemies.

What looked like a shameful death for Jesus was actually a glorious triumph for God's plan, because it is through the cross that Jesus won victory over enemy powers, including Satan, sin and death. Their claim on us has been fully satisfied in the death of the innocent victim. They cannot demand any more than what he has already paid. They have nothing further to threaten us with.

"By his death," we are told, Jesus was able to "destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:8). Victory was won on the cross.

### Sacrifice

Jesus' death is also described as a sacrifice. The idea of sacrifice draws on the rich imagery of Old Testament sacrifices. Isaiah 53:10 calls our Savior a "guilt offering." John the Baptist calls him the Lamb "who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Paul calls him a "sacrifice of atonement," a "sin offering," a "Passover lamb," a "fragrant offering" (Romans 3:25; 8:3; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2). Hebrews 10:12 calls him a "sacrifice for sins." John calls him "the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 2:2; 4:10).

Several terms are used to describe what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Different New Testament authors use different words or images to convey the idea. The exact terminology or mechanism is not essential. What is important is that we are saved through the death of Jesus. "By his wounds we are healed." He died to set us free, to remove our sins, to suffer our punishment, to purchase our salvation. How should we respond? "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11).

### Seven Images of Salvation

The New Testament uses a wide range of images to express the richness of the work of Christ. We may describe these images as analogies, models or metaphors. Each gives part of the picture:

**Ransom:** a price paid to achieve someone's freedom. The emphasis falls on the idea of being freed, not the nature of the price.

**Redemption:** "buying back," or for a slave, buying freedom.

**Justification:** being put right with God, as if declared by a court to be in the right.

**Salvation:** deliverance or rescue from a dangerous situation. The word can also suggest restoration to wholeness, a healing.

**Reconciliation:** the repair of a broken relationship. God reconciles us to him. He acts to restore a friendship, and we respond to his initiative.

**Adoption:** making us legal children of God. Faith brings about a change in our status, from outsider to family member. The phrase "born again" suggests a different way to enter the family.

**Forgiveness:** This can be seen in two ways. In legal or financial terms, forgiveness is like the cancellation of a debt. In terms of personal relationship, forgiveness means the setting aside of personal hurt or injury.

(Adapted from Alister McGrath, _Understanding Jesus,_ pp. 124-135).

Michael Morrison

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## Appreciating Christ's Sacrifice

While reading a list of the 100 best novels written since 1900, I noted two by Vladimir Nabokov. Not being familiar with this author, I checked him out on Google (ah, the marvels of search engines!) and found that in addition to being a famous novelist, he is known for coining the term _doughnut truth,_ which refers to truths with holes in them, making them less than the full truth. It struck me that some of the current explanations of Christ's sacrifice are doughnut truths of a sort. Let me explain.

"Jesus died to appease the wrath of God brought about by your sins" is a message being thundered from many pulpits. The idea is that Jesus had to interpose himself between God and us and suffer in order to absorb all of God's wrath towards sinful humanity. Many Christians accept this _penal-substitution theory_ of the atonement (sometimes called the _forensic theory_ ) as the Bible's primary teaching on the topic. Sadly, an overemphasis on this theory leaves the impression that Christ died not as a substitute for sinners, but as a substitute object for God's punishment. The mistaken idea is that God the Father had to take his anger out on someone—as if inflicting pain and suffering on someone would itself make things right.

There are significant problems with this theory (model) of the atonement. One is that the Bible uses not one but several models to describe the riches of Christ's atoning work on our behalf, including the sacrificial model, the economic model of exchange (redemption), the familial or filial model of family (reconciliation), the marital model (fidelity), and the healing model (peace, shalom). As Gustaf Aulen points out in _Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement,_ the Bible also presents a Christ the victor (Christus victor) model of the atonement, which was the primary one taught by the early church fathers. According to this model, "The work of Christ is first and foremost a victory over the powers which hold mankind in bondage: sin, death and the devil" ( _Christus Victor,_ p. 20). Rather than going to the cross to appease God's wrath, Christ did so to claim victory over the bondage of sin, the threat of death and the power of the devil, thus making all things subject to himself. Just as God delivered Israel from the bondage of oppression into liberty, so God delivers us from these terrible forms of oppression into true freedom in Christ.

Some theologians, such as Gregory Boyd and Scot McKnight, teach that the Christ the victor model should be seen as the Bible's central model of atonement and the forensic model should be viewed as only one of several. Some theologians who support the centrality of the forensic model offer cautions about doing so. J.I. Packer warns that it should not be based singularly on human models of justice (which often is retaliatory or reciprocal) and should not be understood as an automatic explanation of how penal substitution really works. John Stott, in _The Cross of Christ,_ lists multiple cautions about misrepresenting the nature of the atonement.

It certainly is true that Christ's death paid the price, the cost, the debt and even the penalty of our sin. Jesus did rescue us from the consequences of our sin and experienced those consequences in order to overcome them and transform them on our behalf. But the penal substitution model of the atonement can be taken too far. Here are some common ways:

  * Misrepresenting the Father as forcing the Son to do what he didn't want to do—making the will of God divided and opposed between the Father and the Son.

  * Misrepresenting the Son as manipulating, appeasing or cajoling the Father into changing his mind about condemning humanity—again, making the will of God divided.

  * Characterizing the Father's wrath as being pitted against the love of Christ. This mistake pits God against God as if the character and purpose of God are divided, at odds.

  * Modeling the atonement after human models of retribution or vengeance, which are rooted in violence and tend to look more like child abuse than grace—as if human wrath "works the righteousness of God," when it does not.

  * Portraying the sinner as the object of God's wrath instead of the sinner's sin. This mistaken approach loses sight of the biblical truth that God's aim is to separate the sinner from the sin, so that the sin can be done away with and the sinner redeemed.

  * Viewing the Old Testament sacrifices as God pouring out his wrath on the animals used for sacrifice—sending them to "hell" on behalf of Israel. The truth is that the sacrificial animals were not being punished, but as unblemished creatures were sacrificially giving their lives so that there might be life in others where there was only death.

  * Misrepresenting forgiveness as God making exceptions for sin in the lives of some. The truth is that God is implacably opposed to all sin everywhere, and through Christ made a way to condemn all sin, yet rescue sinners, giving them new, regenerated natures and making everything new.

  * Portraying God as being absolutely separate from sinners. This misrepresentation flies in the face of God dwelling among Israel and the entire story of the Incarnation.

  * Attributing to God a role that actually is Satan's (whose name means "accuser"), thus making God out to be the accuser of humanity (because humanity is unholy and unworthy) and portraying God as desiring sinners' condemnation rather than their repentance (the mistake made by Jonah!).

  * Viewing grace as a secondary, separate and optional work of God after his primary and necessary work of judicial justice has been accomplished.

  * Separating God's justice from God's love; his righteousness from his mercy and grace.

  * Portraying God as more bound by his own rules of retributive justice (punishing the bad and rewarding the good) than by his restorative righteousness and desire for the reconciliation of his covenant love (where God's righteousness aims to put things right).

  * Placing an exclusive emphasis on sinners being saved from the penalty or consequences of sin, rather than on the sinner being saved from sin and being given a share in Christ's renewed and glorified human nature. The truth is that we are saved _from_ sin and _for_ a right relationship of holy love with God as his beloved children.

  * Overlooking the incarnation, the cross and the resurrection, and thus the truth that the Son of God became the new Adam—the new head of humanity—who came to reconcile the world to God on behalf of the Father and in the Holy Spirit, and not to condemn the world.

Faithful and accurate consideration of the atoning work of Christ will take into account the _whole_ of the biblical story and teaching. When one aspect of that truth is singled out and developed in isolation, distortion inevitably results. But when we assemble all the pieces, giving all of them full weight while keeping Jesus at the center, we're on the right track. That holistic approach keeps clearly in mind Christ's relationship to the Father and the Spirit, and his relationship to us, and why he came. This is what the apostle Paul did in writing that God poured his love out lavishly upon us in Jesus Christ in order to condemn sin in his flesh so that we might have his new life and love in us by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:7-8; Romans 8:3-4). The author of Hebrews adds that Jesus Christ paid the price to bring this reconciliation about freely and gladly, united in heart, mind and will with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 12:2; 9:14). The Bible teaches that Jesus' atoning work was an act of the eternal, divine love of the Father, Son and Spirit.

We understand God and his lavish love for us through Jesus' life and especially through his self-giving death. As T.F. Torrance notes in _The Mediation of Christ,_ "the cross is a window opened into the very heart of God." The cross reveals a God who is passionately in love with the world, not one who is furiously angry with it. Indeed, _God so loved the world that he gave his Son_. Yes, God hates sin, but he hates it because it hurts the world that he loves; it hurts his beloved creation. God does not pour out his wrath on the object of his love—Jesus or any of his other children. Jesus did not go to the cross to appease an angry God, but to show clearly the unconditional love of a Father, Son and Spirit whose greatest desire is to be in relationship with us. And that's not _doughnut truth_ —it's _whole, gospel truth!_

Joseph Tkach

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## Why the Messiah Had to Die

Many first-century Jews expected a Messiah. Groaning under the oppression of occupation forces, they prayed for God to give them a leader — a leader who would defeat the Roman armies and again make the Jews a wealthy, powerful and independent nation. They wanted a Messiah who would lead them to righteousness, because God had promised to restore their fortunes when the people returned to righteousness.

The Hebrew prophets had foretold a leader like that, the heir to the throne of the great King David. Some prophecies even indicated the first century was the appointed time for him to come.

When people heard Jesus preach, and when they saw his miracles, they hoped he was the one. He had divine authority. He was a teacher of righteousness, a champion of the poor, and he preached about liberation for the oppressed. So the crowds acclaimed him the prophesied son of David, and they threw down palm fronds as he rode into Jerusalem one spring day.

But within a week, the would-be leader was dead — rejected by his own people and executed by the Romans, hung out for public shame and ridicule, just like others who had claimed to be messianic leaders. For the moment, the hopes and dreams of those who had believed in him were shattered. But, on the third day, Jesus was raised from the dead — resurrected to glory, and ascended to heaven. He really was the Anointed One, the Righteous One, the Holy One of Israel, the Messiah of God.

The miracle of the resurrection, attested by hundreds who saw him alive, showed that he was the promised Messiah. But one thing still did not make sense — why did the Messiah have to die?

Surely his death proved he was not righteous. Surely God would not allow his appointed leader to be falsely accused, slandered, ridiculed and killed by the enemy! Of what value is a leader who dies, who goes away and cannot be followed?

The Hebrew prophets had foretold the Messiah's death, but their prophecies had not been understood. It had been God's plan all along for the Messiah to suffer and die for his people. God knew the people's biggest enemy was not the Romans — it was death that results from sin. Sin and death could not be conquered by swords and spears, but only by the unjust death of the Creator. It is only through Jesus' atoning death on the cross that sins can be forgiven; it is only through him that we can be given eternal life.

Jesus brought blessings for the entire world, not just for a small nation in the eastern Roman Empire. He gave the gift of righteousness and eternal life. That is why the Messiah had to die. "If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:21). Righteousness cannot be obtained through the law. No amount of ceremony or law keeping can make up for the fact that we have already broken the law and come under its penalty.

Jesus was a teacher of righteousness, but he did not save the nation through his teachings, even though they were perfect. He saved the nation — and people of all other nations — by his death and resurrection. He was condemned by Jewish and Roman law and bore the curse of the biblical law (Galatians 3:13), but he brought the gift of righteousness and eternal life to all who believe in him.

The Roman armies are long gone. Someday, our trials will also be gone. We need to see beyond the present and realize that our ultimate enemy is sin and death. We need the Messiah who conquered that enemy, and who gives us the victory over it. God has given us precisely the leader we need — Jesus, the Messiah who died and was raised for the entire world!

Joseph W. Tkach

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## Two Truths We Learn From Jesus' Death

Jesus Christ died for us, forgiving all our debts, rescuing us from the slavery of sin, redeeming us from its deadly consequences. He has also been raised for us and lives in us, empowering us to live in him. I am so thankful for what he has done for us! The holy, perfect Son of God gave himself for us to rescue us from our sins. Salvation is truly the best news possible!

Let me rehearse two fundamental truths we can learn from Jesus' crucifixion.

1. First, God hates sin. The cross shows us how ugly sin is. Sin caused the death of God's own Son, and that is another reason he hates sin so much. Sin is the vilest, ugliest thing in the universe — and you and I have done it. We deserve the death that Jesus accepted.

2. Second, the cross shows us how much God loves us. The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, was willing to suffer and die for you and me shows that he loves us with a passion that exceeds and overcomes his hatred of sin. Jesus was willing to pay the price. He was willing to suffer excruciating torture and death so that he might conquer sin and reverse its grip on us.

God wants to give you and me and all his children the best gift we could possibly imagine: life with God — life eternal with Father, Son and Spirit — and he wants us to enjoy this forever and ever! No greater blessing could ever exist, and God wants to give it to us. He so earnestly desires to give us this eternal life that he sent his Son to die so that we might live with him. Oh, what a joy it is!

My friend, can you begin to grasp the enormity of God's love for you? I hope you join with me in praising the God of our salvation — praising in heartfelt joy, in song, in words, and in deeds.

"Christ's love compels us," Paul wrote, "because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). What a powerful message is contained in those two verses!

1. First, we died with Jesus Christ. Christ our Passover lamb has been crucified for us — and our old self was crucified with him (1 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 6:6). Because he died for us, we died with him.

