Talking Point – January 2025

NEWSPAPERS LIKE controversy because it sells. So, to boost sales…what if I were to suggest that Jesus didn’t die on the cross for our sins after all?

You probably know the traditional story. Humanity ‘fell’ when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and now all human beings are unable to live lives free from sin. God gave his people the Law, including animal sacrifices for forgiveness. Then God sent Jesus who lived a perfect life and died on the cross for us. New Testament writers interpret this as Jesus being the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, so we call him the ‘Lamb of God’. The suffering and death Jesus experienced on the cross was the suffering and death that all of us actually deserve. You can see why people who believe this and take it literally are so very grateful to Jesus, and many of the songs sung in our churches today are songs of thankfulness for exactly this. I find these songs a bit difficult.
Because there are a number of problems with this ‘sacrifice’ interpretation of Jesus’ death and resurrection. One is that it makes the resurrection not really necessary. Another is that it makes it very hard to accept that other religions may be different ways of saying something similar to Christianity. Take the above literally and it’s Jesus or nothing. And what about salvation on other planets? A further problem is that it makes the link between God’s forgiveness and the need for us to lead good lives rather awkward.
We’re saved by faith: living good lives gets sort of tacked on afterwards. And is it even faithful to the Jesus we find in the Gospels? If this is the whole reason he came to earth why does he barely mention it? He even tells a parable about a Prodigal Son who repents and is forgiven—with no sacrifice required!
So perhaps we’ve got it all wrong? What if the message is really this: To live a life of self-giving love always leads to life. To live, and even to die, for the sake of others is what causes someone to live on after they die? So then it’s not Jesus in our place, instead of us, but calling us to follow him (to ‘take up our cross’) and do likewise. This way of thinking about Easter deals with all the above objections in one stroke. It does imply that Jesus isn’t unique, which may disturb some Christians. But he’d still be unique for us Christians, as the one who shows us the way, and inspires us.
Makes sense to me, but I’m not suggesting that we ditch the old, old story. Perhaps we should just bear in mind that there are various ways of understanding Christianity and none of them is the whole truth.
Oh no! I was doing quite well at being controversial until then.

Nigel Jones, Vicar at St Andrew’s Church