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Biblical Accounts of the Crucifixion

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Biblical Accounts of the Crucifixion Biblical Accounts of the Crucifi xion SESSION 2 A cross is the primary Christian symbol of how God is made known to humanity through Jesus’ ugly death and surprising resurrection. The New Testament books describe and refl ect upon the crucifi xion in a wide variety of ways, reminding us that no single view- point can convey the full signifi cance of this event. How do they help us understand what the death of Jesus means for us, for the world, and for God? Introduction fi rst century the notion of a Christ who is crucifi ed was an utterly scandalous idea, something totally incongru- The reality of Jesus’ death on a ous with prevailing assumptions. How and why could cross and God’s raising him from God’s anointed deliverer possibly meet his end in such the dead reside at the center of a shameful and abominable way? Paul knew that dying the apostle Paul’s thinking about on a cross expressed society’s contempt for the cruci- God, humanity, and the world. fi ed, labeling him a deviant or dangerous criminal. Yet, For Paul, there is no Christian and more signifi cant, Paul also believed that crucifi xion gospel without the crucifi xion implied that a victim was accursed even by God (Gal. and resurrection. Therefore, in 3:13), condemned by God’s law and no longer enjoy- 1 Corinthians 1:17–18, he speaks of “the gospel” as ing access to God’s blessings. The shocking profundi- equal to “the message about the cross.” This message ties of Christ’s particular death—death on a cross—were is not merely a story or a collection of information or therefore crucial for Paul. It is no accident that Paul tells beliefs about Jesus. The gospel message itself displays his readers virtually nothing about Jesus’ teachings, and actualizes God’s ability and desire to bring about miracles, and parables. His interest is in Jesus the cruci- humanity’s salvation (Rom. 1:16; 1 Thess. 2:13), because fi ed Christ, and so he reminds Christians in Corinth: the gospel is what God has accomplished through “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ, and him crucifi ed” (1 Cor 2:2; see also 1:22–24). Compared to the Gospels, then, Paul approaches the When we read Paul discussing the crucifi xion, we crucifi xion from a very different angle. Paul does not encounter someone who wants to talk about what the describe Jesus’ execution in terms of its details, its set- cross does, or what happens as a result of Jesus’ death. ting, or the attitudes of observers. His letters display Paul regards this death as having happened “for us” little interest in how Jesus died on a cross, but they are (1 Thess. 5:9–10) and “for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:4), sharply fi xated on the fact that the Christ was cruci- but what does that mean? In part, it means that Christ’s fi ed. The crucifi xion is nothing less than a creation- crucifi xion is a theological event—an event about God or shattering event for Paul, precisely because it explodes an event through which God acts on humanity’s behalf. so many assumptions, because it defi es categories for Through the cross, God displays love to humankind thinking about God and what governs people’s rela- (Rom. 5:8). But what exactly transpires as a result of tionship to God. For many Jews like Paul, during the Christ’s death, and precisely how do benefi ts proceed to 1 Copyright © 2006 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com Biblical Accounts of the Crucifi xion, 2 Permission given to copy this page for use in class. GOD SPEAKS THROUGH CHRIST’S CROSS Christ’s death does not merely express his own sentiment, . but God’s; or to put it another way, God’s stance toward the world is quintessentially demonstrated in the action of Christ.1 us? Paul never attempts simple or mechanistic answers righteous, to be justifi ed, means that God mercifully to these questions. Instead of engaging in detailed anal- repairs the fractured relationship between humanity yses or explanations, he offers a collection of metaphors. and God. As a result, our relationship and future with These metaphors provide images and language to iden- God are secure. tify and illustrate the effects of the cross, the changes it Paul does not dwell on the details of how this rectifying brings to pass. Paul’s use of multiple metaphors, some- work transpires or why it might require Christ’s crucifi x- times arranged in combination or rapid succession, ion, but the language of justifi cation is scattered through- indicates