2. How then should we live? What should our response be to this priceless gift? The new self should live — a new creation of Jesus Christ — a new child of God. In him, we put to death the works of the flesh and are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. By his power, we no longer serve sin, no longer serve ourselves, but now serve our Lord and Savior.

Christ's love compels us, Paul said. Have you understood and experienced that kind of love in your life, the kind of love that compels you to serve the One who died for you? I certainly hope so, because it is the most rewarding life that anyone could ever have.

That's why I rejoice in the opportunity to symbolize my faith in my Savior by eating the bread that represents his body, by drinking "the fruit of the vine" that represents the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:19-20). I rejoice in the opportunity to celebrate not only his death for us, but also that he was resurrected and now lives in us, leading and strengthening us in a life of righteousness through the Holy Spirit.

Paul says our lives are hidden in Christ and that we live for him (Colossians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:15). Can anything be more meaningful, more valuable? I pray that we might renew our commitment to love our Lord with our whole heart and follow him wherever he leads us. I pray that he will bless you with his love, peace and healing touch.

Joseph Tkach

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## A Death in Jerusalem

#### On a spring day in Jerusalem, a man named Jesus was tortured and executed by the Roman government. But after he died God resurrected him, and the world was forever changed.

Jerusalem seemed to be gripped by a fanatical hysteria during that fateful day on which Jesus died. Some were shouting that he had blasphemed against God and should be condemned to death. Others accused him of treason against the state, and clamored for his execution.

Jesus' closest disciples disowned him and fled. Many others followed Jesus to the cross, mourning and wailing for him. Some people hurled insults at him as he was dying. "Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him," they taunted (Matthew 27:42).

One of the criminals executed with Jesus was profoundly moved, perceiving something special about Jesus—something beyond his humanity. A centurion praised God and said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:39).

Strange things occurred that day in Jerusalem. The land was mired in a strange darkness between noon and 3 in the afternoon. For no known reason, the curtain in front of the temple's Most Holy Place ripped in two from top to bottom.

Earlier, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had agonized over what to do with Jesus. Pilate had been reluctant to sign the execution order because there was no legal reason for doing so. He knew Jesus wasn't guilty of any crime. But Pilate didn't have the political will to resist those who demanded that Jesus be crucified. Finally, to appease the mob, the governor simply signed away the carpenter's life.

### Letter from Pilate?

One wonders how Pilate might have explained his actions regarding Jesus to himself—or his superiors in Rome. Pilate was known for overstepping his authority and for being brutal to his subjects. (A few years after signing Jesus' death warrant, Pilate was ordered to Rome to justify his slaughter of a Samaritan religious group that had gathered on Mt. Gerizim.)

Let us assume Pilate felt compelled to justify his execution of Jesus to the emperor. His letter might have looked something like this:

#### To Emperor Tiberius regarding the execution of an insurrectionist from Galilee.

#### Greetings:

#### Your Majesty, I'm writing this letter so you will be aware of an unusual situation in the province of Judea. On the day before the Jews' Passover this year, I executed a man named Jesus, who was from the town of Nazareth.

#### I thought I would write a personal report to you about this as it is said by some that this man claimed to be a god. The Jewish leaders of Jerusalem told me he had taught everywhere that death would not hold him and that he would rise from the grave, to live again.

#### But that is not why I felt compelled to have the man executed. He was accused of insurrection and of being the ringleader of a rebel group prepared to overthrow Caesar's government in Judea. He even claimed to be a king himself—a king of the Jews.

#### When I discovered these things, as a precautionary measure, I authorized a search for the man and had him quickly arrested. His followers scattered into the hills when my soldiers arrived.

#### I investigated the charges against this Jesus very thoroughly before proceeding against him. Though I was unable personally to verify the accusations, the man did have a large following throughout the province. This seemed evidence enough that the indictment against him as a ringleader of rebellion was true.

#### It was the leaders of our loyal Jewish subjects in Judea—including the high priest—who brought the charges to me. They insisted they had evidence of a plot. Their own ruling body, the Sanhedrin, concurred that this man was guilty of crimes against Caesar, and said he should be crucified.

#### The accused man did not deny the charges—he made no reply to them. In order to preserve Caesar's enlightened rulership in Judea, I thought it prudent to deal decisively with the situation and proceed with the examination of the accused. At its completion, I ordered that he undergo the standard execution by crucifixion outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

#### After his death, I had the body placed in a tomb. I intended to secure the tomb with our own soldiers, but the Jewish religious leaders objected. They pleaded for their temple police to guard it. To show concern for our subjects and to keep the peace of Caesar intact, I allowed their police to be involved in the security measures. I also ordered a large stone to be rolled across the entrance of the tomb. Then, I placed a seal on it.

#### However, a report soon came to my ears that the tomb of this crucified insurrectionist was empty. The Jews said that in spite of their best efforts, the followers of this man somehow had been able to steal the body from the tomb.

#### I made diligent search but was unable to locate it. Whatever the fate of the body, this man's followers now insist he is alive. They are making this claim publicly throughout Jerusalem, asserting that they speak "in Jesus' name." His followers say he is a god. Because of this many are joining their cause.

#### That being so, I was uncertain what further course I ought to take regarding the followers of this man they say is still alive. The nature of the situation seemed to justify my writing and consulting you.

#### Pontius Pilate,  
Governor of Judea

Actually, there was no letter. The world took no notice of what happened that spring day in Jerusalem. Only a few discerned there was something different about this man, though they couldn't quite put their finger on what it was. Pilate himself saw Jesus only as a political problem to be dealt with. He had no idea that he had become a player in a momentous historical drama.

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we now know, was the pivotal event of human history. God had sent Jesus to rescue the world from sin by his death. He was resurrected so we might have eternal life. Pilate had no awareness of this central truth of human history (John 18:33-38). He saw Jesus as just another human standing in his way, not God in the flesh.

### The rescue

Strangely, many in the Christian world are also not sure of Jesus Christ's identity. Was he the wisest of wise teachers, but nothing more? If the answer is yes, Jesus' death could have no special meaning and his claimed resurrection would be a pious fraud.

The central event of all history— Jesus' death and resurrection—has meaning only when we understand his divine identity. Jesus was more than a good man, mystical teacher or the best of humans. To put it in a short sentence that describes a divine mystery: Jesus was God in the flesh.

We learn about Jesus' true identity from the first chapter of the Gospel of John. He begins by describing "the Word" as the eternal life that existed from the beginning. This Word was both _with_ God and _was_ God. In some mysterious and miraculous way, the Word became flesh—became a human being—and lived with us as the man Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, God "came down" to reach out to humans—to help us to be reconciled to him—and to restore our relationship with the Creator. The apostle Paul spoke of Jesus' work in these very terms.

He said God "reconciled us to himself through Christ.... God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). In Jesus, God demonstrated his loving plan, which was his purpose from the beginning. Paul told his co-worker Titus that the Christian's future rests on the hope of eternal life that God "promised before the beginning of time" (Titus 1:2).

God takes every possible step to reconcile us to him. God is the greatest example of a pursuing lover. He yearns, as the apostle Peter said, for "everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). God showed this love while human beings were yet sinners—still his enemies. This proved God was not about rules, or about anger, or about condemnation. He was about love—about bringing us home to himself.

### Suffering God

In Jesus, God entered the world to live with a suffering humanity. Jesus shared in our humanity (Hebrews 2:14). That means God can sympathize with our weaknesses. He has "been there, done that." God knows what it's like to experience hatred and injustice. In Jesus, he even endured the final torment: extreme torture and death by agonizing crucifixion.

In Jesus, God shared our suffering; this should help to reconcile us to him. Because God reached out to us through a suffering human life, we have no reason to question God's motives, even though we may not fully understand the processes he uses.

God's promise revealed in Jesus is that he will liberate us from the bondage and corruption we now suffer. It will be a glorious and eternal freedom. That, as the saying goes, is something we can take to the bank. It is certain. In Jesus, God entered our suffering world voluntarily to begin the process of transforming it. Jesus' death closed the gap sin had caused between humanity and God.

### His life also

Jesus' death, however, is only half the story of salvation. The rest of the story is his resurrection. We need a living and a resurrected Savior. We need both the Cross and the Empty Tomb. We need both the death and the life of Christ. The apostle Paul showed how the two work together. He wrote, "If, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (Romans 5:10).

Jesus Christ's death is about our present. It makes peace between us and God. His resurrection and life is about our future. It is a living promise that there is much more to our lives than our temporary and physical here-and-now existence.

The book of Revelation gives us a beautiful picture of our eternal future, in which we are promised eternal life in peace with our Creator. John, the writer, explains this through the image of the new Jerusalem, which symbolizes the eternal kingdom of God. Speaking of that eternal rest, John quotes a loud voice from God's throne saying:

#### Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:3-4)

The resurrection—the way to this eternal kingdom—is the cornerstone of the Christian life. The resurrection of Jesus is the proof that we, too, shall be lifted up from death to immortal life.

#### No letter about Jesus from Pilate to Emperor Tiberius exists. However, several early church writers claimed that Pilate did, indeed, send a report of the trial and execution of Jesus to Tiberius. (See Tertullian, _Apology_ 16; Justin, _Apology_ 1.35; Eusebius, _Ecclesiastical History_ 2.2.) Tertullian claimed that when Emperor Tiberius read the report about Jesus, he asked the Roman senate to declare him a god, but that the proposition was rejected (Apology 26).

Greg Albrecht

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## Christ Our Atonement

The governor found himself forced to consider the death penalty for an innocent man. Powerful political forces pressured him to make an unjust decision. But the governor knew he couldn't live with himself if he allowed an innocent man to be executed.

The governor prided himself on his training, his knowledge of the law and his sense of justice. He had to resolve the dilemma. He did not want to order the execution of an innocent man.

He paced the floor. Yes, he was concerned for the innocent man, but the real problem was his own conscience. How could he live knowing he had ordered an innocent man's execution? What about his career? Could such a decision return to haunt him and jeopardize his future?

Maybe there was a way. His plan began to unfold as he continued pacing.

It was his tradition to set a prisoner free at this time of year. He could let the people decide who would go free. Let the people bear the ultimate responsibility. The innocent man he was pressured to execute would be the first candidate to be set free. To make sure the choice was obvious, the other man he would offer to the people would be the most notorious criminal on death row.

Relieved to find a solution, the governor stopped pacing and called for the guards. "Find out the name of the most infamous man on death row," the governor commanded. The guards came back with the name: Barabbas.

### Matthew's account

Matthew tells the story in his Gospel account:

#### Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

#### While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."

#### But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

#### "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.

#### "Barabbas," they answered.

#### "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!"

#### "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.

#### But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

#### When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"

#### All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

#### Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:15-26)

### Saved from the cross

Barabbas walked the streets of Jerusalem, a free man. He had been chosen by the people—a jury of his peers— to receive a pardon. He owed them his freedom.

He had escaped death, but he couldn't escape thinking about the One who now stood in his place. Jesus of Nazareth was on that cross between two thieves. Jesus stood in his place. Jesus had substituted for Barabbas, thereby giving him his physical freedom.

But even more significant, Jesus died for Barabbas' sins. The Bible doesn't tell us if Barabbas ever accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We can only speculate. But we do know that we, like Barabbas, are all sinners. Barabbas is every man and every woman. Each of us individually, and all of us collectively.

Jesus took our place so he could deliver us from sin and death. He did something for us that the blood of bulls and goats could never do for the children of Israel (Hebrews 10:1-10). Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. He dealt completely, once and for all, with the problem of sin.

Whatever had to be done, he did it. Whatever penalty had to be paid, he paid it. Whatever the law required, he fulfilled its legal requirements. Justice was done. The penalty was paid.

### Making atonement

The problem of sin in the Old Testament era was dealt with by substitutes. The Old Testament substitutes were animals like sheep, goats and bulls. They were sacrificed, and their blood offered by priests. The entire sacrificial system was a type, symbolizing the One who went to the cross in Barabbas' place.

The Israelites were taught that the sacrifice of an animal removed their sins from the record. They believed in the power of sacrifices and offerings. They believed that the blood of animals helped to make up for their sins, and restore them to God.

The most important offerings for sin were made on the annual Day of Atonement. The high priest, on this day, and only on this day, entered the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle or temple with a blood sacrifice. It was to make atonement for the sins of Israel.

Salvation and atonement were rooted in the old covenant. But numerous Old Testament references show that the sacrifices in and of themselves were unable to atone for sin (Psalm 51:16-17; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8).

Many passages in the books of Leviticus and Numbers say that offenders, sinners and lawbreakers are held responsible and bear the consequences of their sins (see, for example, Leviticus 5:1, 17; 7:18; 17:16; 19:8; 20:17, 20; 24:15; Numbers 9:13; 14:34). Until the sin or transgression was removed by sacrifice and offering, the sin had to be carried by the lawbreaker. But the Old Testament provides a glimpse that these sacrifices were only pointing to the greater reality of Christ.

Isaiah prophesied of the "servant," the Messiah, the Savior who "bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:11-12). Peter spoke of the suffering that Christ endured for us: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). "Bearing our sins" is the language of substitution, of taking the place of another.

### What atonement does

"Atonement" is an old Anglo-Saxon word, not commonly used in everyday communication today, except to refer to the work of Christ. His work of atonement enables human beings to be reconciled to God, to be justified, forgiven and made righteous in God's sight.

God does not overlook sin. The penalty of sin must be paid, and Jesus took our sins upon himself and suffered the penalty for us. Not only did Jesus pay the debt of sin on our behalf, but he also shares with us his righteousness.

