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8 What Jesus Did:

The Reign of God Reestablished John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:19

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.

Genesis 3:15 Mark 10:45 Acts 4:12

Exodus 25-30 Mark 14:32-15:47 2 Corinthians 5:19-21

Leviticus 1-7; 16 Luke 15 Galatians 6:14 Ephesians 1:7-8

Hebrews 5:7-10

1 Peter 2:21-25

Psalm 22 Luke 19:10

Isaiah 53 Luke 22:39-23:56

Matthew 1:21 John 1:29

Matthew 16:21-24 1 John 2:2; 4:10

Revelation 5:6 John 3:14-17; 12:32

Matthew 26:36-27:6 1 John 18-19

Jesus' ministry Jesus became our savior not only because of who he was, but also

through what he did. His earthly life

and ministry, too, contribute to his saving work. By his words and works, Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God. He presented God's offer of

salvation to all people-particularly those who are unimportant by conventional standards. His ministry transcended every human barrier:

race, gender, age, education, culture, money, class, health, occupation, reputation. He excluded no one. Every human being, in his view, was a potential citizen of the kingdom of

God.

The Christian doctrine of atonement, as the work of Christ is often called,

expresses the fundamental conviction

that Jesus is the means of human sal- vation. In his life and particularly in

his death, God was acting to deliver

all humanity from the consequences of sin. As Paul put it in one import- ant message, "In Christ God was

reconciling the world to himself" (1 Cor 5:19).

JESUS' LIFE AND WORK

Jesus' identity There are three things about Jesus that bear upon his saving work. We have already touched on two of them-the incarnation and his sinless life. According to the first, salvation involved the condescension of God himself to assume human form. This is why we devoted so much attention

to the person of Christ. He could not have accomplished what he did had he not been who he was. Conse-

His numerous teachings

explained the principles of God's kingdom. In particular, they emphasized that everyone is a guest in the kingdom of God. No one

enters because he or she deserves to.

Salvation is a gift. Jesus' works illustrated the

nature of the kingdom of God. The Greek word for "salvation" alsoo quently, Christ is not merely the only

one who saves us; he is the only one who could save us. As Peter ex-

means "healing," and Jesus' miracles of healing were signs of salvation. They showed that the kingdom of claimed, "There is salvation in no

one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The belief that Jesus is the etemally preexistent son of God is integral to the Christian doctrine of

God was near and what life in the

kingdom is like. Where God reigns, all is joy and peace. There is no

suffering, disease, or death.

Jesus' sinlessness salvation. Jesus' moral experience also contributed to his role as Savior. He faced temptation with all human

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beings. Hlis struggles were severe, but he never yielded. His trust in and obedience to God were never interrupted. The New Testament

uniformly asserts his sinlessness (2

Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22: 1

John 3:5). Jesus' sinlessness has several

implications. For one thing, it gives

us a valuable example as we face temptation. It assures us that moral

victory is possible. It further shows

us how victory can be achieved.

From his life we learn that complete

openness to God's leading is the key to spiritual success.

Jesus' life in general provides a

pattern for human behavior.

Everything about him deserves our

imitationhis sense of values, his

compassion for human beings, his

self-forgetful service, his courage in

the face of personal danger. These

and other qualities make Jesus the

ideal for every human life.

The meaning of Jesus Sinlessness emerges against the

background of Hebrew worship. Offering sacrifices was an important element in that system; it was part of

the process by which sins were

torgiven. Furthermore, for many

Sacrifices the animals offered had to

be faultless, not diseased or deformed in any way. The New Testament

often refers to Jesus as the Lamb of

28; 10:12), and it also describes his blood as the means of salvation (1 John 1:7).

As the ultimate sacrifice for sin, Jesus had to be spotless. The slightest blemish would have disqualified him as our Savior. Had Jesus been tainted by sin in any way, he himself would have needed

salvation. We have said that Jesus is our

savior because of who he was and what he did. But he is also our savior because of what happened to him. As we just noticed, his death was central to his saving work.

JESUS' DEATH

The cross For Christian faith, the cross is the

single most important event in all of

human history. Jesus' mission would

not have been complete without the

cross. The cross guarantees the eventual fulfillment of the plan of salvation-the eradication of sin from

the universe. Thus, everything before

the cross is preparation, and

everything after it is consequence.

