Making Sense of the Crucifixion of Jesus

Crucifixion: truly a brutal, violent way to kill another human being.  A person hangs naked on a cross with lungs filling with fluid, struggling to breathe, and then succumbing after hours of struggle to the inevitable last gasp and death.  All the while, one’s suffering is a public spectacle. Such a death seems nothing less than diabolical to me.

Over the centuries, we’ve made an art of this dreadful execution.  Paintings and sculptures shield the impact of the senseless horror.  To distance ourselves even further, we’ve created theologies to blind us from the lack of humanity demonstrated in the crucifixion of Jesus.  Rather than take responsibility for the way we humans create ways to torture each other, we blame the heinous act of the crucifixion of Jesus on God.  Yes, God required it.  Let that sink in.  Christians commonly claim that God required that Jesus be brutally, violently killed.  What kind of deity is this?  Out of love, you say?  Are you out of your mind?

I don’t believe in a sadistic deity.  I don’t affirm the existence of some being that keeps track of each human frailty and makes us pay a debt for being weak and fallible people. After all, it is our very nature to have limits, to get things wrong, and to make mistakes. I don’t believe that the horrific death of Jesus was “the price to be paid” for some kind of debt we owe to a vengeful, perverted all-powerful being.  At its best, I think this kind of “theologizing” represents a pitiful attempt to make sense of something that’s truly senseless.  I don’t find it at all acceptable.  It’s surely not compatible with the belief in the Source of creation who birthed the cosmos and fills it with life and is known to us in love.

I don’t think we can explain the tragedy that is the crucifixion of Jesus in terms of the expiation of human sinfulness. The historical context speaks for itself.  The teachings of Jesus threatened the religious structures of his culture. His insistence on a personal, mystical connection with God who cared for each person meant there was no need for the religious establishment, even though he himself was an observant Jew.  Recognizing that Jesus threatened the way religious leaders controlled people, the religious leaders accused him of undermining the government.  The tyrannical government acted and sentenced Jesus to a cruel form of capital punishment.  Their intention was to make an example of him.  The religious leaders turned to the foreign occupying government knowing that the Romans would help them achieve their goal. The logic of the Romans was simple:  threaten our rule in any way and your fate will be public capital punishment.  In the end, it was the religious leaders of Jesus’ own community who played a political game that caused the death of Jesus.   Jesus’ death was carried out by a tyrannical government.

The four gospels recount different stories of what occurred, but they all present the same pattern:  Jesus died the way he lived.  Yes, even in the face of a cruel, unjust death, Jesus was true to his way of life.  He demonstrated patience.  He showed compassion.  He forgave the unforgivable.

I don’t find it helpful to try to make sense of the narratives of Jesus’ suffering and death with abstract theologies.  I find the platitudes about the death of Jesus as statements that twist the reality of what occurred.  Instead, I believe it’s critical to see the crucifixion of Jesus for what it was:  an attempt by corrupt leaders to silence a messenger of hope, peace, and reconciliation among people.

When we understand the crucifixion of Jesus within the context of the gospel narratives, we can clearly grasp that the injustice of Jesus’ death happens again and again throughout history.  It’s all too common for people to use political power to silence those who strive to protect others, inspire hope in the midst of despair, and compassion for those who suffer.  Yes, we see the face of Jesus crucified today in high school students who lead marches for sensible gun control, in the lives of refugees fleeing violence and deprivation looking for a safe haven, and in the struggle of those marginalized by society because of poverty, addiction, and other senseless reasons.   The crucifixion of Jesus isn’t just an event we recall each year in ritual but is a reality our cultures act out as surely as the ancient culture of Judea did two millennia ago.

As we mark the days of Holy Week, I invite you to allow the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus to overwhelm you with horror.  Hear the story for what it really says.  Then consider this:  where is it in your world that Jesus continues to be crucified?  Truly, as often as we marginalize, oppress, and render invisible the least ones, we do that to him.  Yes, we continue to nail the Christ on crosses and watch the suffering while justifying our treatment of the least ones in society.

Photo Source pixabay.com

Originally published on this site April 17, 2019