#### A righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (Romans 3:21-25)

The key point of the work of Jesus Christ involved him taking our place. He accepted the punishment of our sin, bringing us pardon and reconciliation with God and the righteousness of Christ. Paul captures the essence of the atoning work of Christ. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

### The Lamb of God

The lamb was the most-often-used animal for sacrifice, and it became a symbol of forgiveness and justification. Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist, identified Jesus with the sin-bearing lamb. "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

This was no ordinary man whom John identified as the Lamb of God. No mere mortal could take away the sin of the world. It's rare when a legal system will allow one human being to substitute his or her life for a guilty party. But even then the substitution would be only one life for one life. But one man's life for the sins of the entire world? What kind of human being was he?

Jesus was much more than just a teacher, a good role model. He was not merely a messenger God sent to deliver a divine announcement. He was not just another prophet with a message from God. C.S. Lewis, in _Mere Christianity,_ comments:

#### I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing that we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (pages 40-41)

As God in the flesh, as our Creator, Jesus atoned for our sins on the cross. Fully human and fully divine, he became the substitute for all sin and for all sinners. It is that supreme act of love that saves us. We look to the cross and the atoning work of Jesus Christ for our salvation. We believe what he did is sufficient to save not only us but the whole world. Because he was not a mere man, but God in the flesh. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

As the Lamb of God, Jesus bore our sins. He took them upon himself and carried them, becoming our substitute. Just as surely as he was substituted for Barabbas, he took the place of everyone who accepts him and believes in what he did.

The central question for each of us is—do we believe? Do not misunderstand the nature of this question. The question is not about "easy belief" or "cheap grace." The question searches our hearts and asks for our response to the action of Christ on our behalf.

Jesus Christ went to the cross for each of us, unconditionally committed to us, firm in his resolve to die for our sins. He did not hold back. If we believe in him, we can only answer his love for us with our unwavering devotion.

You may have heard the expression, "I don't do windows." Apparently it was originally used by housekeepers and cleaners to convey a limit on the amount of work they would do for the contracted price. "I don't do windows" has come to be a qualification used to express restrictions and boundaries of work, effort and service. It is an expression of limitation, a disclaimer of responsibility and obligation.

As Christians, we cannot give some equally lackluster response such as "I don't do windows" to our Lord and Savior. He went to the cross for us in total commitment. We must respond to him by taking up our individual crosses and following him, without any limitations.

A brief survey of men and women of God in the Bible will reveal that their faithfulness to the calling of God was without reservation.

David didn't say, "I don't do giants."

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn't say, "We don't do fiery furnaces."

Noah didn't say, "I don't do arks and animals."

Mary didn't say, "I don't do virgin births."

The reason we can be reconciled to God, pardoned of our sins, and have the righteousness of Jesus Christ given to us is because Jesus didn't say, "I don't do crosses."

Greg Albrecht

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## A Closer Look at the Crucifixion

Today, some methods of execution, such as electrocution, are called "cruel and unusual punishment." No execution mode ever fit that definition more than crucifixion. After the criminal was condemned by the Roman authorities to die by crucifixion, he was usually scourged with a whip. The convicted person was then compelled to carry the crossbar (when there was one) to the execution site.

### Was Jesus hung on a tree?

The New Testament uses the word _tree_ five times to refer to Christ's crucifixion on a cross (Acts 5:30, 10:39, 13:29, Galatians 3:13 and 1 Peter 2:24). Most of the time, the noun _stauros_ (stake) and the verb _stauroo_ (crucify) are used in connection with Jesus' death. These two words appear 74 times in the New Testament.

One of the five appearances of _tree_ occurs in Galatians. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us," wrote Paul, "for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'" (Galatians 3:13). Paul was quoting a phrase found in Deuteronomy 21:23.

Paul was referring to the Torah's prescribed form of execution by stoning for blasphemy and idolatry. After being stoned to death, the person's body was hung on a tree to show that the individual was under God's curse. To the Jews, hanging on a tree had become a metaphor for an apostate, a blasphemer or a person under God's curse. That's how the Jews viewed Jesus (John 5:18; 10:33; Matthew 26:63-65).

Their attitude would explain why Peter and Paul sometimes used the Greek word for "tree" ( _xylon_ ) to describe Jesus' execution, even though he was crucified on a cross. Three times in the book of Acts the word tree is used to refer to Jesus' crucifixion. In these cases, it appears in a Jewish context as well.

For example, Peter told the Jewish authorities they had killed Christ "by hanging him on a tree" (Acts 5:30). Peter was denouncing them for wrongly having subjected Jesus to a humiliating death. But, said Peter, God had glorified Jesus by raising him from the dead (verse 31). Peter did not mean to say the Jews had personally carried out a crucifixion. When Pilate suggested that the Jewish religious leaders judge Jesus, they said, "We have no right to execute anyone" (John 18:31).

Peter's remark to the religious authorities was meant to point out something else. By clamoring to the Roman authorities for Jesus' crucifixion, it's as though they had hung him on a tree as a blasphemer or criminal.

_The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology_ states, "In Judea at the time of Jesus sentencing to crucifixion and execution was entirely in the hands of the Roman authorities" (vol. 1, page 392). The Romans did not hang criminals from trees, except perhaps in exceptional cases. When they crucified, the Romans used some form of a cross — a platform that had a crossbar attached to the main vertical stake.

### What kind of cross?

The New Testament word _cross_ is a translation of the Greek word _stauros._ It referred to any upright wooden stake. A _stauros_ could serve a variety of purposes as, for example, a pole in a picket fence.

The word _stauros_ could also refer to a pointed stake used for impalement of human beings. This was an ancient form of punishment used to publicly display the bodies of executed criminals. The Assyrians, for example, used impalement to execute deserters, captured enemies and rebels. Sometimes they displayed the corpses or heads impaled on stakes.

The Greek words _stauros_ (stake) and _stauroo_ (crucifixion) do not convey the exact technical form of execution. That is, to be executed by crucifixion was not the same as being hung on a simple upright stake. This distinction is important because the official mode of execution in the Roman Empire changed. However, the same Greek words were used to describe it because a stake was still used.

The execution stake, once used to impale a victim, became a vertical pole with a horizontal crossbar placed across it at some point, though it is not certain when, in history, the crossbar started to be used. Simple impalement became crucifixion.

By New Testament times, the Romans were using several cross forms for crucifixion. One was the so-called St. Anthony's cross, shaped like a T. Another was called the Latin cross, in which a horizontal crossbar intersected the upright beam somewhere along its upper half. One of these two cross forms most likely was used for the execution of Jesus Christ.

Earliest tradition held that the Latin form was the shape of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. The theologian Irenaeus (a.d. 120-202) assumed Jesus was crucified on a stake with a crossbar that traversed the vertical beam below the top ( _Against Heresies,_ 2.24.4).

There is another indication that Jesus' cross was taller than the crossbar. His cross had an inscription nailed to it. _The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia_ says, "From the mention of an inscription nailed above the head of Jesus it may safely be inferred that this was the form of the cross on which He died." All four Gospel writers mentioned this inscription (Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38). John wrote: "Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews" (John 19:19).

We have few detailed descriptions of crucifixion. Secular writers avoided giving details of something too ghastly to discuss. That means we cannot come to any final conclusion as to the precise form of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. But as stated, either the Latin or the T-shaped cross is the best candidate.

Archaeology does give us one vital clue as to the kinds of crosses used in Jesus' time by the Roman authorities. In June 1968, a tomb or depository for the bones of the dead was discovered on Ammunition Hill, north of Jerusalem. It contained the bones of a young man who had been crucified, probably between a.d. 7 and a.d. 66.

The remains included the victim's two heel bones fastened together by a nail. His arms — not his hands — were nailed to the crossbar. The weight of the young man's body was borne by a plank nailed to the upright beam. This would have supported his buttocks. The victim's legs had been bent at the knees. Both of his legs had been broken, as were the legs of the two criminals crucified with Jesus Christ (John 19:32). "If Jesus died in similar fashion," says the _New Bible Dictionary,_ "then his legs were not fully extended as in traditional Christian art."

Also, the victim's feet were probably only inches above the ground. If that is so, we need to revise our mental image of Jesus' crucifixion on this point as well. Based on such archaeological discoveries, the _Evangelical Dictionary of Theology_ states, "It seems that the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus describe a standard Roman procedure for crucifixion."

### How a crucifixion was carried out

The upright stake for the crucifixion had probably already been securely implanted in the ground. Or it could have been tethered to the crossbar at the place of execution and then lifted into place. The crucifixion usually took place outside the city walls. As the victim carried the wooden crossbar, a herald walked in front, carrying the written accusation. Or the accusation was placed around the convicted person's neck, then removed and nailed to the cross for all to see.

At the execution spot, the condemned person was stripped naked and laid on the ground with his shoulders on the crossbeam. The victim's arms were then outspread, and his arms or hands tied or nailed to the wooden beam. The crossbar with the victim was then lifted and secured to the upright post. The victim's feet were then tied or nailed to the upright post.

Death was slow and agonizing, sometimes taking days. Eventually, it would come through loss of blood and shock. Exposure, exhaustion, disease and hunger would also contribute to death. Death of the crucified individual could be speeded up. This was accomplished by breaking the victim's legs below the knees with a club, making it impossible for the person to breathe. Usually the body was left on the cross to rot, or it might provide food for predatory animals and birds. In some instances, as in the case of Jesus, the body was given to friends or relatives for burial.

For many people, the portrayal of Jesus on the cross is sacred. Some people have made the cross itself an object of adoration. However, it is Christ crucified — and now resurrected – we should worship, not the instrument of his death.

### The cross as a symbol

Jesus said, "Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38). He also said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily" (Luke 9:23).

"Carrying the cross" is a meaningful analogy. When the Romans crucified an individual, the condemned person was forced to carry the crossbar, on which the body would be nailed or tied, to the execution site.

The suffering of the crucifixion made the cross a dramatic symbol of pain, distress and burden-bearing. Jesus used the cross as a symbol to portray the spiritual sacrifice required of his followers.

Paul Kroll

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## It Isn't Just About How He Died

I didn't see Mel Gibson's _The Passion of the Christ_ when it first came out, and I still haven't. I don't want to. Hearing that the movie is grisly, sparing us no detail of the crucifixion, is enough for me. People say it leaves an indelible "special effects" impression of how Jesus died. I wonder if that is really such a good thing.

Crucifixion was brutal, and that anyone would deliberately put himself at risk of the cross for others is, of itself, an impressive demonstration of love. But the fact that Jesus was crucified is, to some extent, just a detail. If he had been born a Roman citizen he would have been beheaded. If he had lived in another time or place he could have been hanged, stoned or shot. Today we would have electrocuted him, or strapped him to a gurney for a lethal injection, probably after spending several years on Death Row.

My point is that the graphic details of crucifixion focus primarily on making us feel sorry for Jesus, and therefore on wanting us to feel that we "owe it to him" to accept him after all he went through. That is the effect many people say the movie had on them.

But it seems that the emotion it stirred up was temporary. The movie was touted as "the greatest evangelistic tool for 2000 years," but it has had a minimal impact on church attendance. So maybe wallowing interminably in the blow-by-blow details of Jesus' scourging and crucifixion is not as persuasive as some had hoped.

Besides, Jesus and his Father want us to follow him because he lives, because as one of us he not only died, but was raised from the dead and dwells in the joy of perfect communion with the Father and wants to share that joy and communion with us. He's not looking for your sympathy; he's looking for you to come home to the love of your heavenly Father and your older Brother. That's why he took away our sins — to give us life, to call us home — not to garner our pity.

Jesus, the Son of God, the One through whom all things were made and who upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:2) became human for us and died. Maybe it is simply this fact that demonstrates most dramatically the depth and meaning of his sacrifice. For Jesus to face death in any way and in any form was utterly foreign to all that he is.

"In him was life," John's Gospel tells us. "That life was the light of us all." C.S. Lewis, in a discussion about what it meant for Jesus to come and live as a human being, wrote: "The Eternal being who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man, but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab" ( _Mere Christianity_ , chapter 5).

For about 30 years the Creator and Architect of human life shared in its limitations. Then he allowed his life to be ended in a brutal display of cruelty. For three days, the one who was life lay in a cold dark tomb.

I have a friend who has been for many years in a maximum security prison. He has become used to it, and manages to live a productive Christian life. I love and respect my friend, and visit when I can. But the thought of spending even one night in his environment is frightening. It helps me understand just a little bit the sacrifice Jesus made.

I wonder if instead of focusing on the depth of Jesus' sacrifice by remembering _how_ he died, perhaps it is the fact _that_ he died that underscores the depth of his love for us. He made our burden his, so that he could make his joy ours. He shared our experience, including death, in order to destroy the power of death over us.

Jesus did not ask us to remember his death by dwelling on the grisly details. Instead, he gave us a simple ceremony. At the end of what we call "The Last Supper," he took some of the leftovers and established the simple ritual that we call communion. "Do it in remembrance of me," he said.

Communion: the word means "to join with." To join with others — a reminder of our commitment to love as we have been loved. To share, serve, tolerate and regard our neighbor's needs as highly as we do our own.

Communion is not an empty religious ritual. Nor is it an outburst of emotion after exposure to some masterfully wrought special effects. Communion is something Christians do again and again. But it should never become routine. Each time we accept the symbols of Jesus' body and blood we commit ourselves to him and to all that he stands for.

John Halford

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## Don't Cry for Jesus

**A Holy Week Meditation  
**

"Don't Cry for Jesus" was one of the most memorable sermons I have ever heard. It was given by Dr. Lewis Smedes at a Fuller Seminary chapel service. I was there as a student during Holy Week in hopes of being better prepared to fully appreciate Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. My prayers were answered in an obvious way that day. I heard a message that has stuck with me ever since.

