The Powers and the Story of Jesus's Death

• "The story tells us that the logic of retribution was an instrument of the fallen Powers, not God--and that Jesus's followers should see in the story a direct refutation of that logic." (AK location 2600)

• "We have not resolved the issue of salvation until we face the fact that people resist God's love."

• Jesus faced resistance from three types of sources:

  • 1. Cultural exclusivism: the interpretation of the Torah by the Pharisees
  • 1. Religions institutionalism: temple practicies
  • 1. Political authoritarianism: the government of the Roman Empire

• "The law, temple, and empire may be understood in terms of the Powers analysis developed by Walter Wink." (AK location 2611)

  • "Wink presents the Powers in terms of the basic social structures of human life."

• "The Powers rely on belief. As long as we believe in their ultimacy, trusting in them for security and meaning, the Powers rule. Jesus challenges human beings to change our allegiance." (AK location 2632)

• "That Jesus died as he did shows that the logic of retribution reflects a rejection of God's will, not its fullfillment." (AK location 2643)

• "The Gospels understand Jesus's death as the key event in the story they tell. My question is this: why is Jesus's death so important to this story?"

• Jesus's death links with salvation in that:

  • 1. it exposes the fallacy of the logic of retribution
  • 1. it exposes the direct link between this "murderous" logic and the institutions that exploit it
  • 1. it exposes that the spiral of violence set loose by this logic may be broken only by non-retaliation and mercy in the way Jesus embodied them
  • 1. it sets the stage for God's act that vindicates Jesus through his resurrection

Setting the Stage: Birth Narratives

• Matthew and Luke's birth narratives foreshadow coming conflicts, particularly King Herod's response to the knowledge of Jesus's birth.

Initial Tensions

• Temptations of Jesus as recorded in Luke. Luke points to coming conflicts when he concludes after the temptations: "When the devil had finished every test, he departed until an opportune time." (Luke 4:13)

• Luke then goes on to the beginning of Jesus's public ministry in his home and after an initially positive response Jesus pushes the issue with two examples of how God's blessing came to Gentiles in the time of the past prophets Elijah and Elisha, in part due to the hard hearts of the Hebrews. The synagogue is filled with rage and seek to kill Jesus.

Conflicts Intensify

• In this section Grimsrud focuses on Jesus's interactions with the Pharisees, with the conflict between the two increasing.

• "Jesus makes clear an inevitable, unavoidable link between following his way and conflict with the Powers that were so hostile to him. The inevitability of conflict reflects the nature of the Powers. They will not relinquish their domination without a fight." (AK location 2796)

• "When they [the Pharisees] criticize him for welcoming so-called 'sinners' and those labeled 'unclean,' they reveal that their own priorities lay contrary to the actual priorities of God." (AK location 2826)

• Luke 11:45-52. "Jesus links himself with the prophets of old who were killed by the lawyers' ancestors in Israel. Understandably, given the vehemence of Jesus's critique, Luke reports that the lawyers and Pharisees 'begin to be very hostile toward him...'" Luke 11:53-54 (AK location 2849)

• "The die is cast. Jesus faces deadly foes"

• "The system is corrupt; the hold of the Powers must be broken. And conflict will grow, because the Powers will not surrender." (AK location 2863)

Jesus's Final Days

• Begins with Jesus's entry in to Jerusalem in a kingly manner, although rather than with a show of power, he road on the back of a donkey.

• Jesus's opponents change from the Pharisees to the chief priests and Sadducees, the temple authorities.

• Jesus then moves on to the temple. Jesus charges that the temple has become a den of robbers. "Unlike with the Law, Jesus seems to see the temple as a dead end, not a structure that can be restored to an original, life-enhancing purpose." (AK location 2926)

• "So when he curses the fig tree, drives out the merchants, tells the parable of the vineyard, and predicts the actual physical destruction of the temple, Jesus sets himself firmly against the religious structures that dominate his culture. Jesus exposes the collaboration of religious institutionalism with political authoritarianism--and thereby makes clear that both stand in opposition to Israel's true God." (AK location 2955)

• "Pilate mostly, though, treats Jesus as a tool to manipulate the Jewish leaders and to transfer the crowd's support for Jesus into support for Rome. Pilate's intention is not placate 'the Jews' but to humiliate them." (AK location 3027)

• Grimsrud then details how Pilate manipulates the Jewish authorities to get what he wants, a public confession from the chief priests of the emperor's sovereignty. "The chief priests answered, 'We have no king by the emperor'" John 19:15

• "Jesus was one of those thousands of Jews executed publicly on crosses, because what they represented had to be suppressed in order to safeguard law and order in the Roman state." (AK location 3055) (McClaren, Pax Romana)

• "How is the story of Jesus's death related to the Bible's portrayal of salvation?" I believe that at the heart of the saving relevance of the story we find an exposure of the Powers of cultural exclusivism, religious institutionalism, and political authoritarianism as responsible for Jesus's death. They too easily become idols that claim trust that is due God alone. As such, they become the very forces from which God's saving work means to liberate human beings."

