4-09-2006

Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!

“Who's To Blame?”

April 9, 2006

    It has often been said that the life and death of Jesus Christ has more affected the world than any other life. The imprint of Jesus’ time on earth has been felt by faithful and agnostic alike. Jesus had a unique teaching style and was not afraid to tackle the difficult issues. At times he spoke against the powers that be; at other times he encouraged his disciples to pay their rightful taxes. Most important of all, he talked of God in intimate, knowing terms, and spoke boldly of a life with God following death.

    From the very beginning, the disciples of Jesus were quick to lay the blame of his death on the Jewish leaders. After all, they had called for his death, even though the government had found him innocent. Others preferred to lay blame on the one apostle named Judas, but Jesus himself did not discourage Judas; but encouraged him to go quickly and do what he must do—which was to betray him to the authorities.

    Others blamed the Roman state for not standing up to the Jewish Leaders and refusing to execute Jesus. The local Roman leaders, however, were charged with keeping the peace at all costs, and in the Roman Empire, the life of one person was easily expendable in order to accomplish that peace.

    As you can begin to see, there appears to be more than one person who must share the blame for Jesus’ death. However, it does not stop here. Let’s look briefly at how Jesus lived his life.

    Jesus rarely missed an opportunity to “tell it like it was,” and thereby challenged and angered authorities. There were also two occasions when Jesus’ words turned into actions, as he angrily overturned the tables in the Temple that the money-changes were using disrupting their commerce and causing them loss. Jesus saw these acts as a necessary cleansing of his Father’s house of prayer, but we can be certain that those in businesses to make money saw it as no less than an act of a crazy man. And Jesus, himself, as he stood before Pilate, offered no defense of himself—allowing the circumstances toward his death to continue.

    We must also count the various times that Jesus made reference to his death as being necessary and three days later, his returning to life. While the faithful would say that he was able to see into his future, his Jewish colleagues would be more inclined to say that he was setting himself up for the end he wished to bring about. His apostle Peter once thought these prophesies to be blasphemous until Jesus responded to him with “get thee behind me Satan.” Peter must have had some lingering doubts which came to the surface again when he later denied knowing Jesus not once, but three times.

    Following Jesus’ execution and resurrection, the first century Jewish Christians had no difficulty in understanding the need for his death. Their Jewish upbringing ingrained in them the need to have an innocent sacrifice made in order to make an atonement for sins. They had practiced it for generations as they sought forgiveness from God. Even the Greeks and the Romans were more exposed to, and knowledgeable of, sacrifice in religious practice.

    To the question, “Was it necessary for Jesus to die?” the simple answer is “Yes.” We must remember that Jesus himself said that he had come to the Jews first and because they did not receive him as their Savior, there had to be an atoning sacrifice. The Jews ought to have been the first to understand the need for sacrifice in atonement for sins. In this way, we must assign some degree of responsibility on the chosen people of God.

    Taking this one step further, however, Jesus became the savior of the Jews first, but by automatic extension, those who accept the sacrifice and Jesus Christ as the Savior, own him as their Savior, too. This is clearly reported by both Peter and Paul in their writings to the early church. Both of these apostles also indicate that all of the people on earth share responsibility for Jesus needing to go to the cross because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God;” all have failed to give God first place in their heart and are therefore in need of the atoning sacrifice. We are forgiven and accepted into God’s redeemed family through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

    Could God have created a different scenario which would not have involved the need for death and resurrection? Undoubtedly yes, since all things are possible with God, but it seems apparent to me that God believed this to be the most effective way of getting us to him without interfering with the gift of free will —which is also from God.

    To the question, “Who’s to Blame?” we discover that there are as many answers to this as there are people. But this question, itself, is faulty. God did not design his plan of salvation in order that the world might have the challenge and opportunity of assessing blame. Rather, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved.

    In conclusion, God’s plan of salvation should create a better question, such as “What are we going to do in response to such a sacrifice on our behalf?” In what practical ways can we love God back? Yes, we can read our Bible and pray, but even more than that, we need to practice what we learn from Jesus—compassion for the poor and the powerless; healing for the sick; food for the hungry; clothing for the needy, and just treatment for all persons.

    If Jesus’ death and resurrection during this Holy Week can move and motivate you to a deeper faith, grounded in human need and compassion, then his death will not be for naught. Seeking and doing the will of God in Christ is the beginning of wisdom and abundant living. Jesus went through hell for us—the better question is—how shall we commit ourselves to him? Amen.