A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH FOR JESUS AND US

“The world is about to end (honestly, lol), so you better get right with God and start loving one another …”

The previous post that I am now concluding was: Deconstructing The Cross Of Christ: Was Jesus Crucified? (with Dr. James Tabor, Dr. Ali Ataie, Dr Robert M Price, and Neil Godfrey)

What does the scriptural coloring by the writers of Jesus’ death tell us about the historical details that we can know about his death? As the team of scholars behind the Jewish Annotated New Testament conclude, it may not be possible to locate historical material behind the heavily theologized Mark death account imitating Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. This suggests that the central aspects of the religion can be completely derived from the rewriting of Hebrew scriptures. As to the source for the resurrection on the third day, Matthew prooftexts the story of Jonah being swallowed for three days in the big fish. Our earliest source for the crucifixion, Paul, understands Jesus being hung on a tree/crucified (Galatians 3:13) pointing to Deuteronomy: everyone hanged on a tree is cursed (Deuteronomy 21:23). Again, conservative evangelicals want this to mean that innocent Jesus bore our sins on the cross, but this is probably not what the passage means. Daniel R. Streett comments that:

• (1) When Paul says that Jesus “became a curse,” he is saying not that God cursed Jesus but rather that Jesus condescended to the humility of the cross, was executed by his countrymen in a miscarriage of justice, and was considered by his people to be under a divine curse. (2) When Paul cites Deut 21:23, he does not intend to say that all crucified victims are de facto cursed. Rather, for Paul and his contemporaries, the charge and its validity matter. Because Jesus was innocent, he was not under the curse of Deut 21:23. Paul likely cites the passage to explain how Christ’s death brought special humiliation in the eyes of the Jewish people. (3) Finally, I have argued that Gal 3:13 is not intended to explain the mechanism of atonement, that is, some behind-the-scenes divine transaction. Rather, the text is meant to emphasize the extent of Christ’s suffering in order to redeem his people. The mechanism of redemption is more properly sought in other passages, most likely those that refer to the work of the Spirit in baptism, uniting believers to Christ in his death and resurrection. (Streett, 2015, p. 209)

Was Jesus killed, either humiliatingly like John the Baptist or unjustly like Stephen?  Did he die at all?  What was Jesus’s death?  Literal or figurative? For an itinerant preacher like Jesus, what would be a fate worse than death?  To have to go into hiding.  One commenter points out for Jesus

• All of life must be lived to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). And we ought to do good to all people (Gal. 6:10).

And we hear Jesus did experience such a fate (figuratively) descending into hell.  Conservative Christians commonly call this a penal substitution harrowing of hell, though there is nothing in the text to suggest such harrowing.  Conservatives just want to see it there. 

For the world, there is the death not to be feared, that of the believer, and the death worse than death, that of the judged unbeliever.  But what does this mean?  Not eternal condemnation.  Hebrews says:

•  “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31

Wilkin points out:

• Eternal Condemnation Is Not in View.  There are two proofs that eternal condemnation is not being threatened here:  GENUINE BELIEVERS ARE IN VIEW AND THEY CAN’T EXPERIENCE ETERNAL CONDEMNATION  The Book of Hebrews in general is addressed to genuine believers. See, for example, 3:1, “Therefore, holy brethren partakers of the heavenly calling. . .” See also 6:4-6.  The larger context of chapter 10 also strongly asserts that genuine believers are being addressed. In vv 1-18 the author speaks of the forgiveness of sins. In vv 19-20 he calls the readers “brethren,” people who have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus” and who have Jesus Christ as their High Priest.  The immediate context of this passage says that those being addressed have already been sanctified (v 29)! Only believers have been sanctified (cf. 10:10, 14). In addition, they are called “His people” (v 30)–something only true of believers.  Many passages assert that believers are eternally secure. See, for example, John 3:18; 4:14; 5:24; 6:47; 10:28-29; Rom 8:38-39. See also Hebrews 10:14, 17-18. Thus once we establish that genuine believers are in view, we can be sure that hell is not under discussion.