What was Professor Smedes getting at that struck me as being so profoundly right? He wanted us to see as clearly and precisely as possible that Jesus was no victim and that he didn't want us to pity him or feel sorry for him. I thought at the time, "What? How can we not feel sorry for him after all he went through for us?" As Smedes developed the message I saw what he meant and how true it was.

Professor Smedes had us consider two things: first, the actual way the story of Jesus is told to us by the New Testament writers and second, a comparison of Jesus with the Greek tragic heroes like the demigod Achilles.

Let me first briefly recount for you the upshot of that comparison. The Greek gods, as great as they were, suffered often because of their own immoral activities and those involving the other gods. But their greatest sufferings were tragic because they were due to circumstances beyond their own control. These gods were born with their various strengths and weaknesses. No one of them "had it all." They were always born into situations not of their own making and often involving jealousies, revenge plots and grabs for power between various other gods.

These tragic heroes were always victims of their circumstances as the inevitable wheel of fate at some point turned against them. But it was their vulnerabilities that would inevitably lead to their most tragic suffering and defeat, like Achilles' lamentable heel. Were it not for the fact that despite all his armor, Achilles' heel was exposed and that his goddess mother was prevented by his unwitting mortal father from completing the daily rituals that would have made Achilles immortal, Paris' arrow would never have found its fatal target. In some versions of the myth, the god Apollo, for his own reasons, intervened and guided that arrow to pierce Achilles just at that one and only tiny unprotected point. How can you not feel sorry for Achilles? The unfairness of it all. Through no fault of his own, the greatest of all Greek warriors was brought down.

Though we certainly don't think of Jesus as a Greek tragic hero, I realized upon further reflection that his cross is often described in tragic terms. Jesus is often portrayed as a victim of circumstances that go all the way back to the fall of humanity. Jesus is sent to be our Savior because humanity has rebelled and needs to be reconciled and regenerated if we are to share in God's eternal and triune fellowship and communion and for God's original intention at creation to be realized.

In the New Testament we find Jesus, the Son of God, living at a time when the Jewish nation is occupied by the pagan Romans. Among his own people, the Pharisees and Sadducees are involved in their own disputes with each other. Yet they manage to form an alliance to plot Jesus' arrest and execution. Closer to him, there is a traitor among his own disciples, Judas, who betrays him—with a kiss, no less. Jesus is betrayed first into the hands of the court of the high priests and then into the hands of Pilate, who is himself caught between the rival forces of the Emperor and the potentially riotous crowds. Finally, Jesus suffers the brutally cruel treatment of the Roman soldiers who strip, mock and whip him, then lead him to Golgotha, where he is put to death on the machinery of Roman execution, a cross.

Given these tragic circumstances surrounding Jesus' sacrifice, why should we not consider Jesus a tragic victim? Not because he didn't pay an unimaginably high price for us and our salvation. Not because he didn't actually suffer and die. But simply because he was no victim of those circumstances and because he had no fatal flaw!

The cost of our salvation was foreseen and anticipated before the foundations of the earth were even laid. God was not taken by surprise at the Fall nor by our subsequent need for costly deliverance. But our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, counted the cost (as it were) from all eternity and agreed they were ready and willing to gladly pay the price for our deliverance from evil and for our reconciliation. So the plan for creation was carried out knowing full well the price to be paid to put things right, for God's righteousness to be done.

Jesus knew why he had come and what his saving work would cost. His mission was freely chosen. He was freely sent and freely given by the Father out of their joint abounding love for the world. Jesus repeatedly told his disciples what he would have to go through, even though they could not imagine his being so completely rejected by their religious leaders and political authorities that it would lead to his death. Jesus was anything but unaware, naive, about the path he would have to take to make all things new.

Jesus tells us that, like a good shepherd, when danger comes to his sheep, he lays his life down—and also takes it up (John 10:17). Jesus freely, voluntarily, not only gives up his life but also receives it back. When Pilate thinks he has to remind Jesus that he has the power of life and death over him, Jesus has to remind Pilate that he has no power except what has been allowed him by God, his Father (John 19:10-11).

In the garden, when one of his disciples takes it upon himself to defend Jesus with a sword, Jesus reminds them that all of his Father's angelic hosts are available to protect him at any moment if he were to call on them (Matthew 26:53). Jesus is no victim of fate, of circumstances, or of powers greater than himself. He is in charge. He goes forth to Jerusalem only when his hour has come—not sooner, not later.

Jesus' suffering is not the result of any large or small flaw in him. Far from it. There is not even a fleeting shadow of personal weakness evident in his confident exercise of divine omnipotence as he fulfills his redemptive mission. Rather, it is by means of his strength and authority operating in full concert with his Father that he arrives at the right moment to exert saving power over sin, evil and death itself. His act of self-giving is a work of deliberate might based on the strength of his holy love. Jesus is no tragic hero, but the willing, omnipotent, Lord and Savior.

Perhaps most astonishing are Jesus' words spoken on the way to Golgotha, even as he bore the heavy weight of the cross-beam of his own crucifixion. Beholding the women standing by, no doubt exceedingly distraught and anguished, welling up from the depths of his compassion, Jesus found the strength to tell them something they and we need to know: "Daughters of Jerusalem, _don't weep for me_ " (Luke 23:28).

Jesus does not want us to pity him as a hapless victim who suffers because it couldn't be avoided, because it was inevitable, destined by forces he could not resist. He is not looking for our pity—he trod that road, the Via Dolorosa as it is called, on purpose, by divine design. He intentionally took that journey and nothing, not even torture at the violent hands of human wickedness, could stop him. We may weep for ourselves, if we must, that is, be sorrowful for our sins. But Jesus didn't come looking to gather our tears. Rather, his costly love calls for giving him our thanks, our praise, our gratitude, our love, our absolute trust and loyalty—indeed our very lives in eternal worship.

Jesus not only freely but also gladly gave his life that we might have resurrected life in him. So the author of Hebrews sums it up: "For the joy set before him, he endured the cross" (Hebrews 12:2).

For joy? Yes, for joy. But how can that be? In short, because Jesus was no fool. The price he paid was worth it and he knew it. He has no regrets! He did not enjoy the suffering. Not at all. It was excruciating. But he rejoiced in what he with the Father and Spirit would accomplish by means of his extravagant self-sacrifice. Jesus was no victim but the _victor_. The surety of his victory gave him a great joy that saw him through his agonies. Crucifixion would lead by the grace and power of God to resurrection and a new heaven and earth.

Jesus was no reluctant Savior, but the conquering Servant-King of all creation. That's the good news that Professor Smedes preached, and from that moment on, I saw that I could no longer think, preach or teach as if Jesus was a victim that we should feel sorry for.

All those illustrations of the cross that I had heard in both liberal and conservative Christian contexts that made it seem that Jesus was a victim, I had to forswear. These made Jesus out to be anything and everything—from a mother rabbit frozen in a blizzard to save her little bunny child, to an innocent toddler run over by a train or ground up in the gears of a drawbridge—all this occurring while his helpless father looks on in horror from a distance. Somehow caught off-guard and facing a horrible dilemma, this father-victim had to choose between his son and humanity. And so he pulls the lever that seals their respective fates. In these illustrations both the Son and the Father are depicted as victims of circumstances and of their own limitations that call for our pity. As tragic characters they match, if not exceed, the sorry state memorialized in the myth of Achilles.

Perhaps more theological than these misguided analogies are certain interpretations of the cross that pit the Father against the Son. The Father is sometimes said to be taking his wrath out on the Son—punishing him to satisfy his righteousness. In this case, the tragedy occurs between the Father and the Son (some, who have rejected the idea of the cross altogether, have gone so far as to claim that if so, the Father is the victimizer and the Son the victim!). Or the Son is depicted as having to overcome the resistance of the Father to being merciful and forgiving by appealing to his own suffering to gain the Father's pity and so get him to relent of his wrath. From these perspectives, the wills, attitudes and aims of the Father and the Son are at odds and can be resolved only by the Son's suffering. How tragic! "Only that it wasn't so!" we reply out of pity.

Sometimes we imagine a modern adversarial court scene where the Father is represented as the judge who wants to condemn the guilty party, and Jesus is the defense lawyer hoping to help the defendant avoid the penalty required by the law. Fortunately, Jesus figures out a way to keep us from the punishment we deserve. It's a plan that the Father can't argue with since it doesn't seem to involve any violation of the law. Finding no grounds for objection, the Father-Judge has to concede: Jesus wins the court case for us.

But the biblical revelation shows us the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of one mind, one purpose, united in being, acting for the one and same end, our salvation. The Father sends the Son in the power of the Spirit. The Son freely comes and serves out of love for the Father and with joy in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers the Son to overcome temptation and undo evil itself in order to set free the captives, open the eyes of the blind, set at liberty those who are oppressed and bring in the Lord's promised Jubilee (Luke 4:18-19).

At the cross, no exception is made. Our sin is judged and condemned in Jesus. The wrath of God aims to burn away evil and the sin in us that has corrupted our very natures. Dying in him, we are separated and rescued from the evil in us for eternal life. We are given a share in Christ's restored and sanctified humanity. God's wrath serves his mercy. His righteousness serves his love. There is no tension between the attributes of God nor between the Father and the Son. There is no tragic relationship at the heart of the gospel. At the cross the Son "through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished [without flaw] to God" (Hebrews 9:14). Our salvation is the united work of the whole Triune God, our Savior—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

At the foot of the cross, Christ doesn't call us to join him in a great pity-party: the Father feeling sorry for the Son, the Son feeling sorry for the Father, Jesus feeling sorry for us and we feeling oh so sorry for him. For Jesus was no tragic victim. Rather, we gather at the foot of the cross to worship in unspeakable awe, with adoration, thanksgiving, praise and prayer for the costly victory of Christ. By his joyful and freely given life, he righteously restored us to fellowship and eternal communion with God our Triune Redeemer.

Gary Deddo

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## The Day Christ Died

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## Jesus Christ's Last Sermon

Jesus Christ spent his final hours of human life nailed to a cross. Despised and rejected by the world he came to save, history's only perfect person took upon himself the consequences of our sins. The Bible records that on that spring day, from a hill outside Jerusalem, Jesus spoke several times. No one Gospel writer records all his sayings. Matthew and Mark describe one. Luke and John each give us three. Together, these sayings constitute a powerful message from our Savior's heart during the hours of his greatest personal agony. They reveal Jesus' innermost feelings as he poured out his life for us.

### 1) "Father, forgive them"

Only Luke tells us that Jesus, shortly after he was crucified, prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34, NIV, 1984 edition used in this article).

Nearby were Roman soldiers gambling for his clothes, common people whipped to frenzy by the religious leaders and gawkers who came for the hideous spectacle. The Jewish elders mockingly said they would believe in him if he saved himself (Matthew 27:42-43). On his left and right were two criminals condemned to die with him.

Not everyone at the foot of the cross was hostile to Jesus. Women who had followed him during his ministry and some of his disciples now came forward. His mother, Mary, was mourning the Son whom God had miraculously given her.

Innocent of any crime against God or humanity, Jesus had been betrayed, arrested, scourged and condemned. Now, from the cross, Jesus' thoughts reached above his pain and rejection. Instead of being consumed with his own pain and misery, Jesus asked forgiveness for those responsible for the evil done to him—by extension, all who ignorantly go the way of sin and death.

### 2) "You will be with me in paradise"

Jesus next spoke to encourage one of the criminals crucified with him. Both criminals, likely thieves or murderers, early on joined bystanders in reviling Jesus (Mark 15:32). Luke tells us, "One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: `Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!'" (Luke 23:39). This man wanted only escape from his pain. The gulf between them remained because this faithless criminal had no desire to know his Savior and repent of his sins.

But a miraculous change occurred in the other criminal. He came to believe. This man was just as guilty as the first. He admitted he deserved to die (verses 40-41). He, too, had mocked Jesus earlier, but now he rebuked the other criminal.

We are not told of any other conversation between this second criminal and Jesus. Perhaps only Jesus' example and prayer, which he overheard, moved him so deeply. He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (verse 42). Jesus replied by offering him hope for the future: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (verse 43).

All who surrender to Jesus receive not only strength to face the present, but also lasting hope for the future. There is a future beyond the grave. Eternal life in God's kingdom awaits those who will embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior.

### 3) "Woman, behold your son!"

Jesus honored and showed concern for his mother. When it seemed impossible for him to help anyone, he provided for Mary's care through his trusted friend John.

"When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home" (John 19:26-27).

### 4) "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"

For the first time, Jesus' thoughts were on himself. He cried out, _"'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'_ —which means, `My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

Many have puzzled over Jesus' seeming doubt. Was Jesus afraid? Had his Father deserted him in his greatest need? Jesus was quoting the first portion of Psalm 22:1, a prophecy of the Messiah's suffering and exaltation.

We sometimes forget that Jesus was fully human. Yes, he was God in the flesh, but he was also subject to all the feelings of mind and body that any of us feel. Jesus spoke these words after three hours of darkness had covered the land (Matthew 27:45). Jesus hung on the cross alone, where he took our place, to feel the pain and anguish that sin causes.

There, in the darkness and pain, bearing the burden of our sins, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy: "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Soon Christ would savor the sweetness of eternal victory over sin and death. His final three statements came in rapid succession.

### 5) "I am thirsty"

Death drew near. The time of final sacrifice was close. Jesus had endured—and overcome—the heat, pain, rejection and loneliness. He could have suffered and died in silence. Instead, unexpectedly, he asked for help. "Knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, `I am thirsty'" (John 19:28).

