Part 5 - Retribution Or Reconciliation?

At The Centre Of Christianity, ...

... at the core of God's good news for the world, is a perfect life lived in Palestine, then there is a horrific cross on Friday, and an empty grave on Sunday. All Christians will say that the events of that first Easter weekend are central to their own journey of transformation. And yet there remains a great deal of confusion as to why that should be the case.

What do I take from the life of Christ?

I am told the resurrection of Jesus Christ enables me to be transformed! 1 Peter 1:3-4 But how?

I am told the suffering of Jesus Christ enables me to be healed! Isaiah 53:5 But how?

I am told the death of Jesus Christ enables me to be forgiven! Ephesians 1:7 But how?

Those are all good questions, central to our understanding of the work of Christ. But let us focus here on the third question.

How does the death of Jesus Christ enable me to be forgiven?

I was raised to believe a particular answer to this question. I was taught that on the cross where Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied, because all the punishment that I rightfully should suffer for my sins was instead visited upon Jesus Christ. That instead of punishing me, God punished Jesus Christ, and that is what was happening on Good Friday.

And one or two of the hymns we sing make that explicitly clear.

But I want to ask some questions now ...

When the soldiers poured into the palace great hall, more than two hundred of them, and dragged Jesus in, and put a purple robe on him, and laughed, and beat him, and then took turns spitting at him, was that God's doing? Was God spitting? mocking him?

When they then stripped him naked and dragged him through the streets for public scorning and humiliation, was that God's doing? Is dehumanising abuse God's way of punishing?

When they beat his back with leather and sharpened bone, and stripped the skin from his back, was this God's justice at work?

And did God dream up crucifixion so that he could punish Jesus on the cross instead of punishing us? Was it his idea?

And when he was despised as a man and rejected as a King by the mob, was that Jesus taking God's idea of just punishment?

And did God push the jagged metal through his wrists and ankles?

And did God incite the crowd to scorn his suffering and laugh at his agony?

And was all that petty, childish, selfish, arrogant, foul, cruel, abusive treatment really God's punishment for sin?

Really?

Let Us Think About This

You see, very few Christians face up to the reality of Good Friday, but prefer a sanitised spiritual version of it. So frequently when faced with that level of questioning, they will respond, "No! It wasn't the physical punishment. It was the rejection, the forsaking as God turned his face away when Jesus became sin for us."

And they will cite Jesus' own words from the cross found in Matthew 27:46, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"

And from that, many conclude that our Father turned his face away from Jesus as he bore our sin - and this was the punishment.

But these are Jesus' own words expressed in agony on the cross. We need to pay particular attention to them, making sure we understand what he is saying, so that we can take them seriously.

Now you will know the three psalms. 22 - The Sinners Cross. 23 - The Shepherds Crook. 24 -The Saviour's Crown

And Jesus' words are from Psalm 22 verse 1. But in Jesus' time, the Psalms were not numbered. It was not known as Psalm 22.

It was known as the "My God, why have you forsaken me?" psalm! Jesus is not simply quoting the first verse, but he is bringing the entire psalm to the attention of the crowd. We can be certain of that.

How? Because as the psalmist recounts the developing scene of horror at the cross, he describes how he places his trust in our Father God, and he realises he has not been forsaken. Speaking about the Father he says, "For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help"

Not what you were taught? Let us take a close look at scripture.

Have you noticed that before?

There Is A Better Explanation

You see, while the physical and mental agony was allowed by our Father God, it had nothing to do with retribution, or payback. And while Father God laid on Jesus a spiritual agony beyond that of any man, it was not vengeance or punishment for our sins.

That suffering was not necessary for God's justice to be balanced. Not necessary for God's wrath to be satisfied.

How do we know that?
Because Jesus explicitely revoked the Deuteronomy law of retribution - he cancelled the law which required eye for eye, tooth for tooth - and challenged his listeners instead to return blessing for cursing, good for evil,and to turn the other cheek - then he adds...

... so that they would be like their Father in heaven.

We know the Old Testament law says a great deal about how retribution should be applied and limited, but Jesus fulfilled that law by demonstrating that it did not go far enough. The whole usage of retribution within justice was specifically nullified, explicitely cancelled. Let us take Him seriously on this point.

We know that the Old Testament sacrifice system is a picture, a foretaste of Jesus Christ's work. But nowhere in the Old Testament laws regarding sacrifice is there the horrible idea that you deliberately cause the animal to experience pain. There is no beating to death of lambs.

Of course scripture contains many references in the New Testament to the wrath of God. But if for you the word wrath implies a settled rage determined to respond with retribution, then you are not understanding what the Greek originally says. Because the word is orge.