• "The resurrection adds a profound message of vindication to the entire story."

• "From start to finish, Jesus's message totally reinforced the original story. His resurrection vindicates this message. (AK location 3083)

• "Jesus died to illumine the ages-old truth--God's mercy seeks healing for all who trust in it. This mercy perseveres even in the face of the powerful violence of its enemies." (AK location 3095)

Tension between Jesus teaching and practicing a ministry of love and that Jesus died a criminal's death. Three options for deciding how to interpret the relationship between these two:

• 1. The logic of retribution resolves the tension by minimizing the significance of Jesus's teaching and practices. For salvation only two points matter: (a) Jesus was sinless and (b) Jesus died a sacrificial death and therefore Jesus's crucifixion is the means to achieve salvation.

     • Grimsrud says the problem is that this notion of salvation was foreign to Jesus and to the Old Testament salvation story.

• 1. The other extreme, all that actually matters is the truthfulness of Jesus's message of love.

     • Grimsrud says this is closer, "however Jesus's execution may have importance for how we understand salvation." (AK location 2561)

• 1. The approach taken in this book: Jesus's crucifixion is crucial for how we understand the Bible's salvation story, but not because it adds a needed element that makes salvation possible. "Rather, Jesus's crucifixion illumines what is at stake in God's efforts to bring healing to the world, what forces oppose these efforts, and how those forces may be overcome." (AK location 2573)

     • In other words, Jesus's crucifixion says more about those who oppose God than about God himself.

Throughout his book Grimsrud makes references to "Powers" or to "the Powers," which sounds much like an atonement theory known as Christus Victor, which was originally presented by Gustaf Aulen in 1940. Aulen calls Christus Victor as the classic view of atonement that emerges with Christianity itself.

Gustaf Aulen (born this day, May 15, 1879; died 1977) was the Lutheran bishop of Strangnas, Sweden, and the leading figure in a loosely-defined movement within twentieth-century theology called the Lundensian Theology. Wrote Christus Victor, published 1940

On page 20 Aulen defines Christus Victor, "is the idea of the Atonement as a Divine conflict and victory; Christ-Christus Victor-fights and triumphs over the evil powers of the world, the 'tyrants' under which mankind is in bondage and suffering, and in Him God reconciles the world to himself."

Drake Shelton's review of Christus Victor

Derek Flood: Penal Substitution vs Christus Victor

Atonement and Sacrifice: Doctrine and Worship - St. Augustine and the Fathers

Wikipedia

What are principalities and powers?

Chapter 7 from The New Being by Paul Tillich: Principalities and Powers

Walter Wink

• Wikipedia entry

• Web site

• Beyond Just War and Pacifism: Jesus' Nonviolent Way

• Confronting The Powers: An Interview with Walter Wink and June Keener Wink. An Interview by Steve Holt

Believe the Good News

• "The story told in the Gospels places itself in the heart of the traditions of Israel." (AK location 1975)

• He does not tell a different story, but proclaims the truth of the old story.

The Birth Stories

• "Luke presents John the Baptist as a prophet in the direct line of the Old Testament prophets, the guardians of Yahweh's message of salvation." (AK location 1988)

• Grimsrud cites several versus of Luke that connect Jesus to the Old Testament story

Jesus's Self-conscious Link With The Old Testament

• He anchors his identity in Israel's story.

• Matthew 5:17-18

• "Jesus did find himself in conflict with religious leaders over differing interpretations of scripture. But these conflicts must not prevent us from recognizing that in his own self-understanding, he affirms the law and the prophets." (AK location 2092)

Jesus and Liberation

• Jesus begins his ministry by speaking of liberation, Luke 4:16-30

• "Jesus draws on Torah to transform how people view debt and God's participation among the people."

• The elites used debt to their advantage, Jesus saw debt as an opportunity for forgiveness. "Jesus's God was not a God who maintained debt records for the purpose of foreclosing on the poor, but a God who canceled debt and restored life." (AK location 2119)

• Explicit affirmation here against retribution. "Jubilee theology does not accept the logic of retribution that portrays God as demanding perfect obedience or a violent sacrifice as a necessary basis for earning God's favor." (AK location 2119)

  • Recall the "original" language of the Lord's Prayer: forgive our debts; forgive our trespasses; forgive our sins

The Presence of the Kingdom

• Grimsrud uses Mark 1 for his discussion about the Kingdom.

• Five key points to Jesus' proclamation:

  • 1. the kingdom of God
  • 1. that kingdom has "come near" or is "at hand"
  • 1. the call to "repent"
  • 1. the call to "believe"
  • 1. the description of the message as "good news"

• In talking about what listeners are to do, Grimsrud says "Jesus offers no hint that repentance and belief are conditions God requires before making the kingdom present." (AK location 2181) It is already present.

