Did Jesus Die for Dirtbags? Part 1.

Did Jesus Die for Dirtbags? Part 1.

No. He died on the cross because he was and is Emmanuel - God with us in all things (Matthew 1:23), even suffering, pain, abandonment, isolation, and death. 

'" Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel', which means,

God is with us."

Hebrews 4:14-16, “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”

He lived and suffered with us. 

His body was broken for us (Luke 22:19) and his blood poured out for many (Mark 14:24).

Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19NRSV)

He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." (Mark 14:24 NRSV)

Philippians 2:8, “he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross.”

The Word of Creation (John 1:1) became part of creation, lived with creation, suffered and died with creation. The suffering servant hung on the cross arm in arm with all of the suffering and experiences of our lives. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 NRSV)

John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and lived among us” because of compassion.

Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” 

Jesus died on the cross because of love and compassion - not because you are a dirtbag.

Jesus saw the image of God in you.

Why I believe scripture teaches “God with us” over a blood sacrifice. 

During Easter, do you ever struggle with the thought of Substitutionary Atonement, that God the Father sacrificed God the Son, needing his blood for justice, in order to be able to forgive human beings for their sins and Adam’s and Eve’s sin? It never quite sat right with me when I told people that definition of Atonement theory during Easter (or any season really). Several things made me uncomfortable with it. All the songs about what dirtbags we are didn’t help. Do we really have to feel horrible about ourselves to love Jesus Christ?  

This always felt like God was small and violent. Shouldn’t God be able to forgive and demonstrate for us how to forgive without death, blood, and violence? The sacrificial system resembled the era and the beliefs of those eras in scripture. They sacrificed animals, children, and other people to the gods and to God for forgiveness and purity. But God asked for obedience more than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). The Word becoming flesh (John 1:14) should be more than death, blood, and violence. It should be new and life-giving.

And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams.

(1 Samuel 15:22 NRSV)

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 NRSV)

The scriptures never say that humanity is born as evil dirtbags. In only one situation does God wish They would not have created life on earth, Genesis 6:5-7 and 8:21. But God promises to never destroy life on earth again. God chooses to love humanity and life on earth instead of using violence, killing, and death to keep us in line. Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” Psalm 139:14, “...for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”  1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.”

Genesis 3 and Romans 5 feel like they are about more than death. They feel like they talk about living. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve receive instruction not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would die. But did they die? No. In the curse, they were driven from the Garden of Eden. They were driven from God’s presence. I will not go into a long explanation of ‘death’ in Genesis 3 but everything in life participates in the life cycle of death-birth-growth-death-repeat. John 12:24, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain….” Creation already included physical death as part of the life cycle. Could ‘death’ in Genesis 3 be about more than physically dying?

Genesis 3 and Romans 5 discuss death metaphorically and as a realistic change in living like the rest of the Bible discusses it many times. Galatians 2:19-20, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” God expelled Adam and Eve from the innocence of the Garden of Eden. Romans 5:17, “If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” All of humanity since Adam’s trespass began outside of the innocence of the Garden. Adam’s trespass was the death of innocence. Jesus Christ brought God’s presence back to all humanity, to you and to me, and to all life on earth. 

But why did Jesus submit in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26) to dying on a cross? 

Jesus stopped the violence and submitted (Matthew 26:52-53) to the soldiers. Jesus acknowledged that he could call 12 legions of angels to come free him, but that would not fulfill the scriptures or his Father’s will. If Jesus would have bailed on the suffering and dying part of life, we never would have written Hebrews 4:14-16. We never would have believed that God is with us in even our darkest times. We never would have believed that Jesus would not bail on us. I hear suffering people and families claim almost daily in the hospitals that God will not leave them nor forsake them. They do not know the scripture reference (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5 ; Hebrew 13:5). The phrase wells up out of the desperation, pain, and isolation of hope-stealing suffering. In the cross, now we know that Jesus is with us in everything to the end. We are not alone.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)