JESUS DIDN'T DIE FOR MY SINS

Well, another Easter season has arrived and the familiar themes have been part of the familiar hymns and reflections. So, often we hear language like: Jesus' death on the cross was "a sacrifice for the sins of humanity". It is the dominate theology, in fact. But it is almost certainly does not date back to Jesus' time, but is a result of later attempts to try and understand the crucifixion.

The notion of a loving God looking beyond our mistakes and providing us with deep forgiveness is a central image of the God of the Bible - this theme is found throughout the old and new testaments. But the notion of the utter sinfulness of humanity making us detestable to God is not clearly supported, biblically. This belief was not really expressed much before the 3rd or 4th century.

And so, to simplify Good Friday as Jesus sacrificially dying for the inbred sins of humanity and to view Easter as only an act of proof of Jesus' divinity is to sell our central story far too short.

To many 21st century-minded people, the idea of a needed sacrifice for sin is problematic. It is inconsistent with a God who is love.

Here's where the sacrificial language comes from. The roots of Christianity are in the Jewish tradition and culture. From some of the earliest days of the Hebrew people, there developed the practice, when the harvest was brought in, to bring some of the first fruits to the centre of worship (eventually the Temple). A small portion of the food was ceremonially burned on the alter - symbolizing that as the smoke rose up into the heavens, this offering was being shared with God, who made the harvest possible. This was an act of appreciation with hopes that God would continue to bless the people. The vast majority of the food, was used for those who needed it: priests, temple workers, widows, orphans, foreigners.

As the society's acts of worship continued to develop, there was a sense that one needed to ritually prepare one's self to enter the sanctuary. This often involved ceremonial washing or acts of contrition (sometimes a grain or animal offering, which was burned on the alter as a means of symbolizing giving it to God). Depending on the activities of one's life, what was expected varied. It is during this time, that this activity became associated with the idea of righting one's self before God. We can see how it makes sense that over time the act of "killing" the bird or other animal by burning it on the alter was directly related to the notion that the person was now "Right with God".

Move ahead to the first century - forty years after Jesus was crucified. An uprising against the Roman occupation in Jerusalem results in the destruction of the Temple. This forced a change in how the religious leaders practiced their religion. Because Christianity itself and many of the early Christian leaders had Jewish roots, the destruction of the temple had a major impact on the growing Christian Church. Save for the letters of Paul, virtually all of the New Testament was written after 70AD into a world with no Temple in Jerusalem - into a world where the old ways of becoming "Right with God" were no longer applicable.

And so, almost half a century after the crucifixion, when temple atonement sacrifices were no longer possible, the Christians began to speak of the lack of any need to sacrifice. Jesus had taught about a God who loves beyond expectation, who forgives those thought to be unforgivable. Because of Jesus, atonement sacrifices were not necessary.

This is where some early preacher came up with the sermon illustration that the crucifixion (i.e. the death of Jesus) is a metaphor for the out-dated sacrificial rituals. I like the style - I use metaphoric language and sermon illustrations all of the time.

The problem is that too many of the listeners to that sermon took it literally. They developed a belief system to match this literal interpretation.

Jesus didn't die for my sins, or for your sins. He was executed as a minor inconvenience to Roman order. the crucifixion means little more that the tragic end of the earthly life of Jesus.

Easter, however, is where the focus belongs. When the tomb is discovered empty, the disciples discover the mystery that not everything ends with death. Cutting of the head should have killed the Way of Jesus. But just days after the horrifying crucifixion, the disciples were proclaiming that they were as empowered by Jesus' enduring spirit as ever - maybe more so now. Some claimed to have seem him or talked to him, but most didn't. These few amazing experiences were so powerful that they changed fear into faith, despair into joy, mourning into dancing. The disciples just felt that they were not alone - that the death of Jesus didn't kill what they believed. Jesus showed people a Way to experience the love of God that was not destroyed on the cross. This spirit did not need breath to survive.

What do we know? Jesus was a travelling preacher, healer. His words and actions were so compelling that he developed a devoted following. So compelling was the Spirit within Jesus, that people expereinced God through him. He would be called Son of God and God's Annointed One. His methods and ideas ran afoul with some of his religious leaders. This conflict within the population (perhaps highlighted by the mini-riot at the temple over the place of money changers and sellers or more likely claims of Kingship swirling around Jesus) got the attention of the political leaders. Jesus was used as an example of what happens to those who promote disorder within the Empire, even the far reaches of the Empire. And so, Jesus was one of thousands of people who met their death on the cross at the hands of Roman officials. His followers were devastated. They were fearful - the desired reaction anticipated by the authorities. And then "something" happened. "Something" turned their despair, mourning and fear into joy, dancing and faith. That something is the mystery of resurrection. And that has nothing to do with sin.

Hallelujah! Praise the God who doesn't need me to be perfect to believe these things.