Most Christians believe that the death of Jesus on the cross was a good thing. That it was a good event. That it was where our sins were taken care of and salvation was accomplished for our sakes.
But we Christians only say this because we have been blinded to the truth. We have become so familiar with the story that we do not see the crucifixion of Jesus for the evil thing it really was.
The Crucifixion of Jesus was Evil
Forget for a moment that it was Jesus who died on the cross. Let’s just say it was some random guy named Josh.
Josh was a great guy with some good friends. He never harmed anyone, but went about helping others in any way he could. He became somewhat popular among the crowds as a result, and certain religious leaders became nervous about some of the things he was saying, so they got the local government to arrest Josh. One of Josh’s friends even sold him out for money. Others, who didn’t even know Josh, brought false charges against him. He was eventually condemned to death as a traitor. But before the government killed Josh, they tortured him in front of a blood-thirsty mob.
Now…
What is good about Josh being betrayed by his best friends?
What is good about false accusations being raised by religious leaders against a man whom they see as a threat to their power?
What is good about corrupt politicians bowing to the whim of a violent mob?
What is good about soldiers “just doing their job” as they whip and beat a man within an inch of his life before gambling over his clothes?
What is good about sending an innocent man named Josh to a torturous death on a cross?
If anything remotely like this were to happen in our society today, there would be international shock and outrage. It is a terrible, evil thing.
But when we see this happening to a man named Jesus in our Bible, and because we know that Jesus is God, we Christians don’t even bat an eye at it. Instead, we sing songs and listen to sermons about it with smiles on our faces.
Worst of all, we thank God for doing it.
Many strands of Christianity believe that it was God’s plan to send His one and only Son to this earth to die a gruesome death as an innocent victim, and that it was not only God’s plan to do so, but that He orchestrated events to make it happen.
This sort of makes God like Freddy Krueger, except that He carves up His own Son.
God is not Freddy Krueger
It is past time to change this view of the crucifixion.
The crucifixion of Jesus was not a good event. It was an evil event.
And we will never, ever see the real truth of the crucifixion until we first recognize that it was not a good thing.
The crucifixion of Jesus was evil. It was horribly wrong.
And considering that Jesus was truly innocent, and was also God incarnate, the crucifixion is, without a doubt, by far the most evil event ever carried out in the history of all humanity.
God Has Redeemed the Crucifixion of Jesus
I know that you are probably shocked by what I have written so far in this post. You are so accustomed to hearing about the wonderful cross, the glorious cross, and how thankful we should be to God for sending His Son to die for our sins, that it is an affront to your theology to hear someone say that the crucifixion was evil.
But the only reason we say good things about the cross today is because God has redeemed the cross.
Through the resurrection of Jesus, God took something bad, and turned it around for good.
God has redeemed the crucifixion so that we now sing songs about it and listen to sermons about the horrible death of an innocent victim with smiles on our faces. But this doesn’t make the crucifixion “good.” It only reveals God’s ability to redeem anything and everything.
In a recent podcast on Genesis 1:4 I talk briefly about how God redeems the darkness. The crucifixion is the perfect example of this. God takes the most evil event in human history, and He redeems it in such a way so that most people today do not even think of it as evil, but as the most holy and righteous event in human history.
Isn’t that shocking?
This is the beginning place of theology. This is the starting block.
Our Theology Must Begin and End at the Cross
To understand God, Scripture, ourselves, other people, human history, and everything else, we must begin at the cross, and we must see it as evil.
But then, we must see what God does with the cross in Jesus Christ, and how God reveals Himself to us in the crucifixion of Jesus, and more importantly, how God reveals us to ourselves in the crucifixion of Jesus.
There is so much I want to say about this, and so much I will say in future blog posts, books, and podcasts, but for now I just want to invite you to begin seeing the cross of Jesus as something bad that happened, rather than something good. It is only here that you will begin to understand the true nature, meaning, and significance of the cross, not just for our understanding of God, but also for our understanding of Scripture, and most importantly, our understanding of ourselves.
