Why the cross?

4/10/19      Thomas

Many people, like a young man named Thomas that I spoke to recently, believe that Jesus was sinning when he judged and cleared the temple for using God’s house as a “den of thieves”.

Thomas interpreted this as a good thing, that Jesus can actually relate to us as sinners because he had sinned himself. But if judgement and anger are always sinful, then we could never get angry for good reasons, such as at the abuse of a child, the misuse of power, or the desecration of God’s holiness. Neither could we make a right judgment about such things, which is what Jesus did.

This common misconception about Jesus sinning goes along with the view that the main purpose for Jesus and the cross was to set an example of humility for us to aspire to, which also goes along with the misconception that salvation is earned through following Jesus’ example of humility and service to others.

I encouraged Thomas to read his Bible more closely, because there are several references to Jesus’ sinless nature, such as Hebrews 4:15 which tells us that Jesus “…has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

Jesus can relate to us and our struggle with sin because of his struggle with temptation, even though he did not give in to sin. After all, giving in to temptation by sinning is the easy part, but Jesus bore the heavier burden of enduring under the pressure of temptation, such as during his 40 days of fasting in the desert.

But relating to our struggle with temptation was not Jesus’ primary mission, and setting an example of humility was not the primary purpose of the cross. Jesus knew from the very beginning of his earthly ministry that he would be “the lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.”

The Jewish religion in which Jesus was raised allowed innocent animals such as sheep to be sacrificed to bring temporary forgiveness of sin, but Jesus would be the perfect sacrifice that would bring

forgiveness of sin for eternity.

God’s perfect justice demands a perfect penalty for our sin, but God’s perfect love is expressed in Jesus, His only Son, who takes that penalty on behalf of all who trust in him. We did the crime, but God paid the fine.

I wanted to remind Thomas, as a faithful Catholic, that if we could somehow pay for our sins and earn a right relationship with God through our good deeds, then we wouldn’t need the Savior, we wouldn’t need Jesus.

Or, as Paul wrote in Galatians 2, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” No, Jesus paid the entire penalty on our behalf.

Paul also wrote “…a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

We have the opportunity to settle out of court, to have peace with God through repentance and faith in Jesus before the day of judgment brings us the full measure of wrath for the sins we’ve committed.

Then we have to opportunity to live a life of gratitude by following Jesus’ teachings and His example of humility and service to others. It might even involve a little right judgment and righteous anger once in a while!

Thanks, Thomas, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/N62zEQ_G4PU on my YouTube channel.