Jesus asked for a drink and received vinegar, fulfilling David's 1,000-year-old prophecy (Psalm 69:21). "Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink" (Matthew 27:48). The man who had hurried to answer Jesus' request said: "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down" (Mark 15:36).

### 6) "It is finished"

Jesus had finished his work on earth. His sixth message was one of triumph: "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, `It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30).

Jesus' humility rings in his words. His was not a vain, I-showed-you attitude. He did not even say, "I did it." He claimed no credit. He asked no pity. To the end, Jesus' mind was on the work he came to do. He announced, for all to hear, "It is finished."

### 7) Jesus' final words

Matthew tells us, "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit" (Matthew 27:50; see also Mark 15:37). Only Luke preserves Jesus' words: "Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last" (Luke 23:46).

God is love, and Jesus' ministry showed what love is. He gave himself for us. He preached his last sermon most effectively, by both word and example. In his last seven statements, he affirmed God's greatness and glory.

### God's work goes on

Jesus' example and words on the cross bore fruit even before his death, when the repentant robber acknowledged him as Lord and appealed for his mercy.

On that Passover so long ago, Jesus finished his own mission as a human on earth. But his work goes on now in his church. Christ's followers today preach his gospel of salvation. They show his love for fellow humans. And they look for his return as King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is the wonderful message of good news that Jesus Christ preached the day he died for all.

\-------------------

### Seven Sayings of Jesus on the Cross

Jesus shared in our humanity. He set an example for us, suffered for us and was victorious over sin and death in his work on the cross. His victory, both in his death and his resurrection, enables us to be reconciled to God and restored to fellowship with him.

While hanging on the cross, Jesus spoke of:

##### Forgiveness (Luke 23:32-34)

##### Hope (Luke 23:39-43)

##### Care (John 19:25-27)

##### Loneliness (Mark 15:33-34; Matthew 27:45-46)

##### Suffering (John 19:28-29)

##### Triumph (John 19:30)

##### Reunion (Luke 23:44-46)

###### ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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## Did God Forsake Jesus on the Cross?

**Quotes from Theologians on the Interview Program** _You're Included_

In Alphabetical Order

The Trinity says that God is both above and he is below, God is _involved._ The one who dies on the cross has to be as fully God as the Father in heaven. Jesus says, "God, my Father, why have you forsaken me?" This has to be, not only the language of Psalm 22, the human lament of forsakenness that Jesus takes on his own lips, but it has to be that God himself has, in a sense, assumed a humanity estranged from God, so that atonement begins in Bethlehem.

T.F. Torrance said, you have to go back to the fact that the one who was born from the womb of Mary was born to assume the human estrangement, to assume the sentence of death, so that, in that sense, Jesus as the incarnate Son of God is a dead man walking. Can God die? No. But for God to overcome human death, God has to become human and God has to assume that human death, so that when God the Son, the Logos (as John 1:1 says), enters in to become flesh, has in a sense, placed God from below....

How do we connect the reality of our doctrine of God with the reality of people's lives? We do that in narrative form. Every person has a narrative – it's their life, it's their suffering, their losses, their pain, the questions they're raising, "Where is God in my life?" That's their narrative. "My God, why have you forsaken me?" – that's the narrative of humanity.

There's also a narrative, God says, "I hear their cry" – the Old Testament. I heard them in Egypt. I love them, and because of my love, I'm going to come with them, I'm going to redeem them, I'm going to bring them out, and they will be a sign that I love, and am willing to include all the families of the earth. There is that narrative of God's love and God's grace. The job of pastoral ministry is to connect those two narratives....

What has God become in becoming human? God has become the sinner, which simply means without personal sin he still has a death nature, he's going to die of something, because he has assumed death as a consequence of original sin. What God has assumed in becoming human is to assume God-forsakenness, to assume that condition. That is part of the narrative of the Trinity at work, so to speak. God has assumed death for everyone.

Ray S. Anderson

God's goodness turns out to be far better than we ever would have dreamed, because God, rather than simply overcoming evil by a show of brute force, enters into the middle of it. God takes our diseased and alienated sinful humanity upon himself, suffers and finally dies the death that all of us will someday experience in order to set us free for fullness of life.

This is not a God who sits aloof from us, outside the universe, playing with our lives like a puppet on a string. This is a God who loves us to the uttermost, comes into the midst of our brokenness in order to redeem us. A God who even cries on the cross, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" – "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When everything is darkness and we feel forsaken, our brother Jesus, our blessed high priest, has said that [why have you forsaken me?] on our behalf on the cross.

Elmer Colyer

In the Incarnation, Jesus was born of Mary, and received in that, since he came from the seed of Adam's race, the race that had fallen. Within the Virgin's womb, he was joined with the Holy Spirit to become both God and man. So he took to himself that which we really are, it was a real humanity. He took it in union with the Holy Spirit, so it was a humanity he wore sinlessly. But often, we tend to think of Jesus as a kind of superman – that he wasn't really touched with mortal frailty like the rest of us are, that he didn't really know what it's like to live in this broken world, to live among people who feel like God has forsaken them, to know the difficulty of temptation. But Scripture teaches that Jesus truly was tempted in all points as we are. He really could have gone into sin. He really knew what it was to wrestle against temptation. He knew how it is to be with us in a lost and forsaken humanity which he wore in perfect holiness and sinlessness....

We are the lost and wandering sheep, we're the prodigal children and feel that we've wandered way outside of the Father's grace and care. But the good news in the Incarnation is that our Father loved us so much that he sent his Son all the way into the world, all the way into our humanity where we are, sent to find us in our lost and forsaken condition and to join himself to us in the midst of our brokenness, our lostness and to heal us from within....

Jesus is both fully God but fully human in the way that we are human. When the Son of God came to us, as the Torrances love to say, he penetrated into our lost and forsaken condition, or as Douglas Sparrow says, he pursued us all the way to the place of our fallenness. Not just abstractly in some philosophical sense – he did it by becoming what we are, taking up real humanity, he truly embraced us....

The God of Jesus Christ, Jesus himself, is not about karma, making sure everything is handed out according to what we deserve, which would be bad news, but it's about grace. Because one person has taken our sins upon himself, has paid the price not only at the external level, but in the depths of the depths he's taken our lost and forsaken condition, made it his own, and healed it so that he can return to us grace in exchange for our letting go of our sin and our guilt.

Gerrit Scott Dawson

We don't take the vicarious humanity of Christ seriously – that Christ has taken upon himself that despair, he's taken upon that doubt, he's taken upon that anxiety. That's what we hear from the cross, when Jesus says in those cryptic words, a prayer to God, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

I think Jesus is praying that on our behalf. He is taking our despair and bringing it to the Father, and in doing so, healing it. We are not alone in that despair. We are not alone in our aloneness. We may still be lonely, but we're not lonely alone. Jesus is lonely with us.

That's extremely important for us to see, how close the humanity of Christ relates to our humanity. That's why this, what seems to be abstract talk about vicarious humanity, is really very personal talk. Christ's humanity is so close to us. We're in union with him. We hear him crying out for us, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" when we've gone through a loss of a loved one, or other travails in life in which we've questioned the presence or even existence of God. Jesus cries that prayer on the cross, praying from Psalm 22, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" But he prays, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." There's despair on the cross, but there's also joy. Some scholars suggest that perhaps Jesus recited the rest of Psalm 22. In effect, with "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," he's saying that.

Christian Kettler

When Jesus died on the cross, God was in Jesus reconciling us. But on the cross Jesus asked, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" How did God answer in the Gospels? He didn't give an answer. So people looking at God through that wrong lens assume God the Father forsook his son Jesus. The answer is, he didn't forsake his Son. That was the cry of Jesus when he became sin for us. If he had heard the answer right then and there, God would have said, "I haven't forsaken you."

You say, "How do you know?" I'll prove it. Psalm 22 is the Messianic Psalm from which that cry of Jesus came. First verse, Psalm 22 of the Messianic Psalm, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" You can go on down and read that Psalm and bit by bit you see it's talking about the cross right down to them casting lots for his garments — everything. It's describing the cross.

If you go down to verse 24 in Psalm 22, you get the answer to the question. It's not recorded in the Gospels, but it is in Psalms. Psalm 22:1, "Why have you forsaken me?" Verse 24, "He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted nor has he hidden his face for him. But when he cried to him for help, he heard."

Now here's the neat thing. All the Jews knew these Psalms. When people standing around the cross heard the first line of that Psalm, they knew the rest of it. When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" every self-respecting Jew standing there knew the rest of it, and the answer was he has not forsaken him or turned his face on him. But here we are 20 centuries later saying, he asked the question why did God forsake him — God must have forsook him. We've missed the point. No, he did not forsake him. He was right there in him and with him the whole time.

The Father never forsook the Son. People say, Well, they were fragmented. Are you kidding? Deity being fragmented? The Godhead would have ceased to exist. Father, Son, and Spirit have always been in that _perichoresis,_ in that circle of love. It's never wavered for one moment, even at the cross, which is encouraging to us, because like Jesus, when we cry out, why have you forsaken me, we can know God says, "I haven't. I'm with you." He'll never forsake us.

Steve McVey

T.F. Torrance would say that God never surrendered his divinity in becoming incarnate (so he could forgive our sins, because he was God incarnate), but he could also, from the human side, live our reconciliation subjectively in his perfect life of obedience. Unless the Word actually assumed our fully human nature, he wouldn't have come all the way to us within our human history. Redemption takes place within the personal being of the mediator, both so that when Jesus suffers God-forsakenness in obeying the Father, he lives out a human life in the midst of sin and temptation, in the midst of stresses and strains that would want to divide the unity that took place in the hypostatic union, but, in the end, did not do so....

When he was baptized, it's not because he sinned, but because he assumed our sin for humanity and so his baptism was the beginning of his living a human life of perfect obedience, which culminated on the cross where he said, "Not my will, but thine be done," and then experienced God-forsakenness.

Paul Molnar

Christ on the cross stands in our place and laments in our place. He prays, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Psalm 22. It's not in a sense of abandoning God – it's, " _My_ God, _my_ God, why have you forsaken me?" So he's lamenting as a way of holding onto God in this situation. Christ does this, Old Testament saints do this....

Oftentimes when in the New Testament someone will quote from the Old Testament, they might just quote a verse or even a phrase, but the hearers will know the Scriptures; they were immersed in the Scriptures, and the hearers will call to mind the whole context, the whole story, the whole Psalm or whatever. So when Jesus says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" we need to remember that Jesus would have been well aware of how the Psalm ended, and the Psalm ends with deliverance.

The book of Hebrews in chapter 2 quotes from the salvation part of the Psalm and applies that to Jesus. In the early church, the Christ-followers saw it as very appropriate to take the second part of the Psalm as applying to Christ and the resurrection, and Christ as the one who praises God in the congregation.

But we need to be careful not to collapse or to somehow downgrade the despair or the lament of Christ on the cross as if he knew it was going to come out all happy in the end anyway, so he wasn't really lamenting. Christ isn't just putting on a show. He isn't feigning lament. He really is suffering in our humanity, he really is lamenting on our behalf. He is expressing precisely how he feels. It's the positive part. In Mark and Matthew, this "why have you forsaken me?" thing comes right near the end. This is something that's been building up through the whole experience on Calvary. It comes out near the end, "why have you forsaken me?" It's not just a passing thing and then he gets over it.

We need to beware of somehow collapsing the hope and the despair together — so he's despairing, but actually he's happy. No. He's lamenting, so we need to take that utterly seriously, but also to recognize that Jesus has not given up on God. He says, " _My_ God, why have you forsaken me?" This is lament within a relationship with God where he knows... for the joy set before him, as it says in Hebrews, he endured the shame of the cross.

Robin Parry

Where is this God of the cross found? Where is this God who cries out to his Father on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" and hears nothing. Where is this God? If our models of great adolescent faith are just the shiny happy kids, then what about all those kids who know that question deep in their being? But the church never helps them articulate it....

God comes near to us in those moments where we don't know what to do or when we feel lost. There are certain moments in our life that are utterly God-forsaken and are irredeemable. But often in those moments, someone else will share in our lives with us. I think, in those moments, God becomes concretely present....

The objective of the church is to say, "You're right — Jesus isn't here. So together let's search for God..." and this is the paradox — "let's search for God in the utter feeling of God-forsakenness, of God not being here," which is this Christological element that opens up, that Moltmann beautifully does, to the Trinity — that God knows death, that God knows what it's like. Jesus essentially says "God is not here" on the cross. The Father knows what it's like to lose the Son to the abyss of separation and death. There's something very Trinitarian about being willing to say "God is not here," but not as a nihilistic assertion but as a confession of faith.

"God is not here" as a confession of faith that says "I will now search for God in this place where God cannot be found" because this God who cannot be found, this God who I can't find now, is a God who is often not found, in certain places like in the barren womb of Sarah or in a people under years and years of oppression in Egypt, in the virgin womb of a 15-year-old girl in a God-forsaken place called Galilee...that in those places where "God is not here" is the place where God becomes found.

