look also at how Jesus references the Hebrew Scriptures in Luke 7.
Verse 22 reads (with OT references): “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight (Isaiah 29:28, 35:5, 61:1-2), the lame walk (Isaiah 35:6), the lepers are cleansed (1 Kings 17:24, 2 Kings 5:1-27), the deaf hear (Isaiah 29:18, 35:5), the dead are raised (1 Kings 17-24, 2 Kings 5:1-27), the poor have good news brought to them (Isaiah 29:19).”
In every reference Jesus makes to the book of Isaiah, there is an associated Isianic verse that includes divine vengeance. Yet, when Jesus quotes from it, he leaves off such vengeance.
For John, this would have been a great offense. Thus, Jesus concludes his message with, “And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
If Jesus Had To Die Before We Could Be Forgiven, I Have A Few More Questions
Why did God prevent Herod from killing baby Jesus?
If we reduce the atonement to such a primitive, isolated transaction (as I believe PS does), there is no reason why the atonement would not “work” had Jesus died death by another means.
So why the cross? Why not just let Herod slaughter Jesus as a baby? If God just needed the death of someone who didn’t owe him death, than there’s no reason to stop the death of baby Jesus.
.. if God is unable to forgive us without a blood sacrifice to cover our sin, it once again makes no sense that Jesus freely forgave people on the basis of faith alone.
Old Testament Law: The Accuser Christ Defeated on the Cross
he Bible calls the Devil (however one wants to define him/that) as the “accuser.” In this regard, it points to this force of evil as being someone/something that is constantly pointing out our sin and failures, which we all have. In fact, in Revelation 12:10 the accuser is described as one who stands before God and accuses us day and night– constantly.
.. In Romans 7 Paul writes that he wouldn’t have even known he was a sinner apart from the law (7:7), and that the law ended up arousing sin (v5) and death:
“But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.”
When considering what the law does, one could even say that the law itself is our accuser.
.. Thus, a chief work of the cross is that Christ has completely freed us from the oppression of living under OT law, which became the chief barrier between ourselves and God. To this Paul also writes in Ephesians that Christ has “destroyed the barrier” by “ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations” (2:15).
.. showed that one could keep the law perfectly, but still be murdered under the weight of it– even if that person was God in the flesh. I can think of no stronger basis for setting something aside.
No, Jesus Wasn’t Born To Die (The Part of the Christmas Story We Screw Up)
In the Bible, the birth announcement that the Christ has come is made by the angels to shepherds– and what’s interesting is that there’s no mention of God’s anger, wrath, or anything else. In fact, the opposite is true.
When the angels announce the birth they say, “Fear not! For behold, we bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day a savior, who is Christ the Lord…” The angels went on to praise God, saying “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth toward humanity, with whom he is well pleased.“
.. Jesus didn’t come to die– he came to show us how to live.
.. This is precisely why in the book of 1 John we’re told, “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” It’s why 1 Peter says, “He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.” And it’s also why, just hours before Jesus is executed, he looks at each one of his followers and tells them, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have.”
.. We were the ones who killed him– and even in that act, he shows us what love looks like.
.. An invitation to live differently, to live fully, to be an imitator of God by being an imitator of Jesus– the one who was the ultimate revelation of what God is like.