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3.
"Why did Jesus have to die?"
Advanced
Religious Studies Reid
G and Tyler
S (Philip Allan Updates, 2002)
Why
did Jesus have to die?',
pages 271-273 ©
Advanced Religious Studies, Gordon Reid and Sarah Tyler, 2002, Philip
Allan Updates
[This
page shows the anthology in two different learning styles. The first
simply changes the format to use bullet points and add sub-headings;
the second adds emphases by additional formatting techniques to highlight
additional points. In both, Scriptures are blue and comments by scholars
are green]
STYLE
ONE : Format changed & subheadings added
How
could Jesus have been brought to the cross by people who were blessed
by his signs and wonders? (Jeremias,
1964)
- Understanding
the death of Jesus is a problem to be overcome.
- The
New Testament addresses the issue in two different ways
- one
that is based upon the historical events of the time that led to
Jesus' death, and
- the
other which offers religious and theological reasons for his death.
- The
two are inevitably interlinked, as the gospel writers demonstrate how
the divine plans and purposes are revealed in the working out of the
political manoeuvrings in the last weeks of Jesus' life.
3.1
The historical viewpoint
Jesus'
Prior Activities
- Jesus'
words and actions created unrest amongst those who encountered him,
particularly the Jewish and Roman authorities.
- Jesus
angered the Jewish religious leaders with his teachings, his healings
on the Sabbath and his interpretation of the Law of Moses.
- He
condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees as hypocritical and angered
them with his claims concerning his relationship to God.
- In
particular, the cleansing of the Temple market and the triumphal entry
into Jerusalem led them to see him as a great danger, not only to
their own status and position but also to the religious faith of the
people who, they feared, would accept the teachings of a false Messiah.
The
Trial
- At the trial before the Sanhedrin,
Jesus was found guilty of blasphemy for claiming to be the Christ
and was sentenced to death for the ultimate religious crime.
- However, the Jewish authorities
did not have the power to carry out such an execution; that power
lay with the Romans.
- Blasphemy was not a crime under
Roman law, and the Gospels record that when Jesus was brought before
Pilate, the Jewish leaders instead suggested that he was a danger
to the Romans because he had committed the treasonable act of calling
himself the King of the Jews.
- Pilate was not convinced, but
condemned Jesus to death because he did not want to risk trouble by
upsetting the Jewish leaders.
- In a historical sense Jesus
died as a matter of religious and political expediency .
3.2
The religious viewpoint
- The
death of Jesus has great religious and theological significance
- Believers
claim it had consequences for the whole of creation.
- Much
of the language used is symbolic and five particular images of the death
of Jesus are offered:
Defeat
of evil
- Jesus'
ministry has been depicted as a struggle against evil
- sometimes
in the form of the Devil and the forces of darkness (as in the exorcism
miracles), and
- at
other times in the form of Jesus fighting against the power of sin
in people's lives.
- With
his death and resurrection, Jesus is seen as having defeated the power
of evil and sin for ever.
An
example
-
Jesus' life of humility and love for others culminates in the
sacrifice of his own life to save people from the power of evil.
- His
life is an example to believers, to encourage them to lead lives of
humility and self-sacrifice: Christ suffered
for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps
' (Peter 2:21).
A
sacrifice
a)
The Origins of the Sacrifice
- In
the ancient world, animals (and sometimes humans) were sacrificed in
the hope of pleasing the gods, to seek favours or as a guilt offering
for wrongful actions.
- In
the Old Testament , sacrificial procedures were laid down specifically:
If a person sins and does what is forbidden
in any of the Lord's commands... He is to bring to the priest as a guilt
offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper
value. In this way, the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong
he has committed ' (Leviticus 5:17 18).
- At
the time of the first Passover , the people of Israel are saved by the
sacrifice of a lamb the blood from the lamb being put on the doors
of their houses to save them from destruction (Exodus 12:13 ).
b)
The Meaning of the Sacrifice
- The
sacrificial rituals of Judaism were very elaborate the animals were
killed as a reminder to the people that they were sinners who deserved
to die.
