Why Did Jesus Die? Part 1
Original Christian with a Question: Why did Jesus, the Lamb of God, die for humankind?
Due to the complexity and embedded theology from 2,000 years this response will be a long answer which we have subdivided into segment posts. I invite you to grab a favorite beverage and enjoy.
Part 1: Historical and Theological Perspectives (This post)
Part 2: What if we back up further in history? The Temple and Jewish Practice of Sacrifice
Part 3: Ancient Theories Influence on Modern Translations; Taking a Look at the Original Greek and Aramaic Words and Translations
Let’s Begin with Historical Perspective
Rome was a republic, based on laws. Historically and legally, the only persons that could be crucified had to be enemies of Rome, like rebels or insurrectionists. Thus, by Roman law, thieves were not crucified, neither murderers, unless they murdered a Roman soldier or politician. Jesus was “legally” crucified for insurrection against Pax Romana (the policy of ferociously defending Roman Peace for the benefit of maximum economic and political stability) when he upset the tables of men selling sacrifices at the temple. The temple system was corrupt at this time as high priests were no longer appointed by merit, but appointed by Roman oversight to those agreeable to Roman rule. The system had become a vehicle to siphon tribute to Rome.
Also, under Pax Romana new cults were seen as a threat to peace and order. The Romans really didn’t want people debating religion and politics. New religions often sparked hostile arguments and public brawls from fundamentalists of the established ancient religions. Judaism was acceptable because it had been around for 1,500+ years; hence early Christians did not want to be recognized as a new religion, but the continuation of Judaism.
Let’s Add a Theological Perspective
The above are historical facts but to thoroughly answer your question, I need to introduce a theological term called apologetics. During the time of Christ, most people around the Mediterranean region were polytheistic pagans who believed in many gods. They thought it quite strange, and limiting to have only one god, even if it was an “all-powerful God.” After Jesus was crucified, most pagans dismissed “The Way” of following Jesus because he died and did not change anything politically or militaristically. We know that the remaining apostles and some of Jesus’ followers grew the church because of the power of the Holy Spirit, through which they performed many of the same miracles Jesus had done. But a couple centuries later, many Christian priests did not have the same powerful ministry. They were more academic, dominated by logic and reason as compared to the early apostles who were mystics, dominated by the Holy Spirit. These church leaders needed to have a good logical explanation of why Jesus was crucified. This was the birth of apologetics, defined as: 1) systematic argumentative discourse in defense of a doctrine. 2) a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity.
This is essentially deductive reasoning to validate Jesus as the Messiah and justify everything that happened during his life, crucifixion and resurrection.
During the first millennium, the Ransom Theory of Salvation was developed by gnostics and later refined by Iranaeus in the 2nd century that a ransom had to be paid to Satan for the sins of the world. This teaching was prevalent in Christianity for a thousand years. But many pagans and others asked, “Why would an all-powerful God need any price to be paid? Why pay Satan? Is Satan as powerful as God?”
Fast Forward to another apologetic argument: St Anselm’s Satisfaction theory of Redemption from a manuscript completed in 1099 AD titled, “Why Did God Become Man?” This was written 1,060 years after the crucifixion and 500 years before the first English translation (King James Version) in 1611.
The following is an excellent summary from the Encyclopedia Britannica:
“According to this theory, which is based upon the feudal structure of society, finite humanity has committed a crime (sin) against infinite God. In feudal society, an offender was required to make recompense, or satisfaction, to the one offended according to that person’s status. Thus, a crime against a king would require more satisfaction than a crime against a baron or a serf. According to this way of thinking, finite humanity, which could never make satisfaction to the infinite God, could expect only eternal death. The instrument for bringing humans back into a right relationship with God, therefore, could be rendered only by someone who was both God—because God could overcome sin by sinlessness—and human—because humans were those who were guilty of sin. Anselm held that the death of the God-human (Christ) on the cross was the only rationally intelligible way in which sinful humankind could have been reconciled with God. Atonement is made possible through Christ, by whose infinite merits humanity is purified in an act of cooperative re-creation. Anselm rejected the view that humanity, through its sin, owes a debt to the Devil (ransom) and placed the essence of redemption in individual union with Christ in the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper), to which the sacrament of baptism (by which a person is incorporated into the church) opens the way.”
This teaching made perfect sense during the dark ages, and it seems to have biased Bible translators even to this day, because it became embedded into our theology and way of thinking in Western Civilization. (In Part 3 are scriptural translations as examples to support this position.) Not only did this theory massively increase dependence on the church for forgiveness of sins through communion and baptism, it strongly influenced kings and kingdoms throughout Europe during the Dark Ages and Renaissance.
(Continued in Part 2: What if we back up further in history? The Temple and Jewish Practice of Sacrifice)
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