that no single one of them is capable of sup- out most of his letters. God is the subject of this justifying plying on its own a complete defi nition of the crucifi x- activity, an activity that is centered in Jesus’ cross and ion’s meaning. Paul thereby depicts Jesus’ death as an resurrection. Paul speaks extensively about justifi cation event with deep signifi cance. His metaphors invite us to in Romans 3:21–26; 5:1–21; Galatians 2:15–21. explore the cross and ponder how it conveys the depths of God’s commitment and love toward us. In this study we will review a handful of these cross-related meta- Redemption phors from Paul’s writings. Some may remember the practice of returning empty bottles to stores that would redeem them by buying Justifi cation/Righteousness them back for a small price or returning a deposit. A great place to begin this over view is Romans 3:22b– Redemption refers to a transfer of ownership. Paul’s 25a, where three of Paul’s metaphors appear in a com- second metaphor in Romans 3:22b–25a recalls the slav- pact statement. The fi rst metaphor, justifi cation, evokes ery that was familiar in his day, in which people could images from courts of law. It refers to God repairing the be bought or sold, and some slaves could even purchase broken relationship between humanity and God through their own freedom. Of course, the Bible Paul read (what Jesus’ death. In Greek, the language in which Paul Christians call the Old Testament) commonly applies wrote letters, the nouns justifi cation and righteousness as redemption language to God’s acts of freeing the Hebrew slaves from their bondage to Egypt and estab- well as the verbs justify and make righteous all share a lishing them as a new nation to declare God’s Lordship. tight linguistic and semantic relationship. When English This kind of redemption is liberation, where God effects translations speak in one place about God’s “righteous- a transfer from slavery to freedom. Paul’s appropria- ness” and elsewhere about how God “justifi es” people, tion of the metaphor to make sense of the cross fi ts well we easily miss the connection between these two ideas. with his understanding of how sin ensnares humanity. God’s righteousness and God’s willingness to justify Elsewhere in his letter to the Romans, as he describes people speak of the same thing: God’s ability to set humanity’s sinfulness, Paul does not characterize the things right, to accomplish salvation, or to rectify the world. God’s “righteousness,” therefore, is not primar- ily a statement about God’s moral purity. Our “justifi - JUSTIFICATION, REDEMPTION, cation” is not primarily a declaration of legal acquittal. AND ATONEMENT When Paul says that God justifi es humanity through the Paul writes, “There is no distinction, since all have cross, he means that God makes us righteous; that is, sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now God’s rectifying (righteous) activity claims us, settling justifi ed by his grace as a gift, through the redemp- the damages we have infl icted on our communion with tion that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward God. Therefore, we ourselves are rectifi ed (justifi ed), set as a sacrifi ce of atonement by his blood, eff ective right before God. This does not mean that God instanta- through faith.” Romans 3:22b–25a neously bestows perfection upon us. Rather, to be made 2 Copyright © 2006 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com Biblical Accounts of the Crucifi xion, 2 Permission given to copy this page for use in class. ENSLAVED TO SIN OR TO GOD Paul speaks about sin much more frequently than sins (in the plural). He depicts humanity as in bondage to sin, as if sin were a hostile force than holds us in its grasp. The things people do as a result of this condition, their discrete sinful deeds, or “sins,” are only evidence of a much deeper problem. Redemption from sin’s control does not result, according to Paul, in a freedom understood as personal autonomy that allows every individual to live as she or he freely chooses. It results in slavery to God (Rom. 6:22). To be enslaved to God (and, as a consequence, to other believers, as in Gal. 5:13), however, is not a grievous thing; it is true freedom (2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1, 13). human condition as one of people selfi shly commit- envision it as a transaction such as paying a debt to an ting various sinful acts. Instead, he casts the problem as angry God. His point is that Christ functions as a sac- humanity being enslaved to sin (Rom. 3:9; 6:6, 16–17).
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