Andrew Root

The heart of the Incarnation is the doctrine that Christ knows our weaknesses, takes our questions, our doubts to himself ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?") and identifies with us in our suffering. By the Spirit we are united with that. We don't float free of the cares of this world. We are given to recognize the One who stands with us in the concerns of this world, who knows our weaknesses, our doubting, our blindness, who in every respect is as tempted as we are and knows our struggles. He knows even our sense of god-forsakenness at times, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Alan Torrance

Perhaps the severest forms of judgment we see in the gospel are out of the lips of Jesus. He was absolutely frank. When we look at the cross, we might belittle our sins. We might think it doesn't matter. I say to people, "You look at the cross, you look at the fact that sin was so serious it took everything that God himself had got, to remove our sin and deliver us." I think of that great cry, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" There you see the depths and the horror of sin. Sin is very real, but thank God that we're delivered from it. Our church needs to be cleansed, I pray every day that we will be cleansed. We thank God that there is complete cleansing, complete deliverance.

David Torrance

He loves us, and he is love in himself — that's his very nature. He loves us so much that he has even entered into our hell for us on the cross. He's taken our god-forsakenness and undone it, and cleared away all the barriers between us and him and united us to himself. He has taken our very flesh, our dust, and made it his. He is now a man in Christ. He's done all that for us. He's now with us, one with us.

Robert T. Walker

We have this idea that God comes to us and says, "You and I have a problem. Your behavior doesn't meet up to the standards required, but I have a solution: For you and I to be ok, I'm going to take my innocent Son, whom I love more than anything else in the world, out to the woodshed, and kill him – and then you and I will be ok. Oh, by the way, trust me."

We're going, "Is there a disconnect here somewhere? Is that what had to happen for God the Father and me to be ok?" We're going, "That's not it at all... that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. It was God the Father that crawls inside of this very thing."

People say, "What about, 'My God, my God why have you forsaken me?'" That is Christ on the cross, for the first time as a human being, experiences a sense of separation. He doesn't believe that it's real – because the next thing he says is "into your hands I commit my spirit." There is no real separation, but he feels the sense of it, but God is in him in that whole process. There is no abandonment like that. That cry is a cry of those who have experienced abandonment. For some of us that is such a hope for us....

Psalm 22, which starts off with, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" You read that psalm and it says, "trust, trust, trust." At one point it says, "Because I know you will not turn your face from me." We've come up with a theology where you can't trust God, he's turned his face, he can't look on sin. He's gone somewhere and he's abandoned his son. Like every father would abandon his son. Come on. I'm a father. There's no way.

William Paul Young

For more information about the theologians, and the complete interviews, see the e-books titled _Trinitarian Conversations,_ volumes 1 and 2. You may also wish to read Thomas H. McCall, _Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why It Matters_ (InterVarsity Press, 2012).

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## Jesus Was Not Alone

On a small hill just outside of Jerusalem, a troublemaking teacher was killed on a cross. He was not alone. He was not the only troublemaker in Jerusalem that spring day.

"I have been crucified with Christ," the apostle Paul wrote (Galatians 2:20), but Paul wasn't the only one. "You died with Christ," he told other Christians (Colossians 2:20). "We were...buried with him," he wrote in Romans 6:4. What's going on here? All those people weren't really on that hill near Jerusalem. So what is Paul saying? Just this: All Christians, whether they know it or not, have shared in the cross of Christ.

Were you there when they crucified the Lord? Yes, you were there. We were with him, even though we didn't know it at the time. Perhaps this sounds like nonsense. What does it really mean? In modern language, we might say that we _identify_ with Jesus. We accept him as our representative. We accept his death as payment for our sins.

But there is more. We also accept — and share in — his resurrection! Paul also wrote, "God raised us up with Christ" (Ephesians 2:6). We were there on resurrection morning. "God made you alive with Christ" (Colossians 2:13). "You have been raised with Christ" (Colossians 3:1).

Christ's story is our story, if we accept it, if we agree to be identified with the crucified Lord. Our lives become attached to his life, not only the glory of his resurrection, but also the pain and sorrow of his crucifixion. Can you accept it? Can we be with Christ in his death? If so, then we can be with him in his glory.

Jesus did much more than die and rise. He had a life of righteousness, and we share in that life, too. We are not instantly perfect, of course — not even gradually perfect — but we are called to share in the abundant, new life of Christ. Paul ties it all together when he writes, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:4). Buried with him, risen with him, living with him.

### A new identity

What is this new life supposed to be like? "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body.... Offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness" (verses 11-13).

When we identify with Jesus Christ, our lives are his. "We are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

Just as Jesus was not alone, neither are we. If we identify with Christ, then we are buried with him, and we rise to new life with him, and he lives with us. In our trials and in our successes, he is with us, because our lives belong to him. He shoulders the burden, and he gets the credit, and we get the joy of sharing life with him.

Paul described it in these terms: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Take up the cross, Jesus urged his disciples, and follow me. Identify with me. Make your life like mine. Let the old be crucified, and let the new life reign in your body. Let it be by me. Let me live in you, and I will give you life eternal.

Joseph W. Tkach

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## Did You Kill Jesus Christ?

You may remember preachers who said that humanity in general and each of us personally is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Many sincere Christians have believed this. As a result, many labor under a huge burden of guilt. Particularly in the spring of each year, as we near the anniversary of his death, the burden is remembered anew.

But are we responsible for the death of Jesus? If we aren't, then who is?

Only one set of shoulders is broad enough and strong enough to bear that burden of responsibility without breaking. Those shoulders are not human, but divine. We are responsible for our own deaths: by our sins we have brought death upon ourselves. Our own deaths (Ezekiel 18:4, 20) are the wages we have earned by our sins (Romans 6:23). "You shall surely die!" is what God said (Genesis 2:17).

But Jesus has chosen to die in our place, to make us free from the penalty of our own sins. "I lay down my life for the sheep," he said (John 10:15). We did not force him to die. He was under no external compulsion to die for us. "I lay down my life.... No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:17-18). We did not compel him die for us. We did not even ask him to die for us. We were bound up in sin, and we did not know enough to ask for such a thing.

The sacrifice was made at God's initiative. Nothing outside of Jesus compelled him. Only his own nature, his own love, compelled him. The self-sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was the expression within time of the self-giving love that is the nature of God in eternity. Jesus "loved us and gave himself up for us" (Ephesians 5:2)—he gave his life as a sign of his love. His act was designed to create in us a response of love and gratitude and wonder. It was not intended to make us feel guilty every time we think about it.

Consider this: If I were guilty for causing the death of Jesus, what could erase that guilt? To claim the blood of Christ to cover it would incur the same guilt again! I would logically be forced to the conclusion that the only way to be free of the guilt of Christ's sacrifice would be to die for my own sins, rather than bear the burden of responsibility and guilt that comes along with having him die for them.

Here is a paradox: When we receive his sacrifice as a gift, we are free from responsibility for his death. Our merciful God did not intend that we, his children, carry a burden of guilt through our lives today, or through life everlasting, based on our mistaken notion that by accepting his gift we bear the responsibility for Jesus' death. God intended that we be freed from and remain free from such a sense of condemnation and guilt (Romans 8:5).

Praise God, and thank him that he took the responsibility of giving his Son for us! Praise Jesus, and thank him that he willingly laid down his life for us, and rejoice that he invites us to take advantage of his gift of love without guilt, without reluctance and without condemnation.

Don Mears

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## Three Aspects, One Great Event

In his Gospel and epistles, the apostle John tells us that God is _light_ , _love_ and _life_. These three key words are especially appropriate to consider as we approach Holy Week, which begins this Sunday (March 29). The apostle Paul also uses these three words in his epistles, where typically they appear in connection with the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Echoing Jesus' proclamation in John 10:28-29, Paul declares that nothing "will be able to separate us from the _love_ of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39, emphasis added). In his first letter to Timothy, Paul indicates the connection between _life_ and _light_ :

#### Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal _life_ to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives _life_ to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable _light_ , whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen (1 Timothy 6:12-16, emphasis added).

The biblical revelation is that our triune God is one and acts as one. We could summarize the Triune God's unity of action by saying that the Father calls light and life into existence, the Holy Spirit illumines our lives with his light, and Jesus Christ is sent as the light and life of the world. Our Triune God does all this out of the overflow of their eternal holy love: "For God so loved the world."

_Light, love_ and _life._ Something about these three words evokes pleasure, and that leads to celebration. Have you noticed that weddings, renewal of vows, and even fundraising events are referred to as "celebrations of love"? Christmas and independence days are called "celebrations of light." Late-life birthdays, funerals and memorial services are called "celebrations of life." Such celebrations view _light, love_ and _life_ as gifts. But do people know the gift-giver?

In Scripture, light, love and life are interrelated as gifts that flow from the very being of God: "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). The story of Jesus is about this light coming into the world to give us life because of the love of the Father. Indeed, light, life and love convey the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection. This is seen in the last three days of Holy Week, which focus on Jesus' passion (suffering), death and resurrection. These are three aspects of one, indivisible, unrepeatable, unique event that points us to one, indivisible person—Jesus Christ.

The one great event of Jesus' "passover" from life to death, then back to life is called the _Holy Triduum_ (and sometimes the _Easter_ or _Paschal Triduum_ ). The word _triduum_ (meaning "three days") was first used by Augustine to express the essential unity of the three-day-long Paschal event beginning at sunset on Maundy Thursday (many GCI churches hold a Last Supper commemoration service that evening), leading into Good Friday (when we remember Jesus' crucifixion and death), followed by Holy Saturday (when we remember Jesus lying in the tomb), and culminating with Easter Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus' resurrection.

Though Holy Saturday often is overlooked in Protestant churches these days, it has been emphasized throughout Christian history. Orthodox Christians refer to it as "the Great and Holy Sabbath." Part of their liturgy is to sing "This is the Day the Lord has Made," taken from Psalm 118, the last Psalm of Passover, which was believed to be the hymn Jesus last sang with his disciples. Coptic Christians refer to it as "The Saturday of Light" and "Joyous Saturday."

We should not miss the imagery of Holy Saturday, which portrays Jesus' lifeless body spending the Sabbath in the darkness of death, buried in the tomb. As explained by the apostle John, this imagery points us to the light and life of God: "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5). John reminds us that darkness and death did not hold Jesus in bondage. God entered the darkness and broke through. The good news for all is that, for the sake of his love, God brings resurrection light to dispel all darkness; to bring life out of death.

Because of Holy Saturday, we need not fear the dark. When young, my sisters were afraid of the dark and wanted a night-light in their bedroom. But then they experienced some panic when seeing strange shadows. I remember what my mother said to comfort them: "God is always with us, even in the dark." My mom's words were a cogent reminder that God loves us in ways we cannot imagine. He loves us in our darkness, ignorance and foolishness. Hearing we are forgiven and that, in Christ, there is no condemnation for us, not only makes me appreciate the depth of God's love, it makes me want to light up fireworks! I sometimes dream of enjoying supernatural light shows when we experience eternal life in the fullness of God's kingdom.

It is the light of God that reveals reality to us. Physically, we are unable to distinguish color in the dark. Darkness hides dangers, while light exposes them. We need light to see. We need God to see reality. The three days stretching from Maundy Thursday through Good Friday, to Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday point to three aspects of one great event—what Jesus has done to reclaim, redeem and reconcile us to God, bringing us into the radiant light of the glory of God. It was the _love_ of God that sent the _light_ of God to bring us into the _life_ of God.

Joseph Tkach

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## Our Strange Dead God

From the various medals, statues and drawings adorning his car, it was obvious that my taxi driver was Hindu. He was driving me to Kuala Lumpur's airport, through the vast oil palm plantations of Southern Malaysia.

Malaysia is a multicultural nation, and although the principal religion is Islam, it is common to see Hindu and Buddhist temples alongside the mosques in the towns and villages. There is even the occasional Christian church—although Christianity is very much a minority religion in Southeast Asia.

The older I get, the more tolerant I become of other people's religious beliefs. I don't mean that I accept them or even understand them, but I have learned that what to me might seem foolish or confusing can have deep meaning to someone from a different culture. For example, my Hindu taxi driver is an intelligent man, but I have to wonder what he sees in what to me are rather odd symbols of his faith. Like, for instance, the brightly colored statues of monkeys and elephants that adorn the temples. Or the small statue of a multi-armed goddess on the taxi's dashboard.

To those who don't know the story, it must seem odd to choose a tortured, bleeding corpse on a cross as the symbol of your faith.

I was thinking of asking the driver about this, when he neatly turned the tables on me. We passed a Christian church building decorated with a large cross on the wall. The cross had a gaudy plaster statue of the crucified Christ nailed to it, with bright red painted blood flowing from its hands, feet and side. Turning to me, the driver asked, "Excuse me, sir, but are you a Christian?"

"Yes," I said.

"Then could you tell me what you Christians see in that strange dead god?"

I had never thought of the symbol of the cross like that. To me, Jesus is very much alive. When you know the story, the cross becomes a powerful reminder of how Jesus suffered when he became the sacrifice for sin. But to someone who does not know the story, it must seem odd to choose a tortured, bleeding corpse hanging on Roman cross as the symbol of your faith.

### Not always the cross

Today the cross is the universally recognized emblem of Christianity. It wasn't always. In the early years of the Church, the cross was not widely used. Perhaps it was considered too horrific at a time when crucifixion was still a dreaded punishment in the Roman Empire. The first Christians identified themselves with the symbol of the fish, like the one you see on bumper stickers. The first letters of the Greek words that meant "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior" ( _Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter_ ) happened to form the Greek word for "fish" ( _ichthys_ ).

It was an apt symbol, because Jesus told his followers they would be "fishers of men." But in those early days, they had to "fish" in secret. It was dangerous to be a Christian, and the followers of Jesus resorted to secret signs and symbols to keep from exposing themselves unnecessarily. For example, a man sometimes drew half the picture of a fish in the sand while talking with someone. If the figure was recognized to signify more than an unconscious movement during the course of a conversation, the other person would complete the drawing, and the two believers would know they were safe with one another.