This does not mean that the cross

could stand alone. It had to be

prepared for, and its consequences

had to be developed. But the cross is

the center of God's entire work of

salvation. It was here that God God (John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet

1:19; Rev 5:6, 12; 13:8). It

frequently speaks of his death as a

Sacrifice (Eph 5:2; Heb 7:27; 9:26

secured our salvation-tinally, fully,

and for all time.

There are several different waysS

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was usually outside of town. There to look at the cross. First, we can

look at it from the outside, as a

means of execution. Although it is

not pleasant to recall the details of

crucifixion, it is worth reminding ourselves what Jesus suffered.

soldiers stripped him and fastened his hands and feet to the wooden beams

Second, we can try to envision the

experience from within. We can ask

what Jesus must have gone through during his crucifixion. Third, we can take a theological perspective and ask what the experience meant for human salvation. What, in fact, did the cross

accomplish? In an effort to under- stand the cross, we will examine it from each of these vantage points.

with nails or ropes. With limbs extended and

immobile, the victim was unable to care for his bodily needs and vulnerable to the elements and the taunts of spectators. Since no vital organ was injured, death was often long in coming. Victims of

crucifixion almost never died sooner than a day and a halt; most lasted three or four days. A few lived as

long as a week. They finally succumbed from exposure or from tetanus resulting from their wounds.

If soldiers had to end the process Death by crucifixion Crucifixion was common in the first for some reason before the victim

died as a result of crucifixion, they usually smashed his arms and legs with something heavy, like a hammer. This was to intensify suffering as a

compensation for shortening its duration. Then they delivered the coup de grace with a spear thrust to the side.

century.! The four Gospels tell us little about its details because, when they were written, everyone knew what it involved. The Carthaginians first used crucifixion as a means of execution, and the Romans adopted and refined the practice. Crucifixion could not be inflicted on Roman citizens. It was reserved for slaves and provincials-the lowest elements of society. Everything about it was designed to inflict as much pain and humiliation as possible.

Once condemned, the victim of crucifixion was first scourged with a whip made of leather straps to which bits of bone and metal were attached.

Such practices understandably offend our sensibilities, in spite of the prevalence of cruelty in our world. But it is also significant to recall the stigma attached to crucifixion, along with the suffering it involved. No form of death was more revolting, and, as we have noticed, the Jews of Christ's time felt that a curse rested Repeated lashes reduced his back to ribbons of bleeding flesh. Then he had to carry part of the cross with him to the place of execution, which

on those who were its victims.

What Jesus suffered Jesus did not die from the effects ot WHAT JESUS DID: THE REIGN OF GOD REESTABLISHED

191

ucifixion. He cried, "It is finished,"

It was mental and emotional rather

mysterious suffering his words and behavior expressed. reaching Calvary. only six ours after

Several biblical statements point to this conclusion, such as 2 Cor 5:21: "He made him to be sin who

than physical suftering that ended his

ife. He died, it is sometimes said, of

a broken heart. The peculiar nature

of Jesus' anguish appeared at several

different times during his final hours His struggle in Gethsemane was one.

Here we see Jesus shrinking from the

prospect of death, begging God to

release him from this destiny-"If it

be possible, let this cupP pass from

me" (Matt 26:39)-and finally submitting to the Father's will (Matt

26:39). His suffering seemed to

reach its deepest point when he cried

from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt

27:46). What evidently ended Jesus

life, then, was separation from God-

a separation so severe that it left him,

literally, hopeless and lifeless.3

The temptation to avoid this

horrible experience compounded Jesus' torment, as his Gethsemane

knew no sin." A number of them apply to him portions of the famous

"suffering servant" passages of Isaiah (especially 53:5-6). A.ccording to 1 Pet 2:24, for example, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree."

WHAT JESUS ACCOMPLISHED

We now face what is probably the most important question of all: What

did Jesus' death accomplish? How does it solve the problem of sin? The

New Testament gives no single

answer to this question. There is no one theory of atonement in the

apostolic writings; in fact, there are

no theories at all. What we find

instead are several striking

metaphors, or symbols, describing what Jesus did. There are too many

experience also indicates. It was a

temptation he had faced before-in

the wilderness and during his

ministry (see Matt 16:21-23). But on

The eve of his crucifixion he felt its

force more keenly than ever.

to survey here, so we will concentrate

on only a few of the most important.4

Salvation

The most general and comprehensive

These factors lead us to conclude term for the work of Christ is

unat Jesus experienced God's

Judgment against sin. He bore the

full force of divine condemnation( Pet 2:24; 2 Cor 5:21), and he felt

urterly and irreversibly excluded from

tne presence of God. Only in this

way can we account for the

"salvation," an expression we have

already used a number of times.

