Why Did Jesus Die?
3/22/2024
Easter season is upon us, and among the bunnies and brightly colored eggs, lies the central tenet of Christianity — the story of a man, who by the most central theme of Christianity, was also God. He was executed nearly 2000 years ago for being “problematic” to both the government and religious leaders of the time for preaching for us to love each other and to care for each other. He died, observed the Sabbath by remaining dead, and then arose from the dead on Sunday morning.
He did this all, including the torturous method that he was executed with to reconcile us to God because, since almost day one, we have not done what has pleased God, so God is angry with us. The blood sacrifice of Jesus reconciled us to the God who created us. This is the dogma (settled religion, which falls into the same category as settled science) that is shared by all Christian denominations.
Interestingly, that view is not shared by the other Abrahamic religions. The Jewish people do not recognize Jesus as anything but a troublemaker or a heretic. The Muslims consider him to be the Greatest Example of Islam (submission to God) among the prophets. But he’s not God.
Then comes the rest of the world — other religions, the old faiths, agnostics and atheists, and people who have their own opinion of Jesus — be he a teacher from ancient times, a prophet of God, a generic holy man, a rabbi, a madman, a divine spirit, a fictional character — it is a grab bag. It is interesting that considering the obscurity that Jesus lived in during his life, he is among the most famous religious leaders of all time. Whatever your opinion of Jesus or Christianity, there are few who are not familiar with the basics of the story — in the words of Jack Sparrow “But you HAVE heard of me, right?”
The question for millennia has always remained — why did Jesus die? Did he have to? There have been countless volumes written, and there has been no consensus other than to “reconcile us with God” which is the theological argument that has been parsed by doctrine since day one. If that is the answer we settle on, it follows that an argument of how we are reconciled happens.
Much of the answer has to do with how you view Jesus. Most Christians believe about Jesus which was described in the opening paragraphs and never really question it. They may question the stances that their denominations take or the attitudes of people in their congregations. They may question some of the commands or doctrines that are espoused by the leaders of their church, or some of how their faith is practiced, but the dogma remains unquestioned.
For those in the Roman or other Catholic traditions, Easter is the day that Jesus gets to shine in the halls of cathedrals where God the Father is the usual member of the “trinity” that gets all of the love. The Catholic tradition walks step-by-step through Holy Week obsessing on prophetic fulfillment in every step that Jesus takes — from his entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, through all of his actions over the course of the week leading to his arrest, detention, and crucifixion, and his amazing resurrection from the dead on Sunday morning. By being a member of that church, you get full rights to heaven, subject to terms and conditions, mostly dictated by men who wear funny hats in Rome, Istanbul, Alexandria, Athens, Moscow, or other select cities.
Among the Protestants, if Jesus is the “Reason for the Season” at Christmas, Easter is the season that Jesus was made for. Through the events of Holy Week, we are once again reconciled to God and get access to heaven — subject to different terms and conditions depending on your denomination.
Evangelicals are more transactional about it — Jesus died, you accept that it was to atone for your sinful state, and you get to heaven. Say a prayer, and you’re in — again with terms and conditions. That, to me, minimizes what Jesus taught down to a “get out of hell free” card.
The more “progressive” churches operate with fewer terms and conditions, but they exist as well, which you find out when your personal practice of your faith butts up against something that you are not spiritually or mentally prepared for.
This is why I insist that every spiritual walk is individual. The practice of faith is individual. Once a group of people come together with similar ideas of how to practice faith, it becomes religion, which is always tribal. Religion seeks compliance in behavior, which is restrictive, and puts dictates upon your practice of your faith.
In my view, the divine force of God manifests in each of us individually. Some call it a “divine spark” — I like that as a description. Others call it “conscience”. Some call it the “Holy Spirit”. Non-believers call it “morality”. It is that thing within us that recognizes what is good, and what is not good, or “evil” to bring in a much-overused term.