So what is the punishment worse than death?  Wilkin continues:

• NO WORDS FOR HELL MENTIONED There is no reference here to “the lake of fire,” “Gehenna,” “hell,” “unquenchable fire,” “eternal torment,” or any terms commonly associated with eternal condemnation. Take a moment and reread the passage and you will see what I mean.  Some might wonder about “fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” (v27) and “worse punishment” (v29). The latter expression is discussed below. The former merely refers to God’s zeal in judging those who oppose Him (which can certainly include believers). We might translate the phrase in question, “the fire of zeal which will devour the adversaries.” Fire is a common biblical metaphor for temporal judgment. Only when the context clearly specifies eternal burning does fire in Scripture refer to hell. There is no such indication here.  Temporal Judgment Is Being Threatened  There are two lines of evidence which show that temporal judgment is in view:  GENUINE BELIEVERS IN VIEW As shown above, genuine believers are in view and believers cannot experience eternal condemnation. Thus, whatever the judgment is, it must either refer to the Judgment Seat of Christ, which this passage clearly does not, or to some judgment here and now.  MANY TEMPORAL JUDGMENTS ARE WORSE THAN DEATH Verse 29 speaks of a punishment worse than the death penalty which was given under the Law of Moses (v 28). There are many temporal judgments worse than immediate death. Lingering emotional, spiritual, and physical pain (which may well culminate in premature death) can be much worse than immediate death.  The point of comparison is with temporal, not eternal, judgment. https://faithalone.org/grace-in-focus-articles/a-punishment-worse-than-death/

So, the idea is one of knowing the gospel and rejecting Jesus will amplify the earthliness and fleshliness of the person and bring about the life worse than death, just as transgressing the law amplifies and makes conspicuous one’s sinfulness.  In this way Jesus was the pure goat and scapegoat of Yom Kippur in a moral influence sense, not a penal substitution one.  One commenter suggests that:

• This second goat, instead of dying a quick death at the hand of the high priest, was instead weighed down with the sin of the entire nation.  We may take this lightly, but that goat had the wrath of the Lord to contend with.  Certainly, in that sense, the scapegoat suffered a fate worse than death.  https://blogs.baylor.edu/christianscriptures1and2/2013/09/27/a-fate-worse-than-death/   The excess of violence done to just Jesus is meant to awaken the law written on our heart so we will truly see ourselves and repent: a moral influence death rather than a penal substitution one. 

Such a Jesus in hiding would not “live on” literally resurrected, but in spirit in the faces of those who loved and followed him.  The story of a literal wrongful crucifixion or stoning would be a catalyst inspiring and energizing his followers.  This is the sense in which we Rise Again in the famous Rankin Family song: Jesus as exemplar and teacher living on in his followers, like Socrates did.

The song was written by Leon Dubinsky, a songwriter from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for a 1984 stage musical titled The Rise and Follies of Cape Breton, as an anthem of resilience and hope at a time when Cape Breton Island was going through an economic crisis. According to Dubinsky, the song is about “the cycles of immigration, the economic insecurity of living in Cape Breton, the power of the ocean, the meaning of children, and the strength of home given to us by our families, our friends and our music.

Rise Again

Lyrics

When the waves roll on over the waters

And the ocean cries

We look to our sons and daughters

To explain our lives

As if a child could tell us why

That as sure as the sunrise

As sure as the sea

As sure as the wind in the trees

We rise again in the faces

Of our children

We rise again in the voices of our song

We rise again in the waves out on the ocean

And then we rise again

When the light goes dark with the forces of creation

Across a stormy sky

We look to reincarnation to explain our lives

As if a child could tell us why

That as sure as the sunrise

As sure as the sea

As sure as the wind in the trees

We rise again in the faces

Of our children

We rise again in the voices of our song

We rise again in the waves out on the ocean

And then we rise again

We rise again in the faces

Of our children

We rise again in the voices of our song

We rise again in the waves out on the ocean

And then we rise again