Autor: Ormerod, Neil

Buch: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Titel: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Stichwort: Erlösung - NT; Jesus, Ursache des Todes - Antworten (NT-Stellen); Urs von Balthasar (5 Elemente): Versöhnung, Sühne (pro nobis), Befreiung, Teilnahme am trinitarischen Leben, Liebe; Evangelien: Königreich Gottes -> Widerstand -> Abendmahl

Kurzinhalt: destroy him, discrediting his teaching and his mission (Mark 3:6). These two accounts of Jesus' death, one highly theologized, and the other embedded in a historical narrative, sit side by side, barely making contact in the consciousness of many ...

Textausschnitt: 5 Jesus and the Story of Redemption

90a IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER we explored the notion of original sin, both in its traditional formulations and in a modern reformulation. As we noted, central to the development of the doctrine of original sin is the question, from what are we saved? Christianity began as an experience of salvation. Central to that salvation were the mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those events transformed lives in powerful and unexpected ways, for example, the conversion of Paul. Yet the early church and the subsequent history of reflection on these experiences have found it difficult to give expression to how it is that Jesus' death and resurrection are saving events. Just as the language of original sin draws on mythological thought forms, so too does the language of salvation (soteriology). In this chapter we shall explore the experience and language of salvation, in its biblical, traditional, and more contemporary forms. In doing so we should never sever the connection between the language of salvation and the language of original sin, for they remain always intimately connected. (Fs)

THE NEW TESTAMENT WITNESS

90b Let us begin with a simple question: Why did Jesus die? When we turn to the New Testament witness apart from the Gospels, particularly the letters of Paul, we find a variety of symbols and metaphors for trying to understand the death of Jesus. Jesus' death is redemptive, the offering of a ransom, a sacrifice (Eph 5:2; Heb 9:26), a sin offering (Rom 3:25), bringing about a reconciliation with God; it is the result of a struggle with principalities and powers (Eph 6:12), with death itself (1 Cor 15:26), resulting in the restoration of what was lost by Adam, and so on. On the other hand, when we read the Gospels themselves, we find a fairly grubby story of power and politics, of enemies and rivalries, of people who very early in the ministry of Jesus set out to destroy him, discrediting his teaching and his mission (Mark 3:6). These two accounts of Jesus' death, one highly theologized, and the other embedded in a historical narrative, sit side by side, barely making contact in the consciousness of many Christians. One of the challenges of contemporary soteriology is to bring these two accounts into meaningful contact. (Fs)
91a Let us begin with a focus on the religious language we associate with the death of Jesus. Rather than attempt a comprehensive account, I shall make use of a summary presented by Hans Urs von Balthasar of five elements that are discernible in the New Testament witness of salvation, and to which any account must relate in some way or other.1

1. The work of reconciliation is achieved through the act of the Son "giving himself up," allowing himself to be handed over, to the point of the "shedding of blood."This shedding of blood "is understood as the atoning (Rom 3:25), justifying (Rom 5:9) and purifying factor (1 John 1:7; Rev 7:14) at all levels of the New Testament."

2. This act of "giving himself up" is "for us," pro nobis, to the extent of "exchanging places with us," so that Jesus becomes sin (2 Cor 5:21) and a "curse" (Gal 3:13). "On the basis of this exchange of place, we are already 'reconciled to God' (Rom 5:18) in advance of our own consent, 'while we were yet sinners.'" We have died with Christ and are risen with him; we must now become what we are. (Fs)

3. Reconciliation involves being liberated from something: from slavery to sin (Rom 7; John 8:34); from the devil (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8); from principalities and powers (Col 2:20); from the law (Rom 7:1); from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10). This liberation comes at a high cost or ransom, that is, through the blood of Christ (1 Cor 6:20). It is a propitiation producing an eternal redemption (Heb 9:12). (Fs)

4. However, more is involved than just a liberation or restoration of lost freedom; there is also being drawn into the trinitarian life of God, becoming adopted sons and daughters (Gal 4:6), receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts (Rom 5:5). We become sharers in the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). (Fs)

5. While there are numerous references to "God's anger," the entire reconciliation process is the result of God's merciful love; it is because of the love of the Father (Rom 8:39) and the love of Christ (Rom 8:35) that Christ was given up for us. Everything flows from this one source, divine love. (Fs)

91b Three things should be noted from this summary by Balthasar. First, salvation is a rich notion, not something to be reduced to just one of the aspects that he identifies. It is not only salvation "from," but also salvation "for," in particular for our participation in the divine life. Second, the source, impulse, and initiative of salvation come from God, who is first and foremost a God of salvation, not condemnation. Finally, despite the power of this summary, it makes almost no contact with the story of Jesus' own life as narrated in the Gospels. (Fs)

92a When we turn to the Gospels we find an equally rich account of a life focused on proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Jesus begins his mission with a call to repent and an announcement of the closeness of the Kingdom (Mark 1:15). He manifests the Kingdom through the power of his miracles, restoring people to a fullness of life and participation in the community, and through his symbolic actions such as table fellowship with public sinners (Matt 11:19). The Kingdom of God becomes the defining symbol of Jesus' mission, a kingdom of reconciliation of people with one another and with God. Jesus' preaching about the Kingdom speaks of reaching out to those at the margins, the poor, the sick, the ones who are lost. All are invited to enter the kingdom, so that even tax collectors and prostitutes are "entering the Kingdom" (Matt 21:32). So powerful is the coming of the Kingdom that even the gates of hell cannot hold out against it (Matt 16:18). Hell itself is under siege.2

92b Yet, inexplicably, this message of forgiveness, inclusiveness, and reconciliation almost immediately provokes resistance (Mark 3:6 and parallels). Jesus' preaching, his miracles, and symbolic actions are unsettling the established religious, political, and social world. He preaches with authority, not like the other religious leaders, and his word of command has the power to expel demons (Mark 1:27; 5:1-20), as even his opponents acknowledge (Mark 3:22). As his mission continues, Jesus encounters growing resistance to his message, and he becomes increasingly strident in his condemnation of the religious leaders of the people (Matt 23:1-39). His own fate at their hands becomes increasingly clear to him and poses a major dilemma for the continuation of his mission. Does he avoid conflict, perhaps modify his actions or his preaching, so that he may continue to actively proclaim the Kingdom, if in more muted form? Or does he find a way to incorporate his predictable fate into the very heart of his mission (Mark 8:31-33)? Can Jesus make his otherwise meaningless fate at the hands of the religious and political authorities something that is full of meaning, a manifestation of the Kingdom of God, in all its powerlessness and power, its strength and weakness?

92c The most significant indication we have that Jesus sought to integrate his fate into the very fabric of his mission is found in the Last Supper narratives. Drawing on themes from the Old Testament, Jesus speaks of his death as initiating a new covenant, to be achieved through the spilling of his blood, his imminent death. His death is a death for others, for the forgiveness of sin "for many" (see Mark 14:22-25). In the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper we can find the seeds of the meaning placed on Jesus' death by Paul (notably Rom 3:24-5) and the other authors of the New Testament (e.g., Heb 7:26-27). It is in the intent of Jesus that the two sides of our response to the question, Why did Jesus die? find their point of intersection. (Fs)