I also am convinced that God speaks to us in ways that we understand. God speaks our language to us. Other than the big “no-nos” (murder, rape, theft, assault, stuff most people would agree is bad), God makes allowances for culture. This is why a woman wearing a bikini is acceptable here, but a burka is not, and vice versa in other places. Other than those biggies on the no-no list, most morality is determined within and by the society which comes up with norms for its culture.
I have often stated that the basis of my Christian practice is rooted in Mark 12:30–31 — which is Jesus quoting Deuteronomy and Leviticus, describing the essence of the “Golden Rule”. We honor God by honoring those others around us whom we come in contact with each day. We are to show them love and respect. I also base my faith in Jesus’ teaching that we are not to judge other people, that is the sole function of God (Matt. 7:1–5).
Coincidentally, the Golden Rule is common to nearly all established religions. That would underline it as important to God in all cultures, while a burka or a bikini may not be on “God’s Big List of Things That Aren’t Cool”.
So, how do we make the story of Jesus a universal one that goes beyond the boundaries set by Christians, and make it relevant to a random stranger, who may or may not be of our culture or society? Let’s give it a try…
After many years of study and practice, I believe that Jesus tried to change our conception of what God does, and who the essence of God is — to modernize God’s role to reflect a culture that has had a couple of thousand years of advancement since the last time they framed out what God’s role was to be. Jesus taught the Loving Father/Mother/Source, and not that vengeful, jealous war God from the Old Testament. It was not a different God, Jesus was just “correcting” our perception of what God was trying to do.
Jesus taught that we please this loving God by caring for each other to the best of our ability. Jesus called us to a lifetime of service. He taught that as long as we lived in the manner he taught (in loving and caring for each other), God overlooks our failings much as a parent forgives a toddler’s mistakes as the child tries to learn how to make their way in the world. It is in this way that we please God and honor what Jesus taught while he lived among us.
That is the sum essence of what Jesus taught, to anyone who would hear. It is reflective of what was taught by other religious leaders (Buddha, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Confucius, the Ba’ab, the Tao, the Jains — and even the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome).
Jesus, in Mark, calls this idea of “loving your neighbor as yourself” as the greatest commandment, and the best method of “loving God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind.” He taught this to anyone who would listen — “Let him who has ears, let him hear.” He did not put a condition on your life to do this. He just said to do it, and that it pleases God. He taught that all of the Jewish law that preceded him was covered in this instruction. He taught that by showing others love and respect, it is much harder to “sin” against them.
And whenever he came in contact with a “sinner”, he called out the hypocrisy of those standing in judgment over that sinner. He chose to not condemn the sinner because sin is not an act, it is an attitude of indifference to life and to others. His admonition to “Go in peace and sin no more” is not a call to stop doing an individual act, but to incorporate caring for others as a lifestyle. He set that example for us. And it never mattered who the person was who received this instruction from Jesus.
A quote from Jesus is often cited as a gatekeeping verse by Christians who wish to claim exclusive rights to God and Heaven. In it (John 14:6) Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” A far more appropriate and acceptable translation of that verse is “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one come to the Father except by the manner that I have taught you.” If we link this to the Golden Rule verses, which are reflected in the other religions, we can see Jesus as a unifying force among all religions promoting goodwill and a society that cares for each and every individual, regardless of who they are, or where they come from.
In this Easter Season for Christians, which this year coincides with both the Jewish Passover and Ramadan for Islam, we can choose to see Jesus as a call to join with others in spreading a sense of love and caring to all people, regardless of how they worship, or even if they don’t worship at all. It is not a hard thing to do. We just need to be mindful to do it.
It would be the most Christlike thing to do as we remember that Jesus died promoting this idea. An idea that was seen as dangerous by the religious leadership of the time, and disruptive to the secular society controlled by the heavy hand of Rome. Whether we believe the claims about Jesus or not, we are all welcome to participate in the idea of a better world brought by having genuine care and concern for the others in our society, and our world. To do that would be to have Jesus alive, in our hearts and attitudes every day as we walk the earth.
May a loving heart reach out from you and to you in this season that can unite us.
In Faith, Peace, and Love,
Ecc. RL Brandner, New Ecclesiastes Ministries