Rom 1:16 identifies the gospel as

"the power of God unto salvation,"

and "savior" is one of the important

titles early Christians applied to Jesus

(see Phil 3:20). The very name of

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192

we are still hostile to him. He makes Jesus," in fact, points to his work of

salvation (see Matt 1:21). This expression recalls the long

history of God's activity on behalf of

the Hebrew people. According to the

Old Testament, God is the deliverer, or savior, of his people, especially from Egyptian bondage and at the

Red Sea (Exod 15:2).

the first move to establish fellowshin with us. Reconciliation, then, emphasizes God's initiative in the work of salvation.

Redemption The New Testament also speaks of Christ's work as "redemption" (Eph 1:7; Rom 3:24). This word has powerful connotations for people in ancient times. Its basic meaning was

to pay a price for freedom. It

referred to the act of delivering captives, or liberating slaves from bondage. Like "salvation," this word has a vivid Old Testament

The Greek word for "save" can

also mean "heal," or "make whole," as we have noted. This suggests that salvation involves both rescue and restoration. Christ not only delivers us from the power of sin, but also restores us to complete spiritual health.

background. It, too, described God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Mark 10:45 is the most important

Reconciliation Reconciliation" is another important description of Christ's work in the

New Testament. "In Christ God was New Testament text to use this expression: "The Son of man came . to give his live as a ransom for reconciling the world to himself" (2

Cor 5:19; cf. Rom 5:10-11; Eph 2:16; Col 1:20). In Christ God overcomes the alienation which sin causes and restores a condition of peace. Because Christ brings us the peace of God, we are able to live at peace with all human beings (Rom 12:18).

The biblical idea of

many." Scholars are divided as to

whether the New Testament concept of redemption includes the idea of

paying a price, or whether it is

Simply another word for deliverance.

Either way, this description of

Christ's work makes several

important points. For example, it

indicates that the work of Christ reconciliation has many facets. For

one thing, it is cosmic in scope; it includes everything on earth and in heaven. It is also signif+cant that the New Testament always speaks of God as the subject of reconciliation, never as the object. God reconciles us to him; we do not reconcile him to us. Moreover, God seeks us while

delivers us from hostile powers-

specifically, from sin and its effects.

This reminds us of the freedom that

Christians enjoy (Gal 5:1); we are no

longer doominated by the forces of

darkness or in bondage to sin. At the

Same time, "redemption" emphasizes

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the cost

of thi

solution to the problem of sin is

enormously expensive. For this

the cost of this deliverance. God's the three most important types.

The ransom theory One of the oldest interpretations of

Christ's work is the ransom theory. Leaning heavily on biblical passages that speak of ransom, early Christian thinkers graphically portrayed Christ battling with the devil and defeating

reason,

Paul tells his readers that they

were bought

wit a price; they belong

to God (1 Cor 6:20).

WHY JESUS DIED

him once and for all. Sometimes

We have reviewed several ways in

which the New Testament describes

the work of Christ, and before that

we examined the atoning experience,

or the means by which he achieved

these things. We now come to what

many regard as the most perplexing

question in the doctrine of salvation:

How does the death of Jesus solve

they even described Christ as the worm on the hook which finally

caught Satan. The atonement, for

this theory, is God's dramatic victory

over the hostile forces of sin and

death.

The satisfaction theory The satisfaction theory has probably

been more influential than any other.

It received its classic formulation in the problem of sins? Granted that

God was active in Christ for human

salvation, and granted that his effort

succeeded, the question remains, Just

the writings of Anselm, a churchman

of the eleventh century, and it reflects

the thought world of medieval times,

with feudal lords and vassals and how did Christ's work achieve its

results? What, precisely, made it

effective? rigid codes of behavior.

According to this theory, human

sin is an affront to the sovereignty of

God and God's honor demands Theories of Atonement Christians have never reached a

Consensus in answer to this question. There is an orthodox doctrine of the

person of Christ, but there is no

Corresponding doctrine of his work.

Looking at the history of Christian thought, we find instead several prominent theories of atonement. Each has influenced the thinking or the church from time to time, but

satisfaction. This puts us in a terrible

predicament. To use Anselm's

words, "Sinful man owes God a debt

for sin which he cannot repay, and at

the same time .. he cannot be saved

without repaying it."6 Human beings

cannot be saved unless God's honor

none has ever enjoyed unanimous Support. t will be helpful to review

is satisfied, but this is something we

are in no position to do. We are only

finite, and our debt to God is infinite.