Note: If you want to read more about this idea of the cross being a bad thing that has been redeemed by God for the good, I highly recommend Saved from Sacrifice by S. Mark Heim. This book is easily one of the best books I have read in the last decade.
As you said I thought it was plannned and orchestrated by God. This is my understanding from Isa 53. Pl correct me if I am wrong.
So amazing like always thanx Jeremy! I totally agree!
wish you could do more posts and especially podcasts – I sit and wait for the next weeks posts!
I would like to know what your take is on how much God is involved with interventions on earth?
Personally I believe not so much – He gave us what we need to reach our full potential already and the spirit to guide if we listen.
For that reason I agree with you on the post that God used what happened to Jesus for good but did not orchestrate the gruesome death…..
I agree, Ancois. I do not think there is one specific thing that God would have one to do. He instills each of us with a passion for something different and whether or not we follow that, I really doubt He does anything about it. If we don’t follow our passion of which He instilled, then we become worn down and miserable. To me, there’s just no way around it. I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way.
yes Michelle, I don’t think there are many that believe it, but at least we are not alone!
Yes, you’re on to something here. Not only was it the most evil event in human history, but in my opinion was also the lowest point of the human race. This showed who we are: violent, unjust, lying murderers. Where are the just, the righteous, the merciful in the story? At best, we see those who run away and hide while the basest, vilest attributes of humanity have a field day.
In essence we murdered the one who is at once our creator and our only hope all because of petty jealousy, lust for power and the need to be right. The “religious” directed their white-hot anger at someone who dared challenge the prevailing story of what God and religion is all about and how it should be lived out.
The predominant atonement theories, in my opinion, miss the point. We killed Jesus and that pays our “debt”? He took our place as the executed and we became the executioners? All this satisfies God somehow? Strange, strange theories invented by violent, murderous humanity to explain away why not only was it o.k. to kill God in person, but somehow it was a great thing for us. Now we get a chance to live forever because he let us murder him?
Did Jesus know what we would do to him? – The evidence indicates he did. Even so, he chose to make himself known to us, in flesh. He chose to let us see who the Father is, knowing he would be brutalized and murdered. He is love and loves so much that he paid the price of horrible mistreatment at our hands so that we might see him as he really is. Amazing! How much love does that take? Yet, as you point out, we sing songs about his blood, the cross and the crucifixion – the shame of all humanity.
Thanks, Sam.
Yes, when we begin to see the crucifixion of Jesus as a supreme act of love and revelation, rather than a punishment from God, this has a domino effect on everything else we think about God and Scripture and ourselves. God is not a cosmic child-abuser who slaps around his Son or hurls lightning bolts on us.
Haven’t read much of the Bible, have you Sam . . . ?
I’ve read all of it many, many times and so has Jeremy.
The cross was good for Jesus. He made an intelligent decision. He accepted the cross to win glory. Without the cross, He wouldn’t have merited a particular joy, a superlative joy, that was set before Him (Heb 12:2). He reckoned it to be a good trade-off: sacrifice for reward.
He became obedient to the cross, which was a short temporal investment (relative to the results) in order to gain an eternal name, above every name.
Jesus’ decision to suffer the cross was a calculated decision that He undoubtedly considered good.
And by so doing, Jesus taught us that such sacrifice is good precisely for its eternal value.
I still don’t see how it was good for Jesus? As I recall He also didn’t really want to the night before?
I have never viewed his death as a good thing instead I have looked at his resurrection as good. God raising Jesus from the dead ,not Jesus raising himself from the dead.
I also choose not to wear a cross as that to me glorifies his death and not the victory of God raising our Lord and Savior from the dead.
Of course, through the resurrection, the cross has been redeemed. That is what makes the cross a “good bad” thing.
Jeremy
I live in a small town in northern BC, Canada and as such my world can be a little bit small. I have been blessed with being married with a gal out of Holland though and through our marriage my world has definitely grown. We lived in Holland for a couple of years with our children back in the 90’s and I worked with an electrical company that had a supervisor over us that was a leader within the local Muslim community. I bring this all up in response to your article, over the fact that what was done to Jesus is an evil thing. When I read the article it immediately brought me back to a conversation that I had with the fellow whose name is Kadir.