The Christians had to worship in secret, and visiting Christians could find their way to the worship center in the long underground passageways by simply looking at the fish on the wall pointing in the direction they were to go.

However, when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire in the days of Constantine and crucifixion was abandoned as a punishment, the cross became more prevalent as a symbol of Christian faith. But during the first millennium, the Christ figure was usually portrayed fully clothed and very much alive, focusing on his triumphant resurrection rather than his ignominious death.

My Hindu taxi driver was not the only one who did not understand "our strange dead God." In many parts of the world, where the representatives of Christ have not always behaved well, the cross is seen as a symbol of oppression and exploitation. And of course, there are now millions of people in the Western world who wear a cross as jewelry, but have no clear idea of what it symbolizes. Perhaps you have heard the story of the girl who asked a jeweler, "Do you have one of those cross things people are wearing?"

"Do you want a plain one, or one with the little man on it?" the jeweler asked.

### Core of our faith

Even if a growing number of people see a cross as nothing more than another kind of trendy jewelry, the cross continues to hold its rightful place as a centerpiece in our places of worship. It adorns our Bibles, prayer books and hymnals. It represents forgiveness of sin and reminds us of what Jesus suffered to become our Savior.

But here's something to think about. Does a cross actually convey the core meaning of our Christian faith? It might to us, since we know the whole story. Jesus didn't remain on the cross or in the tomb. He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, having conquered death and reconciled humanity to God as both the representative and substitute for all. But to many, like my taxi driver, the cross conveys the idea that we worship a "strange dead God."

Many a church notice board reminds passersby that "the wages of sin is death." Such constant emphasis on avoiding punishment for sin can give the impression that this is what our faith is all about.

But Christianity is not primarily about avoiding death. It is not even primarily about forgiveness of sin. It is about love and life. John 3:16 reminds us that God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved Son so that humanity could have—not just their sins forgiven—but true life, life with God. Forgiveness is part of the process, but even forgiveness springs eternal only from God's heart of love, and it is God's undying love that transforms people into brothers and sisters of Jesus, more than that, into friends of Jesus, and into the beloved children of the Father.

The world has never been so filled with fear, suffering and death. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus said "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

Christianity stands for love and life. The cross will always be a symbol of the death of our Lord. But is there an equally recognizable way to represent the new life created for humanity in his resurrection and ascension to the Father? Artists' attempts to show the risen Lord in all his glory inevitably fall far short of reality. But maybe there is a way.

Jesus said he would live in and through people who accept him as their Savior. They would follow him, their lives transformed, reflecting his love and life like a glowing candle in a dark room. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another," said Jesus (John 13:35).

A life characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) will undoubtedly be thought of as a bit strange. It is to be expected; people thought Jesus was strange, too. But Christian faith is best represented not when someone looks at a handmade symbol that might have different meanings to different people, but when those who believe it become living symbols of our "strange living God."

John Halford

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## Commemorating the Crucifixion

Almost 2,000 years ago, a Jewish carpenter was condemned as a dangerous religious and political rebel. He was executed in one of the most painful and shameful punishments ever known: flogging and crucifixion. This form of death was a scandal to both Jews and Gentiles.

Nevertheless, Jesus' followers made a point of remembering his death—not just the fact that he died, but also that he died in such a shameful way. In their written stories about Jesus, they devoted lengthy sections to his horrible death. They set aside one day each year as the anniversary of his death.

Why is Jesus' death so important to Christians—and so central to the Christian faith?

### Of greatest importance

Jesus' death is listed as of "first importance" in Paul's summary of the gospel message: "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Paul even characterized his own preaching as "the message of the cross" (1 Corinthians 1:18). "We preach Christ crucified," he said (verse 23).

Jesus' death was predicted in Scripture, and was necessary (Luke 24:25-26; Acts 3:18; 17:3). It was necessary not just for the Messiah to _die,_ but to _suffer,_ and to be crucified for our salvation. It was an essential part of Jesus' ministry, and an essential part of the gospel. Jesus had predicted his own suffering and death, even his death on a cross (Mark 8:31-32; 9:31; 10:33-34; Matthew 20:19; 26:2; John 12:32-33). He was sure it had to happen the way it did (Matthew 26:54)—it was his purpose, his mission (John 12:27). He had to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 53 (Luke 22:37).

Jesus said that his death would be a ransom to save other people (Mark 10:45). At his Last Supper, he said that he gave his body on behalf of other people, and he gave his blood to form a new covenant, or a new relationship between God and humanity, based on forgiveness (Luke 22:19-20; Matthew 26:28). He was, as Isaiah had predicted, an innocent person who suffered and died to ransom the guilty. God laid our sins on Jesus, and he was killed for _our_ transgressions to buy _our_ freedom.

Jesus not only predicted his death, he also explained its significance for us—and this is why it is good news. He gave his body for us—for our benefit. He allowed his blood to be shed so we might be forgiven. Jesus was the mediator between God and humans. His death enables us to have a covenant with God—a relationship of promise and loyalty. Indeed, the death of Christ is the _only_ way for our salvation. That is why Jesus, even though he knew what pain awaited him, "resolutely set out for Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). It was the reason he had come.

### Publicizing a scandal

The resurrection of Jesus was wonderful news. It was a hope-filled message. Because of that, it would have been easy for the apostles to emphasize Jesus' resurrection and skip over his shameful death. Indeed, we read in Acts that they preached the resurrection—but they also boldly reminded people of the shameful punishment Jesus had received (Acts 2:22-24; 3:13-15; 4:10; 5:30-31; 7:51-53; 10:37-40; 13:27-30).

Not only did they admit the cross, they also called it a _tree_ —a word that would remind Jews of Deuteronomy 21:22-23, which says that anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. By using the word _tree,_ the apostles drew extra attention to the shameful way Jesus had died. Why did they emphasize the shameful way that Jesus died? Because it was important. The Scriptures had predicted it, Jesus had predicted it, and it was necessary for our salvation.

The cross involves shame as well as pain (Hebrews 12:2). It involves a "curse" (Galatians 3:13-14). Paul did his best not to offend people, but he emphasized the crucifixion even though he knew it was offensive (Galatians 5:11; 3:1; 6:14). The cross was the _center_ of his gospel (1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2; Philippians 3:18).

Paul gives the spiritual significance of the cross: Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was a sacrifice so that we might be justified, or declared right, so that we might not receive the punishment our sins deserve (Romans 3:24-26). He carried our sins on his cross (1 Peter 2:24). "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

It is through the cross that we can be given the blessing promised to Abraham (Galatians 3:14). It is through the cross that we are reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:16). It is through the cross that God forgives our sins, taking away the written note of debt that was against us (Colossians 2:13-14). Our salvation depends on the cross of Christ.

Since we fail to keep the law perfectly, we fall under its curse (Galatians 3:10). We all deserve death (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Jesus, being sinless, did not need to die, but he willingly died for us. The righteous died for the unrighteous. He received death so that we might receive life.

John Stott writes that the crucifixion shows three truths:

#### First, our sin must be extremely horrible. Nothing reveals the gravity of sin like the cross.... If there was no way by which the righteous God could righteously forgive our unrighteousness, except that he should bear it himself in Christ, it must be serious indeed....

#### Secondly, God's love must be wonderful beyond comprehension.... He pursued us even to the desolate anguish of the cross, where he bore our sin, guilt, judgment and death. It takes a hard and stony heart to remain unmoved by love like that....

#### Thirdly, Christ's salvation must be a free gift. He "purchased" it for us at the high price of his own life-blood. So what is there left for us to pay? Nothing! ( _The Cross of Christ,_ page 83)

### A memorial of death

The cross was the focus of Jesus' mission as a human. His job was not done until he was crucified. Jesus did not tell his disciples to remember his miracles—they were to remember his _death._ Jesus eliminated many rituals, but he commanded a new one: the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. He told us to participate in these reminders of his death because his death, and our participation in his death, is the key to our salvation.

We remember Jesus' death not just as something that happened to Jesus—it is relevant for us today. The Lord's Supper looks to the past—Jesus willing giving his life to us—and to the present—his union with us now, and the future—his promise to return.

In baptism, we picture our participation in Jesus' death (Romans 6:3). Spiritually speaking, are we crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), and on a daily basis, we are to crucify our sinful passions and desires (Galatians 5:24; Romans 8:13). To follow Jesus, we must take up our cross each day (Luke 9:23), willing to deny wrong desires. The Lord's Supper reminds us of what our life is all about.

Jesus' death is our pattern for daily living—it is a picture of complete submission to God, a picture of willingness to reject sin and choose righteousness. Jesus died for us, Paul says, so that we should no longer live for ourselves, but instead live to serve Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:15). Since our old self was crucified with Christ, "we should no longer be slaves to sin" (Romans 6:6). Instead, we offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices, willing to serve him (Romans 6:13; 12:1). Because he died for us, we "die to sins and live for righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus' death is evidence that God loves us—it shows us that God cares about us so much that he did something to solve our problem, to rescue us from the pain and death our sinfulness brought upon us (Romans 5:8-10). Since God did not spare his own Son, we can be confident that he will give us everything we need for salvation (Romans 8:32). His love for us becomes an example for how much we should love one another (Ephesians 5:1-2).

The death of Jesus gives us some important freedoms:

##### * We are no longer prisoners of the law (Galatians 3:23; Romans 7:6).

##### * We are no longer slaves of sin and passions (John 8:34-36; Romans 6:6-7, 16; Titus 3:3).

##### * We are no longer enslaved by death or fear (Romans 8:2; Hebrews 2:14-15).

##### * We have overcome the world and the evil one (1 John 5:4-5; 1 John 2:13-14; Revelation 12:11).

With this freedom, we are to be slaves of righteousness, slaves of Jesus Christ. He died for us so we may live for him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). This is how we should respond to the love of God shown to us in the cross of Christ.

The cross is also an example for us when we suffer. Peter reminds us that when we suffer unjustly, we should remember the example of Jesus, who suffered unjustly for us, setting an example for us (1 Peter 2:19-23). In Hebrews we are told to remember Jesus when we grow weary of our troubles, for he endured great opposition for us (Hebrews 12:2-4). Unjust suffering is part of the Christian calling, and part of the example Jesus set for us. "A servant is not greater than his master" (John 15:20). The Lord's Supper reminds us of what Jesus' life was all about, and that we are called to follow him.

When we suffer, we are also encouraged by knowing that a crown of glory awaits us, just as it did for Jesus. When we identify with him in his cross, we will also share in his glory (Romans 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 4:17).

Many people think that the cross is foolishness, but it shows us the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:17-25). It was a stroke of genius, a brilliant maneuver. It simultaneously shows us how ugly sin is, and how beautiful God's love is, and the extent of his commitment to ensure our salvation. It punishes sin and offers forgiveness. It shows both justice and grace. It breaks the power of sin and death, and gives us power to overcome. The cross gives us visible evidence that our sins have been dealt with once and for all, that our struggles are not in vain, and that a crown of glory awaits us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is certainly worth remembering.

Joseph Tkach

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## How Long Was Jesus in the Tomb?

The Gospels tell us that the day on which the women discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty was Sunday morning. The Gospels say that the women came to the tomb "at dawn on the first day of the week" (Matthew 28:1), "very early on the first day of the week" (Mark 16:2), "on the first day of the week, very early in the morning" (Luke 24:1), or "early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark" (John 20:1). The women came to the tomb around dawn on the "first day of the week" (or Sunday), and found it empty. It appears from these accounts that Jesus was raised sometime during the early hours of Sunday morning.

The question remains: On what day of the week was Jesus crucified and buried in the tomb? Those who believe Jesus was crucified on Wednesday refer to Matthew 12:40. This verse has Jesus saying: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Proponents of a Wednesday crucifixion say that this statement means Jesus was _exactly_ three days and three nights – or 72 hours – in the grave. Thus he was buried near sunset Wednesday evening and resurrected Saturday evening.

However, if we read the 20 other places in the New Testament in which Jesus and the apostles refer to the length of time he would spend in the tomb, we would be forced to conclude that they do _not_ teach a literal three-day stay in the tomb. You may check the following verses where the length of time between Jesus' death and burial, and his resurrection, is mentioned: Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 26:61; 27:40, 64; Mark 9:31; 10:34; 14:58; 15:29; Luke 9:22; 13:32; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46; John 2:19, 20; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4. In 20 places _indefinite_ expressions such "on the third day he will be raised" are given as the length of time between these events.

Those who believe in a Wednesday crucifixion disregard the inexactness as to time in these passages and interpret them by Matthew 12:40 in a literal manner, as exactly 72 hours. But this line of reasoning creates a contradiction. For example, Matthew, who used the phrase "three days and three nights" to refer to the length of Jesus' burial, also has him saying: "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and _on_ the third day he will be raised to life" (17:23, emphasis ours).

Taking the phrase in 12:40 "three days and three nights" as denoting exactly 72 hours creates an internal problem with 17:23 in the Gospel of Matthew. Here's why. The elapsed time between being _killed_ and then rising " _on_ the third day," as described in 17:23, is longer than the time between rising after being _buried,_ as discussed in 12:40. Yet, 17:23 uses an expression ("on the third day") that implies a _shorter_ period of time – if we demand that Matthew 12:40 ("three days and three nights") must be a literal 72 hours. For something to occur "on" the third day is for it to happen in less time than at the point when three literal days have passed. But Jesus was killed some time _before_ he was buried. How, then, could the time between his death and resurrection be "on the third day" (or less than three literal days) but the time between his burial and resurrection be _after_ three days or 72 hours?