In his famous essay, "Why the

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The theories compared We can specify the central

differences in these three important positions by noting where each of them locates the obstacle to divine human fellowship. Each theory has a distinctive view of what it is that makes atonement necessary. According to the moral influence

theory, the obstacle to reconciliation lies within human beings; our misperception of God's character needs to be corrected. Christ

removes this obstacle by clarifying God's true attitude toward us.

The satisfaction theory places the primary object of atonement within God himself. According to views of this type, Christ's death satisfies the demands of God's own nature. Some

God-Man?" Anselm argues that Christ solves the problem by virtue

of his two natures. As a human

being, he makes payment to God on

behalf of the human race. At the

same time, his divinity gives the payment an infinite value. Conse quently, our debt to God is com- pletely discharged. Divine honor is fully satisfied. According to the satisfaction theory, the incarmation is essential to the atonement. Jesus Christ, as man, bore the penalty for human sin and made satisfaction on behalf of all of us.

One aspect of the satisfaction

theory figures prominently in many accounts of the atonement. In fact, it is probably the dominant thought in popular explanations for Jesus' death. This is the element of substitution, the idea that Jesus steps in and takes our place before God. He gets what we deserve; we get what he deserves. He accepts the punishment that our sins incur, and we inherit the privi leges that divine sonship involves.

of these views describe a tension within God between two contrasting qualities. His love, or mercy, makes him eager to forgive; but his justice, or wrath, or holiness, makes it impossible for him to forgive freely. Christ's death resolves this tension. With it, God's love provides the The moral influence theory

The moral influence theory arose in reaction to the satisfaction theory. It emphasizes the effects of Christ's death on human beings, rather than on God. According to this view, the atonement is a revelation of the love of God, intended to call forth an answering love in humans. Christ's death saves us by vividly portraying God's love for us and moving us to love God in return.

atonement which his holiness demands. God is merciful and just at the same time.

The ransom theory seems to place the object of atonement outside both God and humanity. It lies, instead, in the desperate situatio human beings are in. We are the captives of alien powers. Sin, death, and the devil hold us in bondage. Christ saves us by breaking into thelir stronghold and setting us free.

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The theories evaluated

Each theory of afonement has its another. No judge in a modern legal system could allow an innocent citizen to go to prison in place of a convicted criminal. How would that

veaknesses, and each strengths and

Christ's work. Ihe strength of the

ransom theory is its emphasis on

ew can

distort certain features of

ransom

God's saving initiative. Salvation is

God's work from first to last. He is

the source, not the object, of

atonement. Furthermore, with its

emphasis on the dramatic victory

Christ achieved over all our enemies,

this view has tremendous

psychological value. It reminds us

that everything has been done to

secure our salvation. The path to

freedom is wide open. All we have

serve the interests of justice? The most important objection to

this theory is that it makes God the object of reconciliation. In the

satisfaction theory, humanity makes atonement (in the person of Christ), and God receives it. This is contrary to the consistent biblical theme that it

is God who reconciles. For the

writers of the New Testament, atonement is never something we do

for God; it is always something God

does for us On the other hand, the

to do is take it.

The weakness of this theory is its satisfaction theory underscores the

literalistic imagery. It tends to

portray the atonement as a transaction

between God and the devil. Some

seriousness of sin, as far as God is concerned. It suggests that a part of

the process of forgiveness is a

manifestation of God's judgment

against it. Surely n0 understanding

of Christ's work is adequate which

fails to appreciate how repulsive sin

versions even suggest that God pays

off the devil in order to set us free.

There are objections to the

satisfaction theory, too. Many people find it too calculating, too much like

a bookkeeping system, as if Christ

accumulated credit by dying to pay

off our debts to God. Sin, they insist,

IS a matter of personal relationship. It can't be quantified. It can't be

aisposed of by manipulating various

accounts.

is to God.

The moral influence theory has

the merit of emphasizing God's

initiative in salvation, which is

certainly faithful to the Bible.

However, some people feel that it

slights the costliness of torgiveness,

that it fails to account for the

The idea of Christ as our Substitute also raises questions. People wonder about the ethics ot

this arrangement, because personal guilt isn't something that can t

transferred from one person to

enormity of sin in the sight of God.

As they see it, sin is objective as well

as subjective. It is not merely an

unfortunate misperception of God,

but a reality that must be dealt with

before salvation is complete.

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196

where that leads us.