And the apostle Paul has helpfully defined what that word means in his letter to the church at Rome:

He continues talking about how people choose to ignore God, even though his power and creativity are showcased in the world around us, and then Paul details how God's wrath is shown:

and then:

So we have this picture of humanity creating all kinds of problems due to their behaviour, and God in his grace holding back some of the awful consequences. But then there comes a time when the parent has to let the child go. And this is what God does.

We see this situation writ large in Israel's history, and clarified by Jesus in his parables.

There is no need to imagine God devising mechanisms to make humans suffer, or targeting punishment at individual wrongdoers—and that is not His desire anyway. The consequences of deliberately and persistently turning away from “Love God with all your heart” and “Love your neighbour as yourself” are inevitable. Such rejection not only distorts a person’s character but also stunts the flourishing of their true self.

And that is already bad enough.

So It Begs A Question ...

... why on earth did Jesus allow himself to be put through all the anguish of his life in Palestine and especially the events of Good Friday?

His prayer in Gethsemane makes it clear that he didn't want to do it, but our Father God had said, "You choose" and Jesus confirms that he chose to submit to the violence.

And another question - what did Isaiah mean when he wrote the words ...

And what did Paul mean when he says in his letter to the Christians in Rome ...

Evidently our own spiritual journey, our spiritual destiny, is completely dependent on Jesus' death and resurrection. And if it is not to do with suffering for us the wrathful retribution of Father God, then what is it all about?

On a human level, given Jesus radical teaching, and given his runaway popularity with the poor, he always was going to fall foul of the religious establishment. And as he prayed in Gethsemane, he understood that it was God's will that he should submit to the violence. And he knew why.

So Jesus begins to experience the worst of human behaviour. He sees it up close and personal. He feels it as a man. He feels it viscerally, as so many have felt the violent abuse of others down through history. And the horror of human behaviour in that moment dawns on him.

But then comes the moment Isaiah spoke about, when God somehow opens the mind, the perception of Jesus so that he feels what every victim in history has ever felt ...
the anger of every injustice
the disappointment of every betrayal
the humiliation of every deception
the fear of every assault
the horror of every rape
every scornful glance
every knifeblade's strike
every demolished home
every starving warzone child
every victim.
And not just the effect on the victim, but he feels too the suffocating of goodness which blights every murderer, every liar, every thief, every rapist.
the loss of sensitivity
of humanity
of empathy
like a spiritual death.

And the sky goes black.

And as he feels that, what is his response. How will God in Christ respond to the foul inhumanity, to the cruelty, even to my own casual self centred life?

And the weight of sin, all the trauma of world history, went on and on - hour after hour after hour - until finally after three hours of anguish ...

Little wonder that he is overwhelmed by the cumulative wickedness of man, that he loses his grip on the certainty of his relationship with the Father, and he cries "My God" - not Father - "My God why have you forsaken me."

And in despair, you too can lose your grip on your Father, but hold on to this:

He never loses his grip on you.

So Jesus Then Experiences Psalm 22

All the anguish, pain, mocking, physical and mental agony, until he realises afresh that our Father has heard his cry for help! And then he reaches verse 27 ...

And then trusting the Father, his and ours, he says ...

And that is the first reason why the cross is necessary - because being fully aware of how every sin committed by every man, woman and child down through history affected other humans, he could say, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing."

The one forgiving is the one who has been wronged. If someone wrongs my sister or brother, I cannot say "I forgive you". It is not my place. Only my sister or brother can forgive because only they have been wronged.

Thus it was that Jesus had to have laid on him, all the consequences of sin - its humiliation, its disappointment, its pain - he experienced it so he could weigh up whether to call for retribution or to call for reconciliation.

For each of us, we must face the fact that on that day, Jesus felt our casual unkindness, our cold hearts, our deliberate limits to our love, our unchecked anger, our nurtured self centredness. Jesus felt it all.

It is to our immense relief that Jesus' heart on the cross was filled not with the desire for retribution, but the longing for reconciliation, which is why he looked at the crowd then, as he looks at us today, and says, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing."

Not only do we respond with relief and gratitude at God's reaction to this trauma, but we are challenged to follow Jesus, to be like the Father in Heaven. Not to call for retribution, but always to offer forgiveness.

As our understanding of the character of God grows, may we follow more closely so that we can be like Him.

As each of us takes up our cross and follows, may we allow our instinct for retribution to be put to death, so that we will grow more loving, more gentle, more Christlike day by day.

Next time, we will think about those other two questions - healing and transformation.

You see what it means to take Jesus seriously?

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