Why was Jesus crucified? Was the cross an act of God (to satisfy the divine wrath)? Was it simply the inevitable result of Jesus’s challenge to the Sadducees and Pharisees? Was he betrayed by followers who felt he had failed his promises to deliver a political kingdom? Or was this an act of sin itself...
Tag: Christian life
Understanding the Bible 22: Why It Matters Jesus Can Calm a Storm at Sea
While the biblical story centers on God’s rescue of humanity, Gen. 3 (the Garden of Eden story) makes is clear that the entire cosmos has been affected by the curse of sin. Nature itself is broken, and thus the project of salvation must include the restoration the entire created order. In this episode we take...
Understanding the Bible 21: Jesus and the Forgiveness of Sins
An elemental consequence of sin is alienation – alienation between people, between humanity and creation, and, most profoundly, alienation between humanity and God (see part 2 of this series for more detail). And thus central to the project of salvation is reconciliation – bringing creation back to healthy, loving relationship, beginning with the relationship between God...