According to its critics, the moral

influence theory also has a tendency

to detract from the uniqueness of

Christ's accomplishments. For them,

this approach treats the cross as

merely one of the many ways by

which God communicates his love to

The love of God

the world. Since God has suffered

from the inception of sin and since he

has always been eager to forgive, the

cross did not make an unprecedented

impact on God, nor was it indis-

pensable to divine forgiveness.

Accordingly, the cross represents a

consequence, but not a condition, of

God's willingness to forgive-the expression, but not the basis, of his

grace. And such a view, they

maintain, undermines the importance of what Jesus did.

The most fundamental theme in any Christian doctrine of salvation must be the love of God. His vast and

intense concern for every human

being is the basis of his saving

activity. This explains why God takes the initiative in meeting the problem of sin. As soon as sin

entered the world, God acted to

mitigate its consequences. In other

words, salvation went into effect the moment it was needed. Some texts

even suggest that God formulated a

response to sin before it was actually needed. The book of Revelation, for example, describes Jesus as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; cf. 1 Pet 1:20).

TOWARD AN ADEQUATE VIEWw OF THE ATONEMENT

The cost of forgiveness God's eagerness to forgive must not obscure the spontaneity or the costliness of his love. God's As these observations indicate, there

is no simple answer to the question, How does Christ's work solve the problem of sin? No single proposal seems adequate to the task. How, then, should we interpret the death of Jesus? What should our own view of

response to sin is no mechanical,

matter-of-fact reaction. People often assume that it is easy for God to

forgive. A notorious sinner showed no concern for the hereafter. "God

will forgive me," he said as death

drew near. "That is his business." There is no place in Christianity for such a casual attitude. We must

the atonement be? It is tempting to pull these various theories together to form one comprehensive explanation, but we could do this only by ignoring their basic differences. Instead, let us God's forgiveness. Our salvation begin by listing several themes which any responsible interpretation of Christ's work must consider and see

never overlook the "difficulty" of

costs God dearly. Only the agony or the cross reveals the scope of divine suffering as a result of sin.

WHAT JESUS DID: THE REIGN OF GOD REESTABLISHED

197

forgiveness

is both natural and

cult for God at the same time.

because he is loving; not in spite of his love, but because of his love, not because his love is limited, but because it is unlimited.."9 God's

t may seem odd to insist that

difficult for

Howe ver, it is not always easy to do

what comes nafurally. A loving

wnwillnaturally" risk her lifet to sin. He finds it repulsive, disgusting. wrath, then, is his loving response to

parent will

It distresses him to see the ones he save her child, but this doesn't make

loves destroying themselves. the action "easy'" for her. So it was

with God: Even though he responded

T'he influence of God's love instantly to meet the problem of sin

and willingly gave his only Son for

our salvation, he did so at an

inestimable cost. We must never lose

sight of "love's hard work."

In order for us to accept forgiveness, we need to know not only how much God loves us, but also how seriously he takes our sins. If this sounds odd, suppose that you deliberately said

something to hurt a friend's feelings, and then felt sorry about it and asked forgiveness. Would you feel forgiven if your friend blithely dismissed the incident as if nothing had happened? Probably not. A flippant, casual attitude toward sin does not

The wrath of God

A careful analysis of divine love also

helps us to understand the nature of

divine wrath, or justice. As we saw,

certain views of the atonement

assume that God's love and holiness are contrary forces, pulling in dif- ferent directions. God's love makes communicate forgiveness. To

experience true forgiveness, we need him willing to forgive sinners, but his holiness requires him to punish sin. The atonement, then, provides a way to meet the demands of both

to know that our sins are taken

seriously. A manifestation of God's hatred for sin therefore plays an important role in communicating his love to us. It shows us how

attributes. The problem is that this idea equates wrath with vengeance and love with indulgence. A better

way to interpret their relationship is to see God's wrath as the expression, not the antithesis, of his love.8

Genuine love takes its object with utmost seriousness. Because

important we are to him.

A synthetic view of the atonement

Once we bring God's love and wrath

together, we see that atonement is not

something an angry God demands, but something a loving God provides.