- The
priest would take the blood of the animal to the altar as a symbol representing
the sinner's life being given up to God the animal, in effect, died
in the place of the sinful human.
- This
was called an act of atonement and meant that the punishment due for
the sins had been carried out. God, in accepting the sacrifice, forgave
the human sinner.
c)
Jesus, the Lamb
-
Jesus
was the ultimate sacrificial lamb. In the Last Supper he showed how
his death would lead to:
- the
forgiveness of sins and
- the
reconciliation of God and humanity:
- This
cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you ' (Luke
22:20 ), and Paul wrote, For Christ, our
Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed ' (1 Corinthians 5:7).
A
ransom
- a
ransom is an offering made to free someone else, for example a fee paid
to a kidnapper.
- In
the Roman world , it was possible to pay a ransom to set a slave free.
- The
New Testament often refers to humanity as being slaves to sin, and Jesus'
sacrifice is the payment of the ransom price to secure freedom from
this slavery to sin: For even 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).
- His
death was believed to bring perfect forgiveness and was a perfect offering
of obedience to the Father' (O'Donnell,
1999).
Taking
humanity's place
a)
Jesus instead of us:
- People
are seen as being so weighed down by the burden and power of sin that
they cannot be freed from it by their own actions, and so Jesus has
to die in place of humanity because that is the only way in which humanity
can be helped.
- The
prophet Isaiah foretold this in the Old Testament. He spoke of the Suffering
Servant who would take the punishment due to the people of God (Isaiah
53).
- This
was later emphasised in 1 Peter 2:24: He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds we are healed.'
b)
Punishment dealt with:
- This
concept is not about God being a judgmental figure demanding death as
a punishment for sins, but is about the nature of love.
- God
cannot just dismiss sins any more than a doctor examining a patient
with a life-threatening illness can just say forget it and it will
go away'.
- Sin
must be dealt with and this
is done through an act of punishment.
- However,
humanity cannot itself take the punishment because it (the sin) is too
great.
- Humanity
needs help and this is what Jesus gives.
- His
death means that he takes the punishment for humanity, thus freeing
them from sin: If there is any thing distinctive
about the teaching of Jesus, it has to be the way he redefined God,
replacing the harsh, confrontational image of judgment and condemnation,
with the language of family love and acceptance' (Drane, 1999).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STYLE
TWO : particular additional points highlighted
How
could Jesus have been brought to the cross by people who were blessed
by his signs and wonders? (Jeremias,
1964)
- Understanding
the death of Jesus is a problem to be overcome.
- The
New Testament addresses the issue in two different ways
- one
that is based upon the historical events
of the time that led to Jesus' death, and
- the
other which offers religious and theological reasons
for his death.
- The
two are inevitably interlinked, as the gospel writers demonstrate how
the divine plans and purposes are revealed in the working
out of the political manoeuvrings in the last weeks of Jesus' life.
3.1
The historical viewpoint
Jesus'
Prior Activities
- Jesus'
words and actions created
unrest amongst those who encountered him, particularly the
Jewish and Roman authorities.
- Jesus
angered the Jewish religious
leaders with his teachings, his healings on the
Sabbath and his interpretation of the Law of Moses.
- He
condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees
as hypocritical and angered them with
his claims concerning his relationship to God.
- In
particular, the cleansing of the Temple market and the triumphal
entry into Jerusalem led
them to see him as a great danger, not only
to their own status and position but also to the religious faith of
the people who, they feared, would accept the teachings of a false
Messiah.
The
Trial
- At the trial before the Sanhedrin,
Jesus was found guilty of blasphemy for claiming to be the Christ
and was sentenced to death for the ultimate religious crime.
- However, the Jewish authorities
did not have the power to carry out such an execution; that power
lay with the Romans.
- Blasphemy was not a crime
under Roman law, and the Gospels record that when Jesus was brought
before Pilate, the Jewish leaders instead suggested that he was a
danger to the Romans because he had committed the treasonable
act of calling himself the King of the Jews.
