That's a good subject for everyone's exploration. Crystal has given a very good reason in her comment to her last post here; God did a great thing for her by exposing her to it preparatory for her experience being present at a love one's death.
Another reason comes to mind from the memory of a new convert's reaction; he was a primtive African, and when he saw the terrible scene, he said "away from there, Jesus; that's my place." (That memory never fails to move me intensely.)
As a basis for our salvation I have to remind you of my friend Ted Clark, returning to the seminary faculty with his new book, Saved by his Life (that was aeons ago).
The Bible states we are saved by his life (see Romans 5:10).
It would be worthwhile to review David's blog touching on this subject, with many comments.
Jesus' life (and death) is a pattern for commited Christians. The lessons he has for us in the gospels are valuable clues to point toward appropriate behaviour under any circumstance. He chose to expose himself to the wrath of powerful enemies, and he paid the price.
That has certainly been a clue for the thousands of Christians, up to and including today who followed a similar path. But even for those of us who may be too (what?) to chose that path, his doing it must certainly inspire us to commit ourselves perhaps a bit more intently than we did in the past.
We are all scheduled for a cross. I guess which one we choose is our own choice.
3 comments:
Hi Larry.
About your comment to my earlier post - why Jesus' death is meaningful ... there's another view of why Jesus came here beside the one that he came to die and thus "redeem our sin". There's an article, The Incarnation, that describes this other view ...
What, briefly, is the heart of this alternate interpretation? It holds that the whole purpose of creation is for the Incarnation, God's sharing of life and love in an unique and definitive way. God becoming human is not an afterthought, an event to make up for original sin and human sinfulness. Incarnation is God's first thought, the original design for all creation. The purpose of Jesus' life is the fulfillment of God's eternal longing to become human ... For many of us who have lived a lifetime with the atonement view, it may be hard at first to hear the minority report ...
We are all scheduled for a cross. I guess which one we choose is our own choice.
It's hardly a cross when we get to choose it. The crosses we take up we can choose to take up or not -- but I don't think we get a say in the form. Jesus didn't choose his cross it chose him and he only got to choose to be faithful while he bore it.
Or to put it more succinctly -- sometimes life sucks -- you just gotta deal with it.
Crystal, your link is great. Father Overberg with his story of Incarnation encapsulates my own faith completely. That's why I don't take the Passion as seriously as some; God's love is so infintely overwhelming that it puts everything else in shadow.
He loves you and me, and we will be like Christ. It's inevitable!
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