The idea that Jesus came in order to die, no matter how you cut it, was always a problem for me. I never thought that he came to die as if his missions was a suicide pact with the Trinity to garner our redemption to satisfy some immutable law. Jesus came to reveal and establish the Kingdom of God and humanity killed him for it while those who were closest to him stood by and denied ever having been with him to save their own hides. To that, the cross is not our redemption, but a sign of what is so utterly wrong with us. The hope is that rather than condemn us for such an atrocity, God spites death with life and union. That resurrection empowers us to continue the work that Jesus began of building a new Kingdom that the powers of the world and the religious authorities will reject again and again. Jesus did not die for our sins, Jesus dies because of our sins, and empowered us with love anyway.

I tackle this in more depth here and would love your thoughts. I think it’s a new way of interpreting the purpose of Easter that I have not read anywhere. Hope it sparks the imagination a bit more…

http://notes-from-offcenter.com/2009/03/30/sin-kills-god-why-jesus-had-to-die/

then a follow up here based on some comments:

http://notes-from-offcenter.com/2009/04/01/rethinking-why-humanity-kills-god/

And will do! You too!

Shelly, maybe the sentence should be, “It is the price many people pay for standing against the powers that be.” It is only one price that kicking the Empire’s ass can entail, but it is certainly a possibility. Being a prophet is never easy.

But keep doing it!

Though I am a little worried - about this sentence: “And it was the price a person pays for standing against the powers that be.” Because that implies that if we manage to live, to fight another day, we are not standing against the powers that be, that we have not done a good enough job. And it’s really important to me to be alive, to stay alive, to live big and happy and healthy while kicking the empire’s ass every day. I’m pretty convinced that’s what Jesus wants from me. Does that make sense?