The way many of us view the death of Jesus on the cross is like some poorly scripted “Good Cop, Bad Cop” scene from a crime thriller movie, except now it is “Good God, Bad God.”
You’ve seen these movies, right? Prior to questioning a suspect, the two cops agree that one will be the “Good cop” and the other will be the “bad cop.” Usually the bad cop starts questioning the suspect, and in the process gets a little unhinged and starts to threaten the suspect with death, torture, or a life sentence in prison. Then the good cop steps in with a soft voice and a soothing tone and says that he can rescue the suspect from the bad cop and all his threats if the suspect will just tell them what he knows.
In much of Christian theology, this is sort of what happened between God and Jesus as they prepared to send Jesus to earth for our deliverance. I imagine the scene to be somewhat like this:
In a back room of heaven (before the foundation of the world) God and Jesus realize that they need to get the bad guy in the interrogating room (all humans) to confess to our numerous crimes. Here is how the planning went:
God: I know what I’ll do. I’m going to tell him that although I’m only looking out for the good of the universe, and since I’m so holy and just, I just cannot stand evil and sin, and I’m gonna have to shoot him.
Jesus: Yeah! And then I’ll come in, all humble, meek, and mild, full of love and care, and say, “God loves you so much! But you are so sinful, He’s gonna have to shoot you if you don’t fix up your life and tell us all the bad stuff you’ve done.”
God: That’s good. And then maybe when he says that he is doing a pretty good job, and he doesn’t know why he’s been arrested since he hasn’t broken any law, you can raise the bar on him a bit. Blame it on me, though. Because I’m so holy.
Jesus: Okay. I could say that although you commanded them not to commit adultery, what you are really concerned about it lust. And although you said, “Don’t murder,” if they call someone a fool, it’s the same thing.
God: Right. Improvise a bit on that. Just make sure you blame it on me and my holiness. That’s key. And then, after this goes on for a while, I’ll step into the room, pull out my gun, and yell, “Enough! This man is evil. Stop beating around the bush and make him confess!” Then I’ll point the gun at his chest and pull the trigger. I’ll shoot him.
Jesus: Sounds good. That’s when I jump in front of the bullet, and die in a bloody mess right there in front of everybody. It will be great. I’ll get on the news. I’ll be the talk of the town for thousands of years. People will write books about me. Of course, you’re not going to leave me dead, right?
God: Don’t be silly. Of course not. The resurrection is the grand finale. After I shoot at the man, and then you step in front of the bullet, he will be so shocked at your love for him, especially after you laid all that guilt on him, that he will be amazed at your love. And then when I raise you from the dead — oh man, he’ll just drop down and start worshipping us. It will be awesome!
Is that how it went down? Not even close.
How it all went down
First of all, while there was a plan, the plan did not include God and Jesus playing off each other like this. They were of one mind and will toward humanity, with love as the primary motivation.
Second, while God is just and holy, and while the death of Jesus did satisfy the holiness of God in regard to our sin, this was not the only — or even the primary — reason for the death of Jesus on the cross. This is called the “appeasement theory” or “penal substitution theory” of the atonement, and is the idea that the death of Jesus appeased the wrath of God.
Such an idea comes more from Greek Pantheistic mythology than it does from Scripture. The Greeks believed (as do the people of most religions) that the gods are angry and need to be appeased (aka bribed) in order to act nicely toward humans. To appease the gods, we need to do great things for them or offer valuable possession to then, such as our prize cow, firstborn son, or virgin daughter. If the gods are impressed enough with our achievements or our sacrifice, they won’t be angry any more.
This sort of thinking has crept into Christian theology as well, so that many Christians today think that something similar went on in the death of Jesus on the cross. It goes like this: God was angry. We tried to appease Him by obeying the law and giving him bulls and goats, but it wasn’t good enough. He was still angry at our sin. Since He knew that we could never obey Him well enough or give Him a sacrifice good enough to fully satisfy our debt, He sent Jesus to pay the penalty instead. Jesus stepped in, died for us, and paid the debt. Now God loves us, just as He always wanted.
While this way of thinking fits well with pagan theology and pagan deities, it could not be further from the truth regarding the God of Scripture.
Why did Jesus die?
Jesus did not die to appease God, but to cleanse us from sin, and deliver us from its power. Jesus died to defeat sin, death, and devil.
The death of Jesus was a rescue operation where He broke into the prison of our bondage where we were rotting in filth and decay, and through His life, death, and resurrection, demolished our chains, picked us up on His shoulders, and carried us to freedom outside of the prison walls.
If we want to liken what Jesus did to a movie, it is not a “Good Cop, Bad Cop” scene we should imagine, but Chuck Norris breaking Prisoners of War out of a military prison camp — except without all the shooting and killing. On second thought … maybe Chuck Norris isn’t the best example, but you get the idea.
