Why did Jesus have to die the death of a criminal? It's a question that Christians sometimes struggle with, as they ask themselves the question "Surely God could have made it possible for us to relate to him without putting Jesus through this dreadful agony?" Indeed the evangelist Steve Chalke, in his 2004 book 'The lost message of Jesus' referred to it as 'cosmic child abuse'. It was a very loaded phrase and caused huge controversy in evangelical Christian circles.
Cosmic child abuse?
Referring to it as 'cosmic child abuse' puts the responsibility for the death of Jesus firmly in God's hands. What a way for a father to treat his son! Yet we must accept that Jesus was not put to death by God. He was executed by the Roman authority, specifically by a reluctant Pontius Pilate, under pressure from the Jewish religious leaders who wanted Jesus done away with.
The death of Christ
This is a big subject, but I'd like to explore just one aspect of it here.
What was so dreadful about Jesus that the religious leaders of the day wanted to remove him? Jesus was the perfect exemplar of integrity and honesty, and avoided entering into the politics of the day. (1) There were plenty of people who wanted him to become a leader who would lead a rebellion against the Roman occupation of their land, but he chose not to do this. Jesus spoke of peace. He healed the sick. He taught forgiveness. He spoke of giving water to the thirsty, visiting the lonely and imprisoned, clothing those who were too poverty-stricken even to afford clothes. He spoke of loving God and loving your neighbour. He also introduced the concept of God being our father: a concept with which Christians are very familiar with today, but which was new at the time. (2)
The threat to religion
Why were the Jewish leaders (who combined the roles of political and religious leaders) so determined to do away with Jesus? What was so awful about his message and his increasing popularity? The fact is that he aroused their fury by condemning the hypocrisy and falsity of so many of the leaders. They paraded their religiosity by making a show of public praying and by insisting on observance of hundreds of rules whilst ignoring or even rejecting the needy and the oppressed.
They had turned religion into observance of rituals and laws whilst failing to live lives of love and care for others. Thus, whilst Jesus was promoting love for God and for one's fellow human beings, he was also attacking religion itself (!), or at any rate what religion had become, and the way in which it was being misused by its leaders. And they hated him for it.
We see the same misuse of religion happening today. All over the world Christians are having their homes and churches burnt by religious extremists - sometimes Islamists, sometimes extreme Hindus, sometimes extreme Buddhists. In some countries, such as China, atheism is the culprit - the motivating force which clamps down on those who promote the values which Jesus taught. All too often we hear of massacres of Christians by those who oppose everything they stand for. In some countries Christians are arrested for the 'crimes' of owning a bible, praying or simply meeting together. To be a Christian, to stand for and to put into practice the moral and social values which Jesus taught, is often going to get you into trouble. People hate these values. Increasingly, even in Britain, they hate the book which teaches these values, namely the Bible. To be a bible-believer and to set one's standards by the Bible, is to be a bigot in the eyes of many. When the moral compass contained in the bible is removed, the absolute standards of right and wrong disappear. It is left to individuals to make up their minds how to behave and what standards to espouse. We are returning to a situation well described in the Bible when 'everyone did what was right in his own eyes' (3) - with disastrous results.
How God revealed himself to us.
We read in the Bible of how God enabled us to know what he is really like. He came to the earth he had created, to live among us, to experience first-hand what we experience as humans, and to live out and to teach those perfect values of love, forgiveness and practical help to the most needy in society. And those qualities were so hated by the people in power that they had him executed! It is a reminder to all who follow Jesus and his values that they too will often be hated and persecuted, for exactly the same reason. It hasn't yet got to this stage in Western democracies, but there is an increasing trend to de-platform Christian speakers and to threaten the jobs of those whose Christian viewpoint clashes with the latest woke viewpoint. In many parts of the world Christians are persecuted by arrest, injury, loss of property, denial of opportunity and sometimes by death. But they can look to Jesus and see that the one whom they follow experienced exactly the same. He himself shared what they are undergoing and knows exactly what their suffering is like because he too underwent the same suffering.
New life.
If that were the end of the story there would seem to be little point in being a Christian. But of course it isn't the end. When Jesus rose from the dead he proved that evil cannot defeat the power of God. This great event, the resurrection of Jesus, also reminds us that this life is only a forerunner of a future life. The Bible is full of assurance that the future life will be one where evil has no place.
God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ (4)
(1) Matthew 2215-22
(2) Some Christians find it difficult to relate to God as 'father' - usually because their own experience of their earthly father has been a bad one. This misses the point though. A good father loves and cherishes his child, and gives him good gifts; and Jesus wanted us to see God in this light. See Luke 1111
(3) Judges 2125
(4) Revelation 211-6