We had a friendly relationship and had respect for each other. He felt free to speak his heart with me and me likewise. He felt free enough to tell me what he found as the most difficult concept that comes out of Christianity and that he could never allow himself to except. That “The God of Christianity is so weak that He could allow such an evil thing to happen to His own Son” is a concept or idea that he found completely repulsive and a complete insult to the power of God. At the time I did not see that Kadir clearly saw that what happened to Jesus was truly evil and revolting. Thank you Jeremy for waking that up in me and it has caused me to bring this man before the throne of God in prayer and thanks giving.
Ken
Yes, I have conversations with many Muslims as well, and this is one of the many objections to Christianity they bring up.
Of course, many people believe God to be so powerful, everything that happens only happens because He wills it to happen. This is the Muslim view, and also the view of many Christians. But something else is going on in the crucifixion. Something bad happens to Jesus, and God does not stop it, but this does not make God weak. Instead, it shows how strong God is, and specifically, how strong is His love for humanity.
Jesus’ (God incarnate) willingly submitted to the cross and surounding events. Scripture gives several examples of how He escaped physical threat from angry mobs. He could have escaped the cross if He wanted to. Therefore, it WAS part of God’s plan. It was done not out of vindictiveness or rage or any other human motive but out of neccessity.
God was pleased to bruise His Son, and that’s the truth. Isaiah 53:10. The crucifixion and ressurection of His Son was the crowning pinnacle of the good work of God. I don’t reccomend listening to this Jeremy folks. Rather listen to this truth of scripture explained.
http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-pleasure-of-god-in-bruising-the-son
Oh my. Well, since Piper is a huge Edwards fan, this certainly fits with Edward’s view of God as a cosmic child abuser.
https://redeeminggod.com/calvinistic-child-abuse/
https://redeeminggod.com/god-slaughter-women-children/
Kevin
You should read this
http://www.revisedenglishversion.com/appendix/8
S. Mark Heim isn’t even a believer in Jesus Christ, he goes around.
“He begins by arguing that all the varied dimensions of God belong to all the persons of the Trinity. Humans, as God’s image-bearers, are able to interact with God through any of these dimensions. They can “tune” themselves to one of these dimensions; and any of these dimensions can be a genuine avenue for a relationship with God. If the Trinity is real, various truths in other religions must be real as well, as these image bearers tune themselves to knowing God. There are three dimensions of human relations that “tune” themselves to the Trinity.”
Actually, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus the Son. This guy is off in left field.
http://sbcvoices.com/interacting-with-s-mark-heim-the-trinity-and-religious-pluralism/
I read the original article by Heim.
So you think that there is no truth of any kind in any other religion?
Or do you believe that all truth is God’s truth, wherever it is found?
The latter is the only thing that Heim is saying.
Thanks Jeremy for your insight and willingness to share all this with us.
You say: “To understand God, Scripture, ourselves, other people, human history, and everything else, we must begin at the cross, and we must see it as evil. Then … we must also see that God redeemed the cross (which is why today we think it is good). This is the starting place of theology.”
As a one time out-of-church sinner I heard the good news, believed, repented and followed Jesus in being immersed in water and experienced much, much more.
This is where understanding begins. By faith we understand, not by “theology”. The cross was not presented to me as good, but powerful. And I am grateful to have been redeemed by the crucifixion of the Lord.
God redeems sinners, not crosses.
But the starting place of New Covenant Kingdom of God teaching begins on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Father interrupted sharply with a command to all disciples – “Hear Him!”
Not Moses, not Elijah, not Malachi, not me, not Jeremy Myers, but exclusively Jesus, The Anointed One, “who loved me and gave His life for me”.
Ron, if nobody should listen to anybody but Jesus … why are you leaving a comment?
Sorry, my point was obviously not clear. The Father directed those who would confess Jesus to understand that the word of Christ is the word to receive and live by.
