The Battle of Easter: Part 2
Jesus claims he can call down armies of angels, but does he?
At the temple in Jerusalem he has wildly false and inconsistent accusations thrown at him. Finally the high priest directly asks him, “Are you the Son of God?” to which Jesus replies, “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61-62). Yes! It’s showtime! In your face!
And… nothing. This is possibly the most disappointing reveal of a god, ever. Instead he argues for a bit, and subjects himself to abuse. The same thing happens when he appears before the Roman governor Pilate.
In his 40 days in the wilderness, the devil tempted him to jump off the temple and show himself floating down with angels. Jesus replies, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” which in turn refers to the the time when the Israelites questioned the character of God saying, “Did you bring us out here to die? Is the Lord really with us or not?” Unfortunately, Jesus really was going to die. Is God still with him and going to keep those promises? Is God really with us? Is Jesus, the man before the temple court, really the Son of God who came to save us?
Why won’t Jesus show himself fully here?
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Let’s dig into some theology here. Are you ready?
There are many theories about what Jesus’ subsequent torture, humiliation, and execution mean. Several of these atonement theologies claim that this is a form of payment to redeem humans from their wrongdoing, or sins. The payment was made either to the devil or to God. Penal substitutionary atonement goes so far as to say that Jesus suffered in our place, meaning he suffered the punishments we should really suffer from a God who demands justice. God is angry at all of us and we’re so awful by nature that everyone deserve this life sentence.
I have many problems with this idea. First, Jesus’s death is often compared to the old rituals of animal sacrifice to God. Never in those scriptures, though, is the animal ever to be tortured before a long and cruel death. The animal sacrifices were always to be treated well and blemish free. Only death was required.
Secondly, one of the arguments is that this is one of the most painful ways to die, therefore it encompasses other punishments. How can one really know what would be the most painful to Jesus? There are so many other ways to suffer in this world. He is never enslaved, he does not undergo childhood trauma, he is does not have an incurable disease. Even though they live under Roman rule, Jesus is a respectable Jewish male in a predominantly Jewish region. He isn’t a victim of racism, misogyny, or other types of identity discrimination. One lifetime wouldn’t even come close to all the things that humans around the world suffer right now.
Third, how does God restore justice using injustice? Is God really satisfied by being cruel to Jesus? Is this the character of God? The most challenging part about this for me is that our relationship with God becomes one of wrongdoer and punisher. Even if Jesus is the intermediary, this becomes our starting point, that from the minute we come into this world we deserve punishment. This implies all the sufferings we experience we bring upon ourselves. We are judged not by our actions, but by our very identity. How do we start from there and develop a relationship as a “child of God” (1 John 3:1)? What God do we worship?
There is also the Moral Influence atonement theory, which I don’t disagree with, where Jesus came to teach and show us God through his life and actions. The death of Jesus, caused by his radical teachings, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit compel us to transform. Jesus did indeed spend time among people, showing them who God really is.
I suppose the atonement theory that makes the most sense to me is Christus Victor, where the devil tries to kill Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus is the victory over sin, death, and the devil. It paints God as someone who suffers with us and who wants to save us from death.
My theory is similar, but includes that the re-union of God and humanity was at the center of the life of Jesus. Part of my theory is that the actual metaphysical part of reuniting God with humans was fulfilled by Jesus living as a human, without using godly powers to benefit himself. This concept is called hypostatic union in Christian theology: Jesus being both fully god and fully human simultaneously. He couldn’t even avoid paying his taxes! (Mark 12:13-17) If he ever dropped the “fully human” part from birth through death, this union would be void.
Who, being in very nature a God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8)In Greek, the word for sin, “hamartia”, can also be translated as “missing the mark”. In Hebrew, the word for sacrificial offering is “korban”, which is closely related to the word “be near”. The interpretation is that the ancient offerings were to bring people closer to God. If Jesus was the sacrificial offering for sin, could the death of Jesus be part of what brings God and humans together? Is Satan, perhaps, using humiliation and torture, just to prevent Jesus’ ultimate death?
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It is remarkable how many times he is mockingly named king and called on to save himself before he dies. If we believe what he’s said and done up to this point, he can absolutely save himself and become king. In the 40 days in the wilderness, the devil offers exactly that, to make Jesus ruler of the world. This is the same offer presented here--to claim his power and authority to become our benevolent king.
