Jesus pays the price

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

Who pays the price?: Talk No 2: Frank Nelson Good Friday 2011

I suspect that the second metaphor for exploring the mystery of salvation is the one most familiar to us. In short it says that human beings have sinned and gone against God’s wishes. Because God is just and good, someone, or something, has to pay the penalty in order to make things right again. Through his death on the cross, Jesus pays the price, the fine, does the time. In this metaphor Jesus substitutes himself for you and me. It is familiar because it is attractive and finds plenty of traction in the Old Testament, particularly some of the writings of Isaiah.

Trying to make sense of the crucifixion of Jesus, the early Christians mined through their sacred writings and discovered what is called Deutero, or Second, Isaiah in a big way – especially the so-called Servant Songs. You will know them well, if not from personal acquaintance with the scriptures, then from the popularizing of the theme by Handel. Towards the beginning of Part II the chorus sings, “Surely, surely, he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” Listen to the words of Isaiah as found in the fourth and final Servant Song. We’ll hear them in full later on in this service, but here is a snatch for you.

Surely he has borne our infirmities

  and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,

  struck down by God, and afflicted. 

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

  crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

  and by his bruises we are healed. (Isaiah 53: 4 – 5)

As a student I remember being embarrassed by my evangelical Christian friends. Having been brought up in the Anglican Church where personal professions of faith are not always overtly encouraged, I had no idea how to answer the question: Brother, are you saved? Seeing my confusion I was promptly given a little booklet entitled “The Four Spiritual Laws.” I googled the phrase the other day and found it is still going strong. It is a simple, some would say simplistic, attempt to put the Gospel into four sentences. God has made everything and it is all good. Man has messed things up by sinning against God. There is only one way to put things right and get together with God again – Jesus’ death and resurrection. We must individually receive Christ as our personal saviour and all will be well.

Now, of course, I recognize both the depth and the shallowness of these so-called Laws. At the heart of salvation theology is the need to recognize our utter dependence on God, and the very real suffering of Jesus on the cross. This model of salvation takes very seriously the incarnation of Jesus; that Jesus, the Son of God, became a human being, in every way. As such, he does understand our suffering, our weakness, our sinfulness. His death really can be seen as a substitution for ours.

The shallowness lies in assuming that there is only one way, the Spiritual Laws way, of entering into the life God offers through Christ. Today I happily recognize the metaphor in Cecil Alexander’s hymn, “There is a green hill far away.”

v.4 There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin; He only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in.

But I am also able to recognize the depth of the baptism service when, as the water is blessed, the priest prays, “Through the deep waters of death Jesus fulfilled his baptism. He died to set us free and was raised to be exalted Lord of all.” ANZPB pg 385

When I was ordained my father made and gave me this little cross. It is made to come apart, and I have used it often as a teaching tool, especially with children. In trying to explain the cross, the concept of sin and forgiveness, I say that the cross piece is the minus, the negative, in our lives. The upright makes the negative a plus. One can also say that the cross reminds us that there are two dimensions to being a Christian – the upright symbolizes my relationship with God, the horizontal my relationship with the world. So we have the great Commandments to love God and to love our Neighbour.

Whether we use the Four Spiritual Laws, a wooden cross that comes apart, or the sacred waters of baptism, one of the metaphors that helps us explore and understand the mystery of salvation is the idea of Jesus paying the price, serving time, in place of us.

Of course, as with all metaphors, there are difficulties. I have always been puzzled as to how a loving God can be so demanding, not only to want us to be perfect, but to even to allowing his very own Son to die. It all seems so rigid. A crime has been committed. The price must be paid. Whatever happened to love and forgiveness?

Here are a couple of New Testament passages to ponder on. They express something of this metaphor.

For our sake he (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 21

Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness. 1 Peter 2: 24

And for a somewhat different angle, where the emphasis in on Christ’s total identification with the whole of humanity, and God’s loving action and grace responding to that identity, a few verses from Ephesians.

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2: 4 - 6

• Prayers

God of mercy and love, new birth by water and the Spirit is your gift, a gift none can take away; grant that your servants may grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Fill us with the joy of your presence. Increase in us the fruit of your Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of love, patience and gentleness, the spirit of wonder and true holiness. Amen ANZPB pg 39

• Hymn 123: There is a green hill