Jesus and the Cross

     Jesus' death on the cross doesn't really make sense as a sacrifice, but His death to fleshly desires does. We are called to be Christ-like and are called to be living sacrifices, so wouldn't it be safe to venture that Jesus' sacrifice was a living sacrifice? Sacrifice for atonement of sins was a specific practice for the ancient Hebrews and was nothing like what Jesus did for us on the cross. Sacrifice for the Hebrews consisted of choosing an animal without blemishes, projecting their sins onto the animal, slaughtering the animal, and laying it before God. Jesus came and was set before God at His baptism, slaughtered His flesh in the desert when He was tempted by Satan, projected His cleanliness onto us, and rose again because He was perfect in the sight of God.


     Jesus' atonement sacrifice was in the desert, not on the cross; the cross was a necessary consequence of Him destroying Satan's control over the world in the desert. When Jesus was tempted in the desert, He overcame the temptation for self-sustenance (food), the temptation of self-righteousness (testing God for your own pleasure), and self-empowerment (putting yourself in a place of power). These are the three things that Satan had controlled on the Earth since the fall of Adam and Eve. We know that Satan was the ruler of this world up until that point because he had the authority to deliver kingdoms to Jesus. Satan had this power because God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the world and they forfeited it to Satan.

     Jesus' atonement sacrifice was completed in the desert because He came to do away with sacrifices, not to strengthen them. Jesus could only start His ministry of forgiving people and showing them the grace of God after He paid for their sins in the desert by putting an end to His fleshly desires and becoming one with the father again. Jesus came as a living sacrifice because God hates death and death is only a consequence of sin.

     Because Jesus broke Satan's hold on the Earth, Satan used the Jewish leaders of the time to kill Him, but Satan forgot one thing: Jesus had never sinned and therefore could not die because death only comes as a consequence of sin. Therefore, Jesus rose again. It's helpful to think of the Chronicles of Narnia: When Azlan is killed, he raises again because the "ancient magic" dictates that one cannot die who has laid his life down for another. Jesus came back because He was not bound by the law. Jesus fulfilled the law and broke the chains of death because He died an innocent man. This was also symbolized in Narnia when the two girls found the chains broken on Azlan's tomb. C.S. Lewis is a genius.

     The prophecies of Jesus' death aren't about Jesus dying for our sins, but about Him dying because of our sins. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our sins is stating that He broke our bondage to sin and transgressions and was punished for it. Jesus didn't die for our sins, He died because of our sins and the only way to honor Him for that is by having faith in Him and accepting Him as our deliverer. Jesus fulfilled the law and we don't live by the law any longer, but we live by faith. We will not be judged by the law, but we will be judged by faith. Faith is what Jesus gave us as an alternative to the law. Perfect faith is accepting and following Jesus and therefore loving the Lord our God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

     Jesus was not seen by His executors as perfect and unblemished, but as flawed and sinful.  Jesus' executioners were not projecting their sins onto Him.  Jesus' executioners did not slaughter Him, they crucified Him, which has nothing to do with Hebrew sacrifices.  Jesus was not laid before God, but shut into a tomb.  Jesus' death cannot be a sacrifice because He didn't sacrifice anything through His death; He knew He would live again.  Jesus sacrificed everything through His life.