• Contrast John the Baptist's view of repentance with Jesus's. Grimsrud says the difference looms large. "John basically presents repentance as an act born out of fear....In contrast, Jesus presents repentance in the context not of fear but of joy. He teaches, not, 'turn because God is angry and will destroy.' He teaches, rather, 'turn because God is love.'" (AK location 2192)

• Believe may also be translated as trust. "To 'repent and believe' means to turn from fear, mistrust, and alienation toward joy, trust, and healing." (AK location 2205)

• "Jesus's death adds nothing to the means of salvation--God's mercy saves, from the reprieve of Cain and the calling of Abraham in Genesis 1-12 on. Instead, Jesus's death reveals the depth of the Powers' rebellion and the ultimate power of God's love. So Jesus's death indeed profoundly heightens our understanding of salvation." (AK location 2216)

Evidence of Jesus's Identity

• "Following the first programmatic statements, Jesus went to work to embody the presence of the kingdom with his words and deeds." (AK location 2227)

• "Jesus's response to John's question serves as a programmatic summary of his message. What shows most of all that he is God's agent? Jesus answers: the 'Coming One' heals those who hurt and proclaims the good news of God's love to those who need it most." (AK location 2241)

• Grimsrud says that Matthew 9:33 provides a hint of connection with Jesus's death. Cites the Powers (as represented by the religious leader) as reacting to the salvation that Jesus offers.

Jesus's Prescription for Eternal Life

• The synoptic Gospels include only two stores of Jesus being asked directly about eternal life.

• The parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37

  • The "expert in the law" asks Jesus an intellectual question.

  • Jesus turns the tables, asks the lawyer what he thinks. He provides the "traditional" answer, from Deuteronomy 6:5 (Love God), and Leviticus 19:18 (Love your neighbor)

  • The lawyer asks for clarity of who is our neighbor, and Jesus answers with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were considered to be enemies of the Jews.

  • "Jesus characterizes eternal life in terms of mercy toward the one in need." (AK location 2331)

• Jesus encounter with the "rich young ruler" (Matt 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-25)

  • This time Jesus links salvation with the Commandments

  • "Jesus makes clear that two closely linked elements lie at the heart of the Commandments: (1) do not idolize wealth and (2) to be committed to God means to be committed to care for the vulnerable ones in the community." (AK location 2343)

• "When we consider Jesus's two responses to direct questions about salvation, we see something unremarkable if we understand Jesus to be in continuity with the Old Testament. Jesus actually adds nothing to the Old Testament portrayal of salvation." (AK location 2343)

• "We do not see in these two stores any hint that Jesus thinks of salvation in terms of the logic of retribution." (AK location 2370)

Jesus's Portrayal of God

• Parable of the Prodigal Son, or Parable of the Welcoming Father. Luke 15:11-32

The 'Great Divide'

• Matthew 25:31. Division of sheep from goats. Sheep are the ones who ministered to the needy. The goats are convicted because they disregarded "the least of these."

• "We become whole as we incarnate that mercy in our treatment of other vulnerable ones." (AK location 2415)

Jesus's Allusions To His Death

• Jesus most directly linked his death with salvation in Mark 10:45

• "Ancient Israelites used the term "ransom" (originally a compensation required for the release of slaves) as a metaphor for the liberation of God's people from slavery in Egypt and from the oppression of exile. It need not imply a price paid to someone so much as simply a metaphor for bringing redemption." (AK location 2444)

• "He brings Exodus-like liberation from the domination of the Powers... Jesus willingly gives his life as an expression of God's pure mercy. Only a commitment to the way of love that does not waver even in the face of the Powers' extreme violence opens the way to true life." (AK location 2479)

Jesus's Soteriology

• Soteriology: theology dealing with salvation especially as effected by Jesus Christ

• "Jesus proclaimed a simple salvation message. Turn to God and trust in the good news of God's love. To make this message perfectly clear, Jesus expressed the good news of God's love in concrete ways." (AK location 2490)

• "Jesus's death as part of the salvation story reveals like nothing else the hostility of the fallen Powers to the social outworking of the logic of mercy." (AK location 2500)

• "The basic issue here is whether the logic of mercy may actually make a difference in a world governed by retribution."

  • Is the "good news" that God provided Jesus as the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins OR is the "good news" that God isn't concerned with retribution for what we may or may not have done to him but rather that our lives right now may be full?

Is salvation as taught by Jesus a personal salvation or community salvation?

• If it is personal, why the shift from the context of community as proclaimed by the prophets? (Considering that the prophets had a strong influence on Jesus.)

Is Grimsrud's presentation on idolatry consistent with your understand of why idolatry is bad?

Grimsrud appears to associate the need for salvation with disharmony, and identifies the ways the prophets said Israel (and us) can achieve harmony. Does that mean this is the "formula" for salvation? If so, how does this relate to grace?

• Actually, I think Grimsrud is trying to address the problems associated with the abuses of the law and sacrifices and doesn't intend to present this as a formula for salvation.