A Word from Pastor Lisa: Why did Jesus die?

Petts, John, 1914-1991. Christ Crucified, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. – John 19:16b-18 (NRSV)

When I was 15 years old, I sat on the floor at a youth event where the room was dimly lit by a candle. The crucifixion story was read. I was reminded how God sent Jesus to die for my sins. For added effect, someone pounded a nail into a two-by-four. The music of Ray Bolz blared in the background:

I nailed Him there With my sins and my transgressions I cried, "Oh my God, now I understand!” When I turned and saw the hammer in my hand

Tears streamed down my face because I was convinced that my teenage sins, lusts, and foibles alone were enough to hold the Savior of the World to the cross. Why did Jesus die? I killed him.

By college and seminary, I thought Jesus was showing me an example with his crucifixion, so that I would pick up my own cross and save the world. I needed to rescue my friends from their mental health concerns. I should save that child in the Haitian orphanage. I could don my super hero cape and fix every problem in the world. Why did Jesus die? So that I could pick up my cross and follow him.

Early in ministry, I was a champion for justice who visited people in prison, had a pen pal on death row, and prayed outside death penalty executions. I protested for higher wages for custodians and tried to save someone from sex trafficking. I wanted to take down the evil empire I believed killed Jesus. Since Jesus threatened the political and religious leaders of his day with his radical love and justice, they wanted to kill him. Why did Jesus die? Because he was a threat to the powers that be.

This year I’m no longer willing to pin down one reason Jesus died. After so much loss and grief from the pandemic, I want to spend today in the silent mystery of a God who loves us enough to put on flesh, save us from ourselves, and overcome death from the powers that be. I’m willing to extinguish candles one-by-one and allow the darkness of death to encroach, trusting that darkness, too, is a gift. I’m ready to hear the story again, painful as it may be, so that I may repent of my sins, relinquish my privilege, and recognize how I participate in systemic oppression. I long for the courage to pick up my cross, not to save people, but to walk alongside them with the patient love of Christ. I seek grace for a church that is often a pawn of evil, rather than a bastion of peace, justice, and hope.

Why did Jesus die? Let’s linger with that question and the multitude of possible answers for us and our church. Let’s join in worship tonight, in person or online. And let’s remember that nothing, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39, NRSV).