As the supreme manitestation of his

God loves us, everything about us matters to him, so he cannot ignore Our sins. As one theologian writes, "God must be inexorable towards Our Sins, not because he is just, but

Judgment against sin, the sacrifice of

Christ is the supreme demonstration

of God's love for sinners. His wrath

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198

is thus part and parcel of his love; it

affirms the immense value God nan

more about the reign of God tha Jesus' crucifixion; for if Jesus is the key to understanding God, as .he

we argued in Chapter 3, and if the cross is the central moment in Jesus' life,

places on us. This view of the atonement

emphasizes the impact of Christ's work on our perception of God. In

some respects, then, it resembles the moral influence theory. But it also

stresses the importance of divine

judgment in the process of forgiveness, and it insists that reconciliation is entirely the work of

God. Thus it shares some of the

as we asserted earlier in this chapter, then the cross is 1ndispensable to an adequate understanding of God. What do we learn about the reign of God from the cross of Christ?

The most obvious message from Calvary concerns the magnitude of God's love. According to the most famous text in the Bible, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son to bring human beings eternal life (John 3:16). In giving the Son, God gave everything he had to give. He held nothing in reserve. Had the Son's mission failed, there was no alternative plan, no backup. There was no rescue that could have

characteristics of the satisfaction and ransom theories, too.

Perhaps we need a variety of views of Christ's work. A great natural wonder like the Grand

Canyon or the Himalayas invites us to look at it from many vantage points. It never ceases to impress us,

and no one perspective captures its grandeur. To a far greater degree,

Christ's accomplishments defy our powers of description. The more we reflect on the meaning of the cross, the more amazing it becomes. God's condescension in assuming humanity and his mysterious willingness to bear the consequences of sin will challenge our minds and stir our emotions forever. Eternity will not be time enough to plumb the depths of love revealed at Calvary.

reversed the dreadful consequences. So, everything was "on the line" when the Son entered the sphere of

human existence. Behind the risk of the incanation

lay the risk inherent in divine creation. God created a world whose

inhabitants had the capacity to accept or reject his sovereignty over them.

A God of love could never be content with sheer domination. It was not

enough for him to have creatures

cower before his superior might. Because he loved them, he hoped

they would love him in return, so he

gave them the capacity to make their

Own decisions. Even when they

THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND THE REIGN OF GOD

No aspect of salvation history tells us rebelled against him, his love

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199

Dersisted. He sought, not to punish

them, but to achieve reconciliation (2

Cor 5:19-21). The cross reveals the

extent to which God went in order to

win back his errant sons andd

daughters. In revealing the magnitude of

God's love, the cross also reveals the

depth of God's pain. Identifying God

with Jesus leads to the conclusion

that what Jesus experienced in the depths of his anguish was something

God himself experienced. As

Kenneth Leech puts it, "The cross is a rejection of the apathetic God..

and an assertion of the passionate God, the God in whose heart there is

pain, the crucified God."10 If the Word truly became flesh, if God was indeed in Christ, then the most

defeat to gain victory. He employs unimpressive means to achieve grand purposes. From a human perspective,

Jesus great victory was nothing but a

personal catastrophe. His mission to the Jews ended in abject failure; he

was vilified by his enemies, forsaken by his friends. Yet, according to Christian faith, the drama of the ages turned on this "minor" incident

during the Roman occupation of

Palestine. Characteristically, then, God does not achieve his purposes

through dramatic displays of

supernatural power. He does not

establish his reign through the application of sheer force. Instead,

he works in and through events, many of them outwardly

insignificant. This principle applies in a special

way to God's victory over the forces of darkness. He does not counter

significant experience Jesus went

through was something God endured

as well. The cross is nothing less than the suffering of God.

Moreover, Jesus' suffering brings to full expression the agony that God

their blatant displays with his own. He defeats them by absorbing the full force of their power, by appearing to give them victory. He lets them rage and storm until they are completely spent. God ultimately destroys evil

by letting it destroy itself. The cross and the resurrection

has endured ever since sin entered the

universe. To quote Leech again, "There must have been a Calvary in the heart of God before it could have been planted on that hill outside.. Jerusalem."11 Only the cross, then, reveals the full extent of what sin and salvation cost the heart of God.

are the two central facts of Christian

faith. Both are basic to the reign of God. The true meaning of the cross

Finally, the cross tells us important things about the nature of God's reign. It demonstrates that God characteristically establishes his SOvereignty in subtle and surprising ways. God can even use apparent

emerges in light of the empty tomb.

What appeared to be total defeat

turned out to be a glorious victory. Jesus submitted to death only to

break its power forever.

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STUDY HELPS

Questions for review

1. What qualifies Jesus to be our Savior?

2. What is the significance of the manner of Jesus' death?

3. How does the New Testament describe the work of Christ? 3

What are the principal theories of atonement, and how does each explain 4

why Jesus died?

