At the end of page 61 and beginning of 62, Boso talks about Christ as if He is a victim. I believe this is a mistake that many people, even those who claim to be Christians, make often today. I love the answer that Anselm gives on page 62. He explains how Jesus willingly gave up his life to save sinners. He chose to go to the cross and endure the wrath of God because He loves us so much. As Hebrews 12:2 says He, "For the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." It brought him joy to redeem us. Even though it was painful beyond our imagination, He bore our shame. Saying that Jesus is a victim paints a false picture of the incredible act that Christ performed on the cross.
I commented on Francesca and Hannah's posts.
I completely agree. It weakens the true story of the cross and its power. Our view of the cross should not be that Jesus was, against his will, thrown into the situation, rather that it was his true love for us that motivated him to willingly go to his own death. That is a love that goes so far beyond anything we can comprehend.
ReplyDeleteHebrews 12:2 is the verse that I was thinking of when I read this part as well. It is very important to recognize that Jesus did not go to the cross unwillingly. He did so for the "joy that was set before him". What a wondrous God we serve.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God Himself, suffering so much pain and death to redeem us, and then feel joy in doing it breaks my heart. He loves us so much that He would go through all of that, even though we don't deserve His love. It's....incredible.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Dallas, I agree that this creates a false image of Christ in our minds. It is incredible that the Son of God manifested himself into man to redeem the very people that mocked him. If we simply state that Jesus was a victim then we discount the work done on the cross.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it definitely paints a false picture of Jesus. Not only because it discredits how much He loved us but if Jesus is a victim, doesn't that also imply that He was subject to something outside of His own power and control? That in itself would have to mean that Jesus was not fully God which would then contradict the whole Gospel.
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