Jesus - a murder mystery:
Making sense of the story

Jesus - a murder mystery is a series of strong theology and thinking for the resurrection of Christ. It is written by Tim Denne from Harbour Vineyard who in his spare time likes to read theology.

Making sense of the story

From the first sermons in Acts by Peter, Stephen and Paul, we can hear a simple message: you don’t have to understand atonement theory to come to faith in Jesus, but you do have to believe that he is alive. God can, and does, forgive on the basis of his authority; he is beholden to no one. And that is fine if that is all there is to the story – just a rescue (getting Israel to the Promised Land; getting us to Heaven). But the message is about more than rescue. From when God first called Abraham, the purpose of choosing a people was so that they would “do righteousness” (do what was right – Gen 18:19): live justly, demonstrate God, bless the world (Gen 12:2-3) and act like a light drawing others to God (Isa 42:6-7).

But they (and we) have to be righteous (in the right) to do righteousness (do what is right).

I believe the theories of atonement are right:
• when Jesus’ death is seen as being required for God to satisfy himself (to be utterly consistent and true to himself – for his name sake);
• To the extent that they portray God’s hatred of sin and his love for us; and
• When they note that the devil is defeated (via death & resurrection)

But they don’t tell the whole story. We get a much fuller picture of why Jesus died by understanding it as Jesus declaring that the story of Israel was being rewritten and coming to completion in him. The exodus from Israel and the coming to the Promised Land is also a picture of our rescue; the kingdom in which we live is, like the wilderness, “already and not yet” (they were with God but had not yet got to their permanent home).

By becoming the Passover meal, Jesus has started the exodus; he has rescued us from Egypt/sin; he is the manna for us to eat in the wilderness; he is the atonement sacrifice which was started in the wilderness for those already rescued as the means by which they could meet with God and deal with their sin; and he is the one who will guide us through to the end - the new Moses.

All of this is wrapped up in Jesus’ death.

Although God has absolute authority to forgive sin, he chose to deal with the problem of sin and death once and for all through Jesus – his death and resurrection – and in a way that is familiar to Israel and faithful to the story. This vindicates those who had lived faithfully to the old covenant and those who join under the new.

If I tried to summarise this, it might look like this:

The God who made the world and everything in it promised Israel that they would show what he was like and be good for that world, drawing others to him. Because of their inevitable failings, and to be faithful to his promises, God sent Jesus, who had always been God, as a person and to be Israel as she was meant to be, to speak and act with authority, and to suffer and die to show: God’s hatred of sin, his faithfulness in doing what was right (righteousness) and his love. Jesus rose from the dead to show that he was Lord (equal with God and fully in control), and as a first step and guarantee of the eventual renewal of the world so that it truly will demonstrate God and give him glory. God chose to use Jesus’ death-resurrection event to deal with sin and its consequences once and for all. We are invited to believe in who Jesus is (the living God) and what he has done, and to be part of the plan to bless the world, starting now.

That’s all for this series, I hope it has helped you in some way.

Will write again soon,

Tim.

Tags: Tim Denne, Theology, Resurrection