What criteria must an acceptable doctrine of atonement satisfy? 5.

How are divine love and wrath related? 6.

Questions for further study

7. The crucifixion of Jesus figures prominently in the New Testament, especially in Paul's writings, and in the history of the church. Could Jesus have fulfilled his mission had he died in any other way?

1

Christians often refer to Jesus as our "substitute," since he died "for us," or in our place." Are there problems with this view? For example, would a respectable judge today set a condemned criminal free and execute an innocent person in his place? Does it help to think of Jesus as our representative," rather than our "substitute"? Is there any difference between these two ideas?

8.

9. People speak of Jesus' death in contrasting ways-both as a voluntary sacrifice on his part and as the obedient fulfillment of his Father's will. Could Jesus have abandoned his mission and avoided death without violating God's wil1? If so, why was this the major issue in his temptations? It not, was his sacrifice truly voluntary? 10. According to Reinhold Niebuhr, "It is because the cross of Christ symbolze> something in the very heart of reality, something in universal experience that it has its central place in history" (Leaves From the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic [Cleveland and New York: Meridian Books, 1957]. p. 100). Do you think the cross symbolizes something within every person s

WHAT JESUS DID: THE REIGN OF GOD REESTABLISHED

201

experience? If so, what?

Tn The Problem of Christianity, American philosopher Josiah Royce 11 describes an act of atonement as "some new deed which makes the human rld better than it would have been had [the precise sin it responds to] not heen done" (2 vols.; Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1968], 1:308). Did Jesus death achieve something that would not have existed unless sin entered the universe? Is the universe ultimately better off for having

experienced sin than it would have been otherwise?

Suggestions for Bible study

12. Study the following verses in several English translations of the Bible: Rom 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10. Why do some versions use the word

"expiation" and others, "propitiation'"? Which term do you prefer? (You

may find dictionaries and Bible commentaries helpful for this.)

Carefully read the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). Imagine that

you are the father in this story. Can you think of anything that might have

made it "difficult" for him to forgive his son?

13.

14. Paul called Christ crucified a "stumbling block to Jews and folly to

Gentiles" (I Cor 1:23). Chapter 7 briefly suggests some reasons for the

Jewish reaction. How can we explain the Gentile reaction? Why was the

cross "folly" to the Greek mind? How do people think of the cross today?

The"suffering servant" of Isaiah strongly influenced the way early

Christians looked at Jesus. What did they learn about Jesus from this

prophetic figure? Isa 52:13-53:12 (1 Pet 2:21-25); Isa 61:1 (Luke 4:21);

Luke 18:31-33; 24:25-27.

1OW are the nature and the work of Christ related to each other in these

passages? Heb 2:14-18; 4:14-16; 5:8-9; 10:19-22. 16

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing From Adventist writers

1898), includes mportant chapters on the suflering and death of Jesus and its

Association, "C 1or human salvation. See especially,

"Gethesemane" (pp. 685-697); "Calvary"

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(PP. 741-757); and "It Is Finished" (pp. 758-764). For important historical reasons, Adventist studies of salvation tend to conea. the experience of salvation and/or the present work of Christ. Sec, for example E. Heppenstall, Our High Priest: Jesus Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary (Washington o Review and Herald, 1972). Jack Provonsha emphasizes the impact of the cross on our perception of God in Can Go Home Again (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1982). Jack Sequeira concentrates on the cross and on Christ's status as the second Ada his study of salvation, Beyond Belief: The Promise, the Power, and the Reality of the Everlasting Gospel (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1993). Edward W. H. Vick discusses the doctrine of atonement in portions of Is Salvation Really Free? (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1983), For an extensive discussion of this doctrine by various Adventist scholars, see The Sanctuary and the Atonement: Biblical, Historical, and Theological Studies, ed. Anold v Wallenkampf and W. Richard Lesher (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1981).

iward C:

n You

n in

From other writers Many works on the doctrine of salvation discuss both the person and work of Christ. This is true of the books by Baillie, Brunner, and Pannenberg referred to at the end of the previous chapter. Other works, including some mentioned below, discuss the way we receive, or experience, salvation, along with what God has done to make it possible. Alister E. McGrath, a prolific evangelical theologian, aflims the centrality of the cross to Christianity in 7The Mystery of the Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988). Lcon Morris insists that propitiation is essential to the biblical view of Christ's work in The Atonement: lts Meaning and Significance (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1983). For staunchly Calvinist interpretations of the atonement, see John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, l1955), and G. C. Berkouwer, The Work of Christ (Eerdmans, 1965).