Peter, not realising what he was actually saying, was putting Moses and Elijah on the same level as the Son of God. The Father intervened to confirm His Son who was saying: “But I say to you . . .”.
Unless a Bible teaching aligns with the word of Christ disciples are urged not to “hear” it, but Him. The Holy Spirit, the Anointing who lives within Believers, has been given to confirm Christ’s word.
In the Body of Christ Believers hear Him via one another as well as via the printed Bible as well as the conviction of the Spirit (by whatever means He uses).
In short, a disciple’s whole view, of the world or of the Body of Christ, is to be in harmony with Him. “Indeed, let God be true and every man a liar,” Romans 3’4.
Ron,
Yes. I agree. But everybody thinks that what they are teaching is in alignment with God and His Word. I certainly think that this is true of my own teaching. I imagine you do too? Have you ever met anyone who didn’t think so?
This comment or reply is not nice. You took Ron out of context. Good enough Ron explained further but you are yet to respond which I concede is your choice. I ‘d like to see your response to his further explanation.
I like Ron’s comment “God redeems sinners… “That is so comforting.
I will really like to understand how you understand God as being sovereign. Is God sovereign & what does it mean? What is the extent if His sovereignty is not all inclusive?
Thanks, Jeremy, for this post. I totally agree with you that “God took something bad, and turned it around for good.” That is what God always do and what I call “wisdom.” Solving violence, e.g., sinners committing sins, with violence, e.g., killing the sinners, is a no-brainer. Anyone can do it. This reminds me of Exodus 21:33, 34 “If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.”
I think many like the idea of ‘God planned everything’ because then they never have to take any responsibility. The day I became free from religion then what Jeremy teaches makes sense! and it means I have been in both ‘camps’.
Read this today: In order to recognize a lie, we need to know the truth. Experts in counterfeit money don’t spend their time studying counterfeits. They study the real currency.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). But Jesus still says that only a FEW will find it in Matt 7………which is weird right? But there has to be a reason for this and He is certainly not a liar!
I find that 99% of those who call this kind of post or writer false prophets are usually the ones who didn’t really study or understand the word. Those who know the truth for what it is – can only see when something is a lie!
I just which Jeremy can do more podcast per week! I did the math and I can’t wait that long!lol
Thank you Jeremy for this post.
Yes it’s an evil thing to torture and murder. They are also things that God doesn’t do. So why is Christianity teaching that it does?
In the story of Jesus there is an innocent victim. There is a human being with God inside. We all have God inside. We are gods, just like Jesus taught.
But inside of us, there is sin, too. Sin means being separated from God, so it means being separated from Goodness and all the other properties of God. If human beings are separated from God, they are sinners, they sin. That means they do very evil things, like torturing and murdering an innocent victim.
Why would God let sin and sinners live, while torturing and killing god? It really doesn’t make any sense. Except when I think, Christians must worship the Devil. They thank the Devil for letting sinners live, and they seem so pleased when they can sin, and still they expect to go to Heaven.
Sin can never enter Heaven. Never. It is simply impossible. In Heaven there is only God. Heaven is not a place but a consciousness.
But Christianity teaches that God is someone outside of us. It also teaches that God is a man. And yet again, it teaches that we must worship some dead dude, a victim of torture and murder who died two thousand years ago. That we are to worship his body. And that if we do all this, then we as sinners can get to Heaven. Everything is wrong with this view! It is practically insane!
God is Spirit. God is Good. God is Perfect. In God there is absolutely no sin (sin meaning Anti-God). God is God. God is logical. God is eternal, and God never changes. God just Is what God is.
Spirit is in all living things. Spirit is everywhere. Spirit knows everything. This All-Knowing Spirit is living in us all the time. Eternity is now.
If anything should be killed, it is not the spirit of living, but the spirit of death. If anything should be eliminated, it is not God, but Sin.
These are absolute opposites. And only God knows what God is and what God isn’t, but since we have God inside, we too can know, if we are purely united with God.
When someone dies you will most likely see a cross on the grave. Why do people do this when the Bible says God is not the father of the dead.