- Pilate was not convinced, but
condemned Jesus to death because he did not want to risk trouble by
upsetting the Jewish leaders.
- In a historical sense Jesus
died as a matter of religious and political expediency .
3.2
The religious viewpoint
- The
death of Jesus has great religious and theological significance
- Believers
claim it had consequences for the whole of creation.
- Much
of the language used is symbolic and five particular images of the death
of Jesus are offered:
Defeat
of evil
- Jesus'
ministry has been depicted as a struggle against evil
- sometimes
in the form of the Devil and the forces of darkness (as in the exorcism
miracles), and
- at
other times in the form of Jesus fighting against the power of sin
in people's lives.
- With
his death and resurrection, Jesus is seen as having defeated
the power of evil and sin for ever.
An
example
-
Jesus' life of humility and love for others culminates
in the sacrifice of his own life to save people from the power
of evil.
- His
life is an example to believers, to encourage
them to lead lives of humility and self-sacrifice: Christ
suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in
his steps ' (Peter 2:21).
A
sacrifice
a)
The Origins of the Sacrifice
- In
the ancient world, animals (and sometimes
humans) were sacrificed in the hope of pleasing the gods, to seek favours
or as a guilt offering for wrongful actions.
- In
the Old Testament , sacrificial procedures
were laid down specifically: If a person
sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands... He
is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock,
one without defect and of the proper value. In this way, the priest
will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed '
(Leviticus 5:17 18).
- At
the time of the first Passover , the people
of Israel
are saved by the sacrifice of a lamb the blood from the lamb being
put on the doors of their houses to save them from destruction (Exodus
12:13 ).
b)
The Meaning of the Sacrifice
- The
sacrificial rituals of Judaism were very elaborate the animals were
killed as a reminder to the people that they were sinners who deserved
to die.
- The
priest would take the blood of the animal to the altar as a symbol representing
the sinner's life being given up to God the animal, in effect, died
in the place of the sinful human.
- This
was called an act of atonement and meant that the
punishment due for the sins had been carried out. God,
in accepting the sacrifice, forgave the human sinner.
c)
Jesus, the Lamb
- Jesus
was the ultimate sacrificial lamb. In the Last Supper he showed how
his death would lead to:
- the
forgiveness of sins and
- the
reconciliation of God and humanity:
- This
cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you '
(Luke 22:20 ), and Paul wrote, For
Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed '
(1 Corinthians 5:7).
A
ransom
- a
ransom is an offering made to free someone else, for example
a fee paid to a kidnapper.
- In
the Roman world ,
it was possible to pay a ransom to set a slave free.
- The
New Testament often
refers to humanity as being slaves to sin, and Jesus' sacrifice
is the payment of the ransom price to secure freedom from this slavery
to sin: For even 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).
- His
death was believed to bring perfect forgiveness and was a perfect offering
of obedience to the Father'
(O'Donnell, 1999).
Taking
humanity's place
a)
Jesus instead of us:
- People
are seen as being so weighed down by the burden and power of sin that
they cannot be freed from it by their own actions, and so Jesus has
to die in place of humanity because that is the only way in which humanity
can be helped.
- The
prophet Isaiah foretold this in the Old Testament. He spoke of the Suffering
Servant who would take the punishment due to the people of God (Isaiah
53).
- This
was later emphasised in 1 Peter 2:24: He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds we are healed .
'
b)
Punishment dealt with:
- This
concept is not about God being a judgmental figure demanding
death as a punishment for sins, but is about the nature of love.
- God
cannot just dismiss sins any more than a doctor examining a patient
with a life-threatening illness can just say forget it and it will
go away'.
- Sin
must be dealt with and this is done through an act of punishment.
- However,
humanity cannot itself take the punishment because it (the sin) is too
great.
- Humanity
needs help and this is what Jesus gives.
- His
death means that he takes the punishment for humanity, thus freeing
them from sin: If there is any thing
distinctive about the teaching of Jesus, it has to be the way he redefined
God, replacing the harsh, confrontational image of judgment and condemnation,
with the language of family love and acceptance' (Drane,
1999).
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