The Burr in the Burgh

Why did Jesus die on the cross? I wrote a blog post on that question a while back and it is by far the number one most viewed post on this blog still to this day. Not that I wrote something so terrific. But I still get Google hits on it daily. And that is because people all over the world are asking and debating that question. [Go here to see that old post.]

The Mel Gibson movie brought this discussion to the surface and I was astonished (I was naive) at the number of commentators on the film saying that it is wrong to focus so much attention on the death of Jesus, as if the crucifixion were merely the unfortunate demise of an otherwise promising young man.

Concordia Theological Seminary is conducting an in-depth series of lectures on the subject of the atonement. Classic understandings are being dismissed, even in traditionally evangelical circles. What a delight it is to be part of a major institution that still boldly maintains the central truths of Jesus Christ and His salvation.

Register now to attend the Symposia, January 15 - 18, 2008. Engage with world-class theologians from our institution and elsewhere. David Scaer, William Weinrich and many others.

Posted also over at Concordia TheoBLOGical Seminary.

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If you went outside and conducted a poll asking the man on the street this question: “Why did Jesus die on the cross,” what kinds of responses do you think you’d receive?

I think some people would say He died on the cross because one of His followers betrayed Him and the Jews and Romans conspired together to have Him killed. And that would be true. That is what happened, but why did it happen? Why did He have to die on the cross? It’s not good enough to just say that some people didn’t like Him and they rejected Him and had Him murdered. That is only part of the answer.

I think some other people would say that Jesus died on the cross to show us how much He loves us. And that’s kind of true too. Jesus Himself said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.” But again why did He have to die on the cross to show us His love? Couldn’t He have found a more pleasant way to do it? I love my wife and family and I would be willing to die for them, but I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have to. If all Jesus was trying to do was give them a sentimental expression of His affection, then I think He could have just washed His disciple’s feet and left it at that.

And I am sure that some of the more perceptive respondents would say something like, “Jesus had to die… in order to save us.” And you’d say, “Bingo. Right on the nose.” But then follow up on that and ask, “How does the death of Jesus do that?” and you might get a blank stare.

A related question to the first one (Why did Jesus die on the cross?) would be this question (Who was responsible for the death of Jesus?) And maybe by answering the second question first, we will be answering the first question as well. Who is responsible for the death of Jesus? And why did Jesus die?

Throughout history there have been those who have thought about the Passion of Jesus and become angry at the Jews and blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus. It is a fact that sometimes Christians would chase the Jews out of their villages and burn down their synagogues for being Christ-killers. And since today everyone is so oversensitive about these things, there is now a movement to remove any references to the Jews’ involvement with the death of Jesus for fear of causing another anti-Semitic groundswell. Passion plays that have been performed in Europe and North America for a hundred years are now being revised for the first time to remove any derogatory mention of the Jewish leaders. And when you respond to the cultured despisers that you are just following the text of the Gospels, they tell you that the Gospels themselves are anti-Semitic documents and should be classified as hate speech.

Jesus doesn’t need us to defend Him. He didn’t need His disciples to draw their swords against the temple guards or the Roman soldiers. He could have summoned armies of angels to come to His aid, but He didn’t. And far from asking His followers today to avenge His death by burning synagogues, Jesus prayed for His persecutors saying, “Father forgive them. They know not what they do.” It was Jesus who taught us that we should love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors.

But then there are the people who like to sympathize emotionally with Christ. They weep and wail over Him because He was so innocent. They think “look at poor Jesus,” and “don’t we feel so sorry for Jesus.” They are like the women who followed Christ from Jerusalem crying loudly as He carried His cross. Jesus rebuked them. He told them that they should not weep for Him. They should weep for themselves and their children (Luke 23:28). What did He mean by that? Why should we weep for ourselves and our children when we think about the death of Jesus Christ?

Because God does not want your pity. The better response, I think, is to say, “Look what my selfishness has caused to happen. My impatience, my stinginess, my lust, my greed, my folly.”

So Martin Luther wrote, “You should deeply believe, and never doubt, that in fact you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins did this to Him. Therefore, when you look at the nails being driven through His hands, firmly believe that it is your work. Do you see His crown of thorns? Those thorns are your wicked thoughts.”

To illustrate, let’s say that you are going about your daily business when an evil person comes along and kills an innocent child in front of you. You would feel angry at the murderer and sorrow for the child. But then what if you found out later that it was actually something you did or said that was responsible for the death of that child. How would you feel about that? Now you’re not just sympathetic. Now you feel responsibility. Now you feel remorse. Now it’s personal.

Someone once said that the Good Friday liturgy is like a funeral for Jesus. Perhaps that is true, but like a Christian burial, we do not mourn for the one who is deceased. We don’t mourn for Jesus this day. If we mourn today, we mourn for our sins.

When you consider the wounds and scars of the Savior, you will hopefully mourn for your sins, but then dry your tears and be glad because the wounds and scars of Jesus are proof that your sins have been fully paid for. Pardon is yours. Jesus paid the price. And His scars are the receipt, the proof of payment. Jesus paid a debt He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.

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