In his classic work, Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement, trans. A. G. Herbert (New York: Macmillan, 1969), Gustav Aulen argues the superiority of the ransom theory to its principal rivals. For a detailed review of many theories of atonement, see H. D. McDonald, The Atonement of the Death of Christ in Faith, Revelation, and History (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1985). Works that explore the various metaphors applied to Christ's work include F. W.

Dillistone's influential study, The Christian Understanding of Atonement (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968), and Colin E. Gunton, The Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor Rationality and the Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989). Jürgen Moltmann views the cross as the key to understanding God in The Crucified God: The Cross of Christ as the Foundation and Criticism of Christian Theology, trans.

A. Wilson and John Bowden (New York: Harper & Row, 1974).

NOTES

IAny Bible dictionary will contain a description of crucifixion. The brief account oli here is drawn largely from the following sources: C. Milo Connick, Jesus: The Man, the

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203

the Message (2d ed.; Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974), pp. 386-393; Mission, and an E. Johnson, Exegesis of Matthew in The Interpreter's Bible (12 vols.; Nashville, Abingdon, 1951-57), 7:599-611; Pierson Parker, "Crucifixion," in The Interpreter 's ionary of the Bible (4 vols., Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1962), 1:746-47; D. H. Wheaton, fixion," in The New Bible Dictionan (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962), pp. 281-

282. toThe Desire of Ages, Ellen G. White provides the moving account of Jesus' suffering and

h on which this analysis is based. In her words, '"It was the sense of sin, bringing the her's wrath upon Him as man's substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God" (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1898), p. 753.

Ellen G. White employs the expressions "agony" and "struggle" to describe the different

elements in Jesus' suffering identified here. As she uses the word, "agony" refers to the sense of divine condemnation which Jesus experienced and which eventually ended his life. She further describes this aspect of his experience with various metaphors of pressure and

isolation: "The sins of men weighed heavily upon Christ, and the sense of God's wrath

against sin was crushing out His life" (The Desire of Ages, p. 687); "He felt that by sin He was being separated from His father. The gulf was so broad, so black, so deep, that His spirit shuddered before it" (ibid., p. 686); "The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Savior in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man.... He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal" (ibid., p. 753).

Besides this "agony," or "anguish," Jesus also suffered from a terrible "conflic," or "struggle," with the temptation to abandon his mission: "Terrible was the temptation to let the human race bear the consequences of its own guilt, while He stood innocent before God" (ibid., p. 688). According to Ellen White's account, this aspect of Jesus' suffering reached its climax in Gethsemane with his decision to "save man at any cost to Himself" (ibid., p. 693). At that time, "Christ's agony did not cease, but His depression and discouragement left Him"

(ibid., p. 694). His agony intensified until it eventually ended his life on the cross.

Leon Morris provides an extensive analysis of the various New Testament descriptions of salvation in The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1955). In addition to "reconciliation" and "redemption," he also discusses the meaning of "covenant," "the blood," "propitiation," and "justification." Morris' view of the atonement is noteworthy for its emphasis on divine wrath and for preferring the use of the English word propitiation," rather than "expiation," to interpret some important biblical passages (see p. 154). The most influential discussion of the three major theories of atonement is Gustaf Aulen, Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the ldea of Atonement, trans. A. G. Hebert (New York: Macmillan, 1969).

Anseim, Why God Became Man, Bk. 1, ch. 25; trans. Eugene R. Fairwecather, in A

cholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956), pp. 145-146.

uoted in D. M. Baillie, God Was in Christ: An Essay on Incarnation and Atonement (New York: Scribner's, 1948), p. 172.

ide Ma

cologians have made this point, among them Anders Nygren. Nygren rejects the 1dea that the atonement resolves a tension within God between holiness and love, in favor of

REIGN OF GOD

ecause it is love (Grand Rapids, Mi: the view that "atonement is necessary, not because God's love is holy. hue t

(Essence of Christianity: Two Essays, trans. Philip S. Watsor [Grand Rapide is o.

9D. M. Baillie, God Was in Christ: An Essay on ncarnation and Atonemene ar

Scribner's, 1948), p. 173.

Eerdmans, 1960). pp. 117-118.

York

1OKenneth Leech, Experiencing God: Theology as Spirituality (San Francisco

Row, 1985), p. 316. 1arper&

1Leech, p. 300.

WHAT JESUS DID: THE REIGN OF GOD REESTABLISHED