A Bloodless Soteriology
To be fair
on Daniel Erlander, though he dismisses the Passover with the one-liner,
“Before they left the slaves ate a special meal called Passover”. he does
mention that, “The worship of the partner people included the offering of
sacrifices, ……” and that this, “ served as a way for restoring the divine-human
relationship,” (P15) and that Jesus’ Body and Blood is, “given and shed for all
for the forgiveness of sin.” P54.
So this
critique really relates to Alan Storey’s clip under the Manna & Mercy
banner entitled “Why did Jesus die?”
In this he
makes the statement that Jesus died as the ultimate expression of His love.
This
statement is manifestly true. Who would dispute this.
However he
also makes the statement that God didn’t send Jesus to die. It could not
possibly be the will of a loving father that his son should die. He illustrates
this with an account of how his father encouraged him not to retaliate when
bullied, which resulted in his getting a ‘blood nose’. Did my father want me to
not retaliate? The answer: “Yes”, Did he want me to get a blood nose? The
answer “Noooo.” Q.E.D.
He delivers
this piece of homespun logic with compelling homiletic passion, but
unfortunately neglects considerations of God’s sovereignty and omniscience, not
to mention flying in the face of numerous texts.
For example
Isaiah 53 reads as follows in verse 10:
Yet it
was the will of the LORD to crush Him;
He has put Him to grief when He makes His soul an offering
for guilt…”
And verse
11
“…and He
shall make many to be accounted righteous and He shall bear their iniquities”
“The
Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world.” Would be another relevant text.
Lest one is
inclined to dismiss these as mere ‘proof texts’ one needs to consider them
against the entire metanarative of the Bible.
This could
be summed up as, “Mercy triumphing over justice in the person of Jesus.”
The
difficulty with a soteriology which is simply anchored in Jesus’ loving and
pacific response to the worst that man can do, is that it regards any
reference to 'the blood' as incidental to the central issue of atonement.
From
Genesis to Revelation the principle that, “Without the shedding of blood there
is no remission of sin,” is underscored countless times culminating in Jesus as
“the perfect sacrifice offered once for all,” (Heb Chapter10.)
These texts
would include:
God
making clothes of animal skins to replace the fig leaves
God accepting Abel’s sacrifice not Cain’s
Noah’s
sacrifice of animals on emerging from the ark
Abraham
sacrificing the ram on Mount Moriah
The
Passover
The
Levitical system of sacrifices – very gory affairs: blood everywhere
The list
is endless, but reaches it’s ultimate fulfillment in Jesus’ gruesome utterance
that, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall not have life
within you.”
This
statement is interpreted fully in the book of Hebrews, and lands ultimately in
Revelation where the great multitude from every nation, tribe and people are
wearing robes that have been ‘washed white in the blood of the Lamb.’
Also, while
one can certainly agree wholeheartedly with Alan that God’s forgiveness is
extended to all, he makes no mention that this gracious offer is appropriated
by faith.
Therefore, brethren, since we have
confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus……...let us draw
near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith ( Heb. 10. 19,22)
Was it God’s
will that Jesus should die?
How else can
one interpret His prayer in Gethsemane?
“If it be thy will, let this cup pass
from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done.”
With no word
from the Father that the cup might be permitted to pass, the Son sets His face
resolutely towards the bloody agony of the cross. No mere blood nose this.
From the Cross
He will reign as King of Kings with crown of thorn -
From the Cross,
as the spotless Lamb of God, He will offer up the perfect sacrifice once for
all, taking on Himself the penalty of our sin that we might go free.
“’Tis mystery all, the Immortal dies,
Who can explore His strange design,”
A bloodless
soteriology is no soteriology at all.