Therefore, to demand that the phrase "three days and three nights" must be taken literally as a 72-hour period creates a contradiction within the Gospel of Matthew. The 72-hour theory also causes Matthew to be in conflict with what Mark, Luke, John and Paul say about the duration of time between Jesus' death and burial, and his resurrection.

Yet, proponents of a Wednesday crucifixion still say that we should take Matthew 12:40 literally. Their view is that Jesus said he would be resurrected _after_ three days and three nights in the tomb, and that is how we should read him. But, must we or should we take Matthew 12:40 literally?

Perhaps the source of the confusion over Matthew 12:40 occurs precisely _because_ we try to read it in a literal fashion, as though it referred to a time period of exactly 72 hours. What we may be doing is reading _our_ modern views of time exactness into an ancient figure of speech that didn't contain it, or imposing our sense of precise time-telling on the ancient Jewish sense. In fact, Matthew 12:40 may be consistent with and reflect the way people thought of time in their day, not in our era.

Are there any biblical examples where "after three days and three nights" may not mean exactly 72 hours? Yes, 1 Samuel 30 is an example. The account in this chapter is about David and the Amalekites, and certain events in the village of Ziklag. Verse one tells us that, "David and his men reached Ziklag _on the third day"_ (emphasis ours throughout). Upon arriving at Ziklag, David encountered an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. He told David, "My master abandoned me when I became ill _three days ago"_ (verse 13). The account also says that the Egyptian had not eaten or drunk for "three days and three nights" (verse 12).

"On the third day" is not necessarily three full days. In fact, it would be less than 72 hours. "Three days ago" is equally vague, as it could be less than three full days. Yet, this time is equated with "three days and three nights." It's certainly possible, or even probable, that we are not dealing with a full 72-hour period here. "Three days and three nights" could be an idiomatic expression that refers to parts of three days. 1 Samuel 30 indicates that "three days and three nights" was an expression that did not necessarily mean a full 72 hours. Other examples where variants of the expression "three days" are used includes the following passages: Genesis 42:17-18 ("for three days" = "on the third day"); 2 Chronicles 10:5, 12 ("three days later" = "in three days") and Esther 4:16–5:1 ("for three days" = "on the third day").

Do we lose anything meaningful about Jesus' death and resurrection if Matthew 12:40 is an inexact reference to the time lapse between these two events? The New Testament references mentioned above are inexact as measured by our time-telling standards, but they still establish the fact that Jesus was in the tomb for a long enough period of time that there would be no question he was dead. Being in the tomb _parts_ of three days, perhaps about 36 hours (which a Friday crucifixion-Sunday resurrection would allow) is enough to demonstrate this.

However, proponents of a 72-hour burial say that how long Jesus was in the tomb was the sign that he gave of his messiahship. But is this true? While the apostles referred in a general manner to the length of time Jesus was dead and buried, they never used the chronological measurement as the proof. They used such expressions as "after three days" or "on the third day," but they did not attempt to prove an exact length of time. The apostles spoke of the resurrection itself, not the length of time, as the proof that Jesus is the Messiah. It stands to reason that the _fact_ of Jesus' death and resurrection is what demonstrates him to be our Savior. Whether Jesus was in the tomb two days, three days or ten days has no bearing on the issue of his messiahship.

If we remember that the phrase "three days and three nights" is an expression of the disciples' culture, rather than scientific exactness, then we should have no problem with understanding Matthew 12:40. The "sign" that Jesus gave was not the length of time that he would be in the tomb, but it was the _fact_ that he would die, be buried and be raised to life. We need not be concerned about the exact time Jesus was in the tomb, for our salvation does not depend on that. What is important is that Jesus died and was resurrected to become our Savior (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Paul Kroll

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## Was Jesus Crucified on a Wednesday?

In Matthew 12:40, Jesus says that he will be buried "three days and three nights." Some people teach 1) that this is _not_ a figure of speech, 2) that Jesus therefore had to be in the tomb exactly 72 hours, 3) that since he was put in the tomb at evening, he came out at evening and 4) that this necessitates a Wednesday crucifixion. Further, this was supposedly the _only_ sign Jesus gave that he was the Christ. Jesus had to be in the tomb exactly 72 hours or else he was not our Savior.

However, our salvation does not depend on the exact length of time Jesus spent in the tomb. The apostles did not teach that. They most often used the phrase "on the third day," which makes no attempt at hourly precision. The phrase "on the third day" usually suggests _less_ than 72 hours, but the apostles apparently were not concerned about the exact length of time Jesus was in the tomb. We do not teach that the 72-hour interpretation of Matthew 12:40 is the only possible interpretation, nor even that it is the "best" interpretation.

Within Christianity, there are three views as to the day of the crucifixion: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Although the Friday view is by far the most common, some Christians believe the Wednesday view, and a few the Thursday view. We do not believe it is necessary for the church to have an official position as to which interpretation of Matthew 12:40 is correct. The core issue is that Jesus was crucified, and resurrected on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Let us look at the evidence from Luke, who wrote his Gospel to Theophilus, who apparently did not have the book of Matthew. Jesus predicted that he would be killed "and on the third day be raised to life" (Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46). On Sunday afternoon, the apostles described the crucifixion (24:20) and said, "It is the third day since all this took place" (24:21). They understood Sunday afternoon to be on the third day since the crucifixion. But if the crucifixion had been on a Wednesday, Sunday afternoon would have been on the fourth or the fifth day, depending on how one counts.

Were those two disciples mistaken? Luke reports their comment as true, and Theophilus would certainly receive the impression that Jesus was killed on the day before the Sabbath (Luke 23:54). Verse 56 refers to the weekly Sabbath, and that is how Theophilus would have understood verse 54, too, since there is no hint in Luke that there may have been more than one Sabbath that week. The evidence from the book of Luke seems to point consistently to a Friday crucifixion, and Sunday is the third day from Friday. That is the way Theophilus would have counted it with the evidence available to him.

Jewish custom is to count inclusively, that is, counting the beginning as first. When counting Pentecost, for example, the 50th day is (according to the way we count) 49 days after the wavesheaf. Or when John said "after eight days" (John 20:26, NKJ), he meant "one week later" (John 20:26, NIV). In this customary way of counting days, Sunday would be considered the third day from Friday. Luke tells us that Jesus rose on the third day after the crucifixion.

Another example of inclusive counting is seen in the book of Esther. She promised to not eat or drink "for three days, night or day" and _after_ that go to the king (Esther 4:16) — yet she went to the king _on_ the third day (5:1). Apparently any portion of the day was sufficient to count for the day and the night. A biblical phrase that seems to us to be precise may not necessarily match modern ideas of exact time measurement.

Because Jews customarily counted inclusively, it is not appropriate to insist that "on the third day" means "exactly 72 hours later." Where Luke uses the phrase "on the third day," Mark uses the phrase "after three days" (Mark 9:31). Matthew also uses the phrase "after three days," and he equates it with "until the third day" (Matthew 27:63-64). Or they may say "three days later" or "in three days" (Mark 10:34; 14:58). We should not read hourly precision into this variety of phrases.

Although the apostles preached that Jesus was raised "on the third day" (Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4), they never used that chronology as proof of Jesus' authenticity. The inspired writers do not seem to be concerned about the exact length of time, nor about the exact description of the three days.

Similarly, the apostles made no effort to say exactly when Jesus was resurrected, although a reading of one Gospel would leave the reader with the impression that Jesus rose on a Sunday. This has been the understanding of the vast majority of Christians ever since.

If Matthew 12:40 is intended to be precise, then the other Gospel writers misled their readers. But if we recognize that Jewish culture did not expect precision of such chronological phrases, we find it easier to understand that Matthew 12:40 could be a figure of speech, not an otherwise unexplained detail that all other passages must be fitted around.

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## About the Authors

**Greg Albrecht** was an editor for the Worldwide Church of God; he now leads an independent ministry.

**Joyce Catherwood** wrote her articles for _Christian Odyssey_ magazine.

**Gary W. Deddo** works for Grace Communion International and is president of Grace Communion Seminary.

**John Halford** was editor of _Christian Odyssey_ magazine.

**Paul Kroll** wrote many articles for Grace Communion International; he is now retired.

**Michael Morrison** has a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary; he is the Dean of Faculty at Grace Communion Seminary, the editor of this e-book, and author of many others.

**Keith Stump** was a researcher and writer for Grace Communion International.

**Joseph Tkach** is the president of Grace Communion International, and author of several books. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Azusa Pacific University.

**Joseph W. Tkach** was president of the Worldwide Church of God from 1986-1995.

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## About the Publisher...

Grace Communion International is a Christian denomination with about 50,000 members, worshiping in about 900 congregations in almost 100 nations and territories. We began in 1934 and our main office is in North Carolina. In the United States, we are members of the National Association of Evangelicals and similar organizations in other nations. We welcome you to visit our website at www.gci.org.

If you want to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we offer help. First, we offer weekly worship services in hundreds of congregations worldwide. Perhaps you'd like to visit us. A typical worship service includes songs of praise, a message based on the Bible, and opportunity to meet people who have found Jesus Christ to be the answer to their spiritual quest. We try to be friendly, but without putting you on the spot. We do not expect visitors to give offerings—there's no obligation. You are a guest.

To find a congregation, write to one of our offices, phone us or visit our website. If we do not have a congregation near you, we encourage you to find another Christian church that teaches the gospel of grace.

We also offer personal counsel. If you have questions about the Bible, salvation or Christian living, we are happy to talk. If you want to discuss faith, baptism or other matters, a pastor near you can discuss these on the phone or set up an appointment for a longer discussion. We are convinced that Jesus offers what people need most, and we are happy to share the good news of what he has done for all humanity. We like to help people find new life in Christ, and to grow in that life. Come and see why we believe it's the best news there could be!

Our work is funded by members of the church who donate part of their income to support the gospel. Jesus told his disciples to share the good news, and that is what we strive to do in our literature, in our worship services, and in our day-to-day lives.

If this e-book has helped you and you want to pay some expenses, all donations are gratefully welcomed, and in several nations, are tax-deductible. If you can't afford to give anything, don't worry about it. It is our gift to you. To make a donation online, go to www.gci.org/participate/donate.

Thank you for letting us share what we value most — Jesus Christ. The good news is too good to keep it to ourselves.

See our website for hundreds of articles, locations of our churches, addresses in various nations, audio and video messages, and much more.

Grace Communion International  
3129 Whitehall Park Dr.

Charlotte, NC 28273-3335

800-423-4444

www.gci.org

### You're Included...

We talk with leading Trinitarian theologians about the good news that God loves you, wants you, and includes you in Jesus Christ. Most programs are about 28 minutes long. Our guests have included:

Ray Anderson, Fuller Theological Seminary

Douglas A. Campbell, Duke Divinity School

Elmer Colyer, U. of Dubuque Theological Seminary

Gordon Fee, Regent College

Trevor Hart, University of St. Andrews

George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary

C. Baxter Kruger, Perichoresis

Jeff McSwain, Reality Ministries

Paul Louis Metzger, Multnomah University

Paul Molnar, St. John's University

Cherith Fee Nordling, Antioch Leadership Network

Andrew Root, Luther Seminary

Alan Torrance, University of St. Andrews

Robert T. Walker, Edinburgh University

N.T. Wright, University of St. Andrews

William P. Young, author of _The Shack_

Programs are available free for viewing and downloading at www.youreincluded.org.

### Speaking of Life...

Dr. Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International, comments each week, giving a biblical perspective on how we live in the light of God's love. Most programs are about three minutes long – available in video, audio, and text. Go to www.speakingoflife.org.

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### Grace Communion Seminary

Ministry based on the life and love of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Grace Communion Seminary serves the needs of people engaged in Christian service who want to grow deeper in relationship with our Triune God and to be able to more effectively serve in the church.

Why study at Grace Communion Seminary?

 Worship: to love God with all your mind.

 Service: to help others apply truth to life.

 Practical: a balanced range of useful topics for ministry.

 Trinitarian theology: a survey of theology with the merits of a Trinitarian perspective. We begin with the question, "Who is God?" Then, "Who are we in relationship to God?" In this context, "How then do we serve?"

 Part-time study: designed to help people who are already serving in local congregations. There is no need to leave your current ministry. Full-time students are also welcome.

 Flexibility: your choice of master's level continuing education courses or pursuit of a degree: Master of Pastoral Studies or Master of Theological Studies.

 Affordable, accredited study: Everything can be done online.

For more information, go to www.gcs.edu. Grace Communion Seminary is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, www.deac.org. The Accrediting Commission is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.

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## Ambassador College of Christian Ministry

Want to better understand God's Word? Want to know the Triune God more deeply? Want to share more joyously in the life of the Father, Son and Spirit? Want to be better equipped to serve others?

Among the many resources that Grace Communion International offers are the training and learning opportunities provided by ACCM. This quality, well-structured Christian Ministry curriculum has the advantage of being very practical and flexible. Students may study at their own pace, without having to leave home to undertake full-time study.

This denominationally recognized program is available for both credit and audit study. At minimum cost, this online Diploma program will help students gain important insights and training in effective ministry service. Students will also enjoy a rich resource for personal study that will enhance their understanding and relationship with the Triune God.

Diploma of Christian Ministry classes provide an excellent introductory course for new and lay pastors. Pastor General Dr. Joseph Tkach said, "We believe we have achieved the goal of designing Christian ministry training that is practical, accessible, interesting, and doctrinally and theologically mature and sound. This program provides an ideal foundation for effective Christian ministry."

For more information, go to www.ambascol.org

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