How tempting is it now, to reclaim the world and maybe he didn’t even have to bow to the devil. He could overthrow Caesar, free all the captives, restore justice, and even continue teaching everyone right from wrong. Most of the prophecies about the Messiah describe a glorious and majestic king, so what happened?
When the Roman governor, Pilate, leads Jesus and a revolutionary and murderer named Barabbas before the local crowd so they can choose one to release, they chose the revolutionary. They shout, “Crucify him!” (Matt 27:22-23). The crowds were riled up by Jesus’ enemies, but I wonder how many of them had followed him and believed in him before. Were they angry and disappointed that Jesus didn’t save them from the oppressive Roman rule? Why wasn’t Jesus the revolutionary? Didn’t he come to save them?
There are so many reasons for Jesus to give up on his humanity and to give up on us. His best friends abandon him, most people don’t believe him, so many in power are corrupt. He helped so many people, but they didn’t want the picture of God that he showed them. And now they are showing their worst selves. Why would he still want to be one of us?
It’s as if the devil is saying, “See these disgusting people! They don’t believe you and certainly don’t deserve you. They don’t deserve your love or your sacrifice. How many of your friends are left? They turned on you when you needed them--everyone is in it for themselves. How easily they become base and cruel beings. This is what humans truly are. And you know what? They’re all going to forget you and none of this will work in the end. Save yourself and become king!”
Jesus’ reply might be, “I am still going through with this. Yes God has lead me here to die, but I believe God will fulfill the promises. I will trust that my friends will come back and even those that are condemning me will turn around and believe me. I have faith in them, that even after I am not around, countless others will still believe even if they don’t see me.”
Jesus had said, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (And Deuteronomy 13:4 adds "and cling to him"). For Jesus, all the kingdoms of the world are not worth as much as being with us, reuniting us with a loving God. Yet, our prayers every day are for God to come and save us, to fix our problems, to right every wrong in this world, to bring healing. In fact that is an ancient promise God made. No wonder the crowds were angry.
Is this enough for us, though? Is having God better than having the things we need to live? Do we want a God that doesn’t show himself and leaves us to our shaky faith? Do we want a God that refused to use his power to be king?
Is it worth it to only have God?
When the Roman governor, Pilate, leads Jesus and a revolutionary and murderer named Barabbas before the local crowd so they can choose one to release, they chose the revolutionary. They shout, “Crucify him!” (Matt 27:22-23). The crowds were riled up by Jesus’ enemies, but I wonder how many of them had followed him and believed in him before. Were they angry and disappointed that Jesus didn’t save them from the oppressive Roman rule? Why wasn’t Jesus the revolutionary? Didn’t he come to save them?
There are so many reasons for Jesus to give up on his humanity and to give up on us. His best friends abandon him, most people don’t believe him, so many in power are corrupt. He helped so many people, but they didn’t want the picture of God that he showed them. And now they are showing their worst selves. Why would he still want to be one of us?
It’s as if the devil is saying, “See these disgusting people! They don’t believe you and certainly don’t deserve you. They don’t deserve your love or your sacrifice. How many of your friends are left? They turned on you when you needed them--everyone is in it for themselves. How easily they become base and cruel beings. This is what humans truly are. And you know what? They’re all going to forget you and none of this will work in the end. Save yourself and become king!”
Jesus’ reply might be, “I am still going through with this. Yes God has lead me here to die, but I believe God will fulfill the promises. I will trust that my friends will come back and even those that are condemning me will turn around and believe me. I have faith in them, that even after I am not around, countless others will still believe even if they don’t see me.”
Jesus had said, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” (And Deuteronomy 13:4 adds "and cling to him"). For Jesus, all the kingdoms of the world are not worth as much as being with us, reuniting us with a loving God. Yet, our prayers every day are for God to come and save us, to fix our problems, to right every wrong in this world, to bring healing. In fact that is an ancient promise God made. No wonder the crowds were angry.
Is this enough for us, though? Is having God better than having the things we need to live? Do we want a God that doesn’t show himself and leaves us to our shaky faith? Do we want a God that refused to use his power to be king?
Is it worth it to only have God?
