After Jesus died, the apostles, and close disciples met and prayed together for many days. It's pretty clear that they struggled with the idea that their messiah was killed. It is reasonable for them to ask themselves what significance was the death of Jesus. Why did Jesus die? Why did Jesus have to die? In other words, how can we justify the death of Jesus with Jesus being the messiah to free the Jews from the yoke which held them down? If Jesus was not a true messiah, then why were we hoodwinked into following him all this time?
Not wanting to look like fools, it is reasonable for the apostles to mold testament stories to justify them and their actions. The stories they found in the prophet Joel or the words of David could have represented anything. But by applying it to their situation, the would feel vindicated for their choices.
All they had to do was apply old stories to their present situation, without regard to if they are related. This way, they could validate themselves and their time with Jesus.
How can I determine this? Why could they not have been right and I be misguided? Well, I may likely be misguided. However, me being misguided does not clear the apostles from their questioned stance. Let's look at what they did with their "justification". Take Peter's second sermon as an example. Yes, it is prophesied that God's chosen one would suffer. The Jewish people, in general, were suffering under the yoke of the Romans. The various Jews living during the captivity of them by Assyrians, Babylonians, and others suffered too. How is it that the prophesies applied to Jesus and not any of the other Jews who suffered?
At some point, someone decided that the death of Jesus is what pays for our sins. It is the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross with frees us and grants us the salvation of life eternal with God. And with that, we jumped ship, losing the message of Jesus.
You see, someone forgot to mention that in the earliest of books about God, God created mankind by taking clay (physical stuff from this world) and breathed life (a bit of the immaterial and eternal world... heaven) into each person. That means, we already have something outside the physical dimensions of space and time (call it a soul if you wish). So, unless the death of our physical body also kills the immaterial part of us (that is outside of the physical realm of time), we are already immortal. We don't have to buy our immortality as we already have it.
We don't have to pay for it either. We don't need someone else to die for that payment. Looking at the lessons Jesus taught us in Luke to give with no expectation of return. The justification is that we should behave like God who gives to all, including sinners and the unworthy. If God gives to all without expectation of anything in return, they why must Jesus have to pay for our sins with his life?
Wouldn't this all work more in line with the message of God as taught by Jesus if we simply are given the gifts of God without Jesus paying for it with his life? Humans were already given God's breath of life from the heavens. Why can we not simply say Jesus was killed because there are people in this world who are attached to their selfish egos and possessions. They had Jesus killed because Jesus taught God's message of love unconditionally. The fact Jesus was killed doesn't diminish the message. It simply points out that there are still people who refuse to listen and live by the will of God.
We cannot change others. We can change ourselves. Let others live their lives and we will do what we can to love everyone unconditionally, to encourage diversity with all the beauty that comes from it, and to be a humble servant, helping everyone without prejudice or favoritism.
The message Jesus taught is the focus of our faith, not the results of the actions of selfish people.
Hi Doug... it's Van. There is just soooo much I can say about this post. Seeing it was you most recent post I can probably assume this is your current vision and understanding of Christianity. I'd like to point out a few things regarding Yeshua (Jesus) and common understanding of the Torah by His Jewish followers. 1) Yes, In Genesis during creation God made man out of clay and then breathed His Ruah (breath, wind, Spirit) into the nostrils giving us not only eternal life (as long as we were connected to Him, He didn't just give us His breath, but maintains it) in this invisible realm, but also eternal life in our bodies (also maintained by Him through the fruit from the Tree of Life). However, once we were deceived by our "adversary" we lost access to both. Our spirit (soul) and God's Spirit (the source of life) were severed and we got banished from the garden and lost access to the fruit of the Tree of Life. Yeshua came to reconcile this by dying in our place and paying that penalty. The wages of sin is death and without remission of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. (Remember our conversation yesterday - God abides by His own establish laws by choice and to be Just, but His love and grace provided a way for us to reconcile with Him without breaking those laws.) 2) Yes, the disciples were confused because their expectation of a Messiah was just a King on earth who would overcome their earthly "enemies". They unfortunately misunderstood scriptures and the prophecies. HOWEVER, with the resurrection of Christ they began to understand there was a bigger picture. After being re-connected to God and receiving His Spirit again in Acts they were able to understand the prophecies and began to spread the good news "Gospel" of what they began to understand. The message was that so much bigger and they understood that it wasn't limited to the Jews, but was meant to allow anyone in the world to become part of God's people. Not by His choice, but our own. So yes... the message is, as you put it, helping everyone without prejudice or favoritism. Through the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE... Yeshua.
ReplyDeleteHi Van. You are correct in that this is a fairly current view of mine. It is also, as I've mentioned elsewhere, somewhat exploratory and not a definitive statement of faith.
ReplyDeleteGod, in my understanding, gave us eternal life, unconditionally. His Ruah did not come with conditions, so Eve/Chavah taking and eating the fruit did not change the eternal nature of the heavenly gift of Ruah. (Side comment: Assuming God told the first two people to not eat of the tree of knowledge... How could she have known before eating it how wrong it was to do so? That knowledge didn't show up until AFTER eating it.)
We have a different viewpoint on the bodily resurrection. Bodies are of this earthly existence and are made up of atoms. Those atoms are swapped out on a regular basis as cells die and are excreted. So, which cells are resurrected? All of them? Or just the ones from when we were baptized (the moment of returning to God)? When we die? What about the atoms/cells that end up being part of someone else's body? Do we become conjoined twins? This can get even more complicated if we stay with the idea of a bodily resurrection. Besides, what about the idea of "Render unto Caesar"? Isn't the physical body part of this world?
Requiring Jesus to "die for our sins" is an extension of the sacrificial system. Jesus teaches that forgiveness is achieved without a sacrifice, for he would simply declare a person's sins are forgiven. Jesus didn't say to the leper (or others) that their sins are forgiven once I die on a cross. They were simply forgiven because the compassion in Jesus saw the nature of the person. That is all it required. Forgiveness is freely given . . . even before Jesus was crucified.