The death of Jesus on the cross was to break the power of sin in our lives, and recapture for us the relationship with God that they have always wanted with us. And that is something that is Oscar-worthy. Or worship-worthy.
The cross of Jesus is CENTRAL to everything!
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Good thoughts, Jeremy. It’s remarkable how cold-hearted God appears in some views of the atonement. Jesus almost becomes a protective older brother stepping in the way to shield us from the abusive parent.
Yes, I have been struggling a lot with the way God is portrayed in the Old Testament, and feel like slowly, I am starting to come to grips with much of what is written there. Maybe I’ll have it figured out in the next 30 or 40 years, but that might be hoping for too much! Ha ha.
Consider the possibility that our perception and understanding of God has changed. The portrayal of God we find in the Old Testament is the way people saw/understood God then, but we have increasingly come to see God less as the God of battle and war, for example, and more as the God of love. Jesus did not come as a warrior, but as the Prince of Peace.
For those who believe that the words of the Bible, Old Testament as well as New Testament, are the very words of God (something akin to being dictated by God), this understanding may not suffice. Then there are those of us who understand the Bible to be a report of what happened as well as how the people of that time understood what happened.
Yes, these are both possible views of Scripture. My view of Scripture is evolving, so I will have to think more on these ideas. Thanks!
Your writing is Interesting and intriguing, but lacking textual support? If your going against the grain maybe include how it is that so many of us believe he bore our sins?
Bearing our sins (etc) was the means to the end. The end is summarised in Acts 3:21; He now sits glorified, job done, till the time of ‘restitution of all things’. 1 John 3:8 says the reason for His mission was to destroy what the Devil had done. In restoring all things, which God foreknew, the Devil’s work had to be destroyed.
i have caveats, but i can see your reasoning… my position follows that God’s law brings (invites, entreats, requires) God’s wrath, sin in the general is merely the extension of separation, sinfulness (or sin nature) is the thing God is after… the cross is the solution.
But satisfying God’s wrath (law requirement) isn’t about our penalty, it’s a function of order… but then again, i’m an armchair theologian, what do i know?
https://scontent-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11121793_742166012571447_6281756817671427556_n.jpg?oh=d15af2008977fc07795169455d9a89c0&oe=559EA28F
The way I hear it, sin separates us from God and prevents us from entering into His presence. Hell (however you define it) is the default. God does not send us there, rather He tries to save us from it.
“Jesus did not die to appease God, but to cleanse us from sin, and deliver us from its power. Jesus died to defeat sin, death, and devil.”
Jeremy – I agree with what you’re saying about the flawed nature of atonement theology, but could you explain how you see the mechanism at work with how Jesus’ death cleansed our sins or defeated death and Satan if not for a price being paid?
many people say even before they become christians how bad they were but God didn’t see them as so bad he thought we were valuable before he died for us .a christian who is born again and knows Gods presence knows Gods love and just how much God loves us ,by reading the bible we see how God loves us ,i think its better to focus on how much God loves us than on how much our sin was so bad ,cause God saw through the sin !! he thought we were valuable enough to die for!!!
Your God is who you say it is and I will never disagree.
I respect your right to have your own belief.
My god is a man who’s spirit still lives inside of me
I married the truth, laid it all down with Jesus
I am getting up in the spirit of my father in heaven.
I have a right to believe My earthly father is spiritually
alive in my heavenly heart hosted by the lord of hosts Jesus Christ.
Heaven is where the heart is and that is fact.
I laid it down with Jesus and let my father come back.
This is my truth self evident and void of any and all lies,
who has the BURDEN of proof your honor?
has prosecution evidence otherwise?
Heaven is where the heart is and Jesus is my truth,
I have nothing to prove the BURDEN is on all of you.
My father Who art in heaven, Winston McKinney
be thy name.
Thy kingdom has come and your will shall be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Love and respect to everyone without prejudice.
Boy! Top marks for your open trait imagination Jeremy. Love it! And a great sense of humour. I had a thought early this morning. Regarding the bible, it, s characters and events. We sorta try to jump back in time to the biblical era in a lot of our churchiness. In reality and the here and now it, s a totally different landscape than the one say St. Paul lived in. Things must need looked at differently. There is so core aspects of the bible that are absolutes but the majority has to be read in the context of our own century. It would seem a lot of people seem stuck in the wrong century in respect to their faith lives. Not necessarily their fault though. Just the conditioning of their faith by others really. We all tend to be a bit sheepish and get led astray. Jesus ain, t got it easy by any stretch of the imagination. A 24/7 shepherd! And no shift allowance I, m sure!