resons and events leading to the crucifixion of jesus
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The traditional answer is that God requires retributive justice. There must be a sacrifice to pay for any wrong. The problem is that this is the opposite of the picture of the relationship between God and man that Jesus paints in the parable of the prodigal son. In that story, it is not the Father (who symbolizes God the Parent) that calls for retribution. Rather, it is the brother (who represents the sanctimonious portion of humanity) that demands retribution. If one accepts Jesus’ picture in this parable, then the death of Jesus needs a different interpretation.
Let us contemplate the story of the prodigal son. The father represents God the Parent who has the Holy Spirit of God (two of the three members of the trinity). The prodigal son represents the person who had less Holy Spirit, but now comes to share more. The brother is one who follows the father's rules but lacks Holy Spirit and demands retribution. So lets call him the retributive brother. The retributive brother is the one whose presence, dissatisfaction, and demand for harm to his reformed brother is harming the family by digging a hole in its Holy Spirit.
Question: How does the family repair that hole?
Imagine there is a third brother. Let us call him the sacrificing brother. He has a Holy Spirit and follows the rules required by the Holy Spirit. He represents Jesus, the third member of the trinity. Suppose the father goes to the sacrificing son and says, "We have a problem. There is a wound in the loving spirit of this family. Your retributive brother demands retribution against your returning brother. If I punish the returning brother, he will not experience the joy we feel at his return. How can we solve this?"
You can imagine the sacrificing brother saying, "Maybe I can change the heart of my retributive brother if I step forward and demand that, in order to satisfy my retributive brother, I shall undergo the punishment for my returning brother and all returning brothers and sisters in the future. I will show my retributive brother that this love that I have for all, including him and my returning brother, is how family is made, and this will humble him because he will see that his own demand for retribution was his own way of separating himself from our family, but that we are anxious for his return. I ask you to let me do this father. Is it your will?"
You can imagine the father saying, "This is a terrible thing you will suffer, and I shall suffer greatly to see you suffer, but this just may heal the wound in the Holy Spirit of our family, so it is my will if it is yours. Thank you my son. I am proud of you. You shall sit by my right side at the feast when this is over."
So why did Jesus die? To quiet our demand for retribution and to teach us what the loving Holy Spirit is like.
God is the Holy Spirit of the love that satisfies the Golden Rule. Consequently, God does not, and never has, demanded retribution. The point of the parable of the prodigal son is that we should adopt the same attitude in order to be part of the family of the Holy Spirit.
Let us contemplate the story of the prodigal son. The father represents God the Parent who has the Holy Spirit of God (two of the three members of the trinity). The prodigal son represents the person who had less Holy Spirit, but now comes to share more. The brother is one who follows the father's rules but lacks Holy Spirit and demands retribution. So lets call him the retributive brother. The retributive brother is the one whose presence, dissatisfaction, and demand for harm to his reformed brother is harming the family by digging a hole in its Holy Spirit.
Question: How does the family repair that hole?
Imagine there is a third brother. Let us call him the sacrificing brother. He has a Holy Spirit and follows the rules required by the Holy Spirit. He represents Jesus, the third member of the trinity. Suppose the father goes to the sacrificing son and says, "We have a problem. There is a wound in the loving spirit of this family. Your retributive brother demands retribution against your returning brother. If I punish the returning brother, he will not experience the joy we feel at his return. How can we solve this?"
You can imagine the sacrificing brother saying, "Maybe I can change the heart of my retributive brother if I step forward and demand that, in order to satisfy my retributive brother, I shall undergo the punishment for my returning brother and all returning brothers and sisters in the future. I will show my retributive brother that this love that I have for all, including him and my returning brother, is how family is made, and this will humble him because he will see that his own demand for retribution was his own way of separating himself from our family, but that we are anxious for his return. I ask you to let me do this father. Is it your will?"
You can imagine the father saying, "This is a terrible thing you will suffer, and I shall suffer greatly to see you suffer, but this just may heal the wound in the Holy Spirit of our family, so it is my will if it is yours. Thank you my son. I am proud of you. You shall sit by my right side at the feast when this is over."
So why did Jesus die? To quiet our demand for retribution and to teach us what the loving Holy Spirit is like.
God is the Holy Spirit of the love that satisfies the Golden Rule. Consequently, God does not, and never has, demanded retribution. The point of the parable of the prodigal son is that we should adopt the same attitude in order to be part of the family of the Holy Spirit.
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