“Mercy is not getting what you deserve; Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.” Part II

The Alternative Answer

For the last few weeks we’ve been dealing with the question, “Why did Jesus have to die for my sins?”  In last week’s Post we covered what I’ve dubbed the “Classical” answer to this question.  This week, I’ll present what I’ve named the “Alternative” answer.

To quickly refresh … The gist of the Classical answer is that since God is perfect and perfectly Just, He demands that all trespasses (sins) against Him must be rectified before man can be in perfect communion with Him or in His presence.  The rectification required some sort of sacrificial “payment,” and the only sacrifice that was or ever could be sufficient for mankind’s sins was Jesus’ willing self-sacrifice.

The “Alternate” Answer (as I understand it …)

The key to this “Alternate” answer is that at the time of Jesus, it was universally believed that sin could only be dealt with by some sort of recompense or reciprocal payment/sacrifice.  Remember our prior discussion about the culture of the time.  All human interaction was seen through the lens of ‘reciprocity.’  Or, “You do for me; I do for you.”  Everything among mankind was a “zero-sum” game:  If someone ‘won’, then someone ‘lost’; each wrong had to be ‘righted’ (either through voluntary payment, violence, or theft); every debt had to be paid; every interaction between people was a transaction.  With this world-view then, it is perfectly understandable that the expectation would be that a “Just” God would demand “payment” for sins.  All other gods that were recognized at the time required sacrifice in order to be mollified or enticed to help humans.  Why not Jehovah?  There was no experience with or concept of a god who would simply “love” His people enough to allow their sins to be forgiven without sacrifice.

True Reconciliation.

But then Jesus showed up.  And, here is what He said was necessary for man to be reconciled to God:

1. “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
2. “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:3
3. “…believe in Me…” (paraphrased) John 11:36
4. “Repent …” of your sins (paraphrased) Matthew 4:17
5. “…go and sin no more.” John 8:11.

That’s it.  No, “go and kill the first calf,” no “procedures for a correct sacrifice,” no “If you will not love me, I will not love you.”  None of that.  Simply, “…Love your God…,” “…Love your neighbor…,” “…believe in Me…,” “repent” and “sin no more.”  Direct.  Succinct.  To the point.  Just those simple statements for reconciliation with God, communion with God, and everlasting life.

Now, of course, Jesus said a LOT more, and a good deal of it concerned sin and how it affected the sinner and the sinner’s relationship with God.  But most of what He said had to do with helping the Apostles and His followers to understand exactly what His “simple” path meant, how important it was, and how it could be followed.  Jesus never said that He had come because God demanded such a sacrifice.  He DID say that He came “to be sacrificed” for our sins. [John 10:15, “…I lay down my life for my sheep.”]

So, the question arises, “If God didn’t demand Jesus’ sacrifice, then who did, and why?”

Why?

The answer to that question is bound up in the contextual discussion we had earlier.  People simply could not grasp Jesus’ message that communion with God could be so simple.  Nothing they had ever experienced could have prepared them for what Jesus was trying to say.  Because of who they were, where they were, and WHEN they were, they could not conceive or understand being reconciled to God through any means OTHER than through some sort of sacrifice.  The concept that Jesus presented was too alien for them to grasp.  So, some sacrifice was required for mankind to be able to relate to Jesus’ message.

Jesus knew that His purpose on Earth was threefold: (1) To explain and demonstrate to man how to live in communion/harmony with God; (2) To convince at least a small number of people of the truth of His mission and to give them at least enough understanding of it that they might be able to pass it along to others (i.e. to establish the foundation of the Church); and (3) To sacrifice Himself and to rise again so that mankind would BELIEVE and ACCEPT the fact that, “God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son…”  [John 3:16 and John 17:20], and that reconciliation with God WAS possible. [John 12:46 and John 14:6]

He knew that while people would not really understand what He was doing and why, by His sacrifice and resurrection, they would accept it, believe it, and begin to abide by His explanation of how we were to relate to God and to each other. And most importantly, they would begin to BELIEVE that they could finally hope to have the kind of relationship with their God that God had intended all along.

As with the Classical answer, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was no “Get out of Jail Free Card.”  WHY Jesus had to die may be different between the two Answers, but the process of man’s acceptance and salvation is the same.  Man must still:

1. Recognize his sin;
2. Repent of his sin (see IV above); and
3. Not repeat the sin (see V above).

And he must then follow Jesus’ commands as stated in “I” and “II” above.

The problem is that either way, man is still going to sin, and thus remain incapable of continually adhering to “3”.  So where does that leave man?  Is he condemned by his own nature to eternal death?

Acceptance.

The Alternate answer is that we simply need to accept the fact that God loves us, and if we’re abiding by nos. I, II, III, and IV (and attempting to do number V), He is going to forgive us when we fail.  Jesus died to show us the depth of God’s love, and His resurrection was proof that physical death does not have to be the end of our story.

Think of it this way, do we not forgive our children when they ‘sin’ against us? [Luke 15:11-22]

Do we not forgive our friends when they come to us in genuine contrition and ask for our forgiveness?[Matthew 18:22, Luke 6:37]

Would we (do we) not sacrifice our lives for our children, our family, and our friends? [John 15:13]

If these facts are so, then how much more must God love us?  How much more must He be ready to forgive (and forget) our sins?

So, the Alternate answer is much the same as the Classical answer with one key difference.  In the Classical Answer, God required Jesus to come to Earth and be sacrificed because His character demanded it.  In the Alternative answer, Jesus did have to come to Earth and be sacrificed, but not because God demanded it.  WE (Mankind) would not have accepted or understood God’s wonderful and unmeasurable love for us without it.  And when considered in this light, that answer speaks even greater volumes about God’s love for us.  Jesus said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” [John 15:13] And that’s exactly what God did for us.  He sent Jesus to die for us…. Not because He demanded it, or because “justice” had to be “served”, but because He knew that anything less would not be enough to convince us of His love and to pull us into His embrace.  We could not believe that our sins could just be “forgiven.”  We would only accept forgiveness if our sins could be “washed away”, which they were by Jesus’ sacrifice for us and on our behalf.

But neither answer is complete with Jesus’ just being laid in the tomb.  We must also consider the resurrection!

The Final Proof.

It was in Jesus’ resurrection that He proved His message to us and showed us that death is not the end of life in the Father.  His resurrection shows us that it was/is God’s intention that we spend eternity with Him.  If Jesus hadn’t actually come, died, and then risen, all the theology would have been hyperbole: nice thoughts, but no “proof”. [1 Corinthians 15:19]

Jesus’ death “paid” for our sins and set the stage for our reconciliation with God.  His resurrection showed us that He was FOR REAL, that we could believe that everything He had said was true, and that our physical death was but a doorway to our eternal life with the Father.

So, hopefully, we have provided an answer to the question, “Why did Jesus have to die for my sins?”

You Decide.

Again, I am NOT saying which answer I think is correct.  And, I’m sure that there are other ‘answers’ to the question that could be presented just as effectively.  However, these two are the ones I’ve heard most often and that is why I’ve presented them to you for your consideration.

YOU must judge.  You must decide what is “true” for you and your faith.  If you have difficulty with either of these positions, we can talk about it further.  Possibly, one of our readers can help with some additional insight.  Or you could discuss your questions/doubts with a local Pastor, Priest, or Cleric.  However you decide will affect your faith, and it will hopefully open new vistas and new paths for communication between you and God.

His Blessings be on you All!

Richard

July 27, 2018