I have often heard it said that God poured out His wrath on Jesus on the cross, and afterwards His wrath was appeased. This brings to mind an image of God feeling very angry and having to get it out of His system somehow. Christ was a willing scapegoat who took God's wrath upon Himself, and afterwards God felt much better.
The problem with the idea of God pouring out His wrath on Christ, aside from the fact that it makes no sense, is that the Bible says nothing of the kind. If you do a search on the way the words "the wrath of God" are used in the New Testament, they always refer to Judgment Day, when God will execute justice on the world. The words are never used in connection with the vicarious redemption of Christ.
What, then, does the Bible say about the vicarious redemption of Christ? 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: "For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Isaiah 53:5-6 prophesies, "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."
So God didn't pour out His wrath on Jesus, He laid on Him the sins of the world, so that He might pay the penalty for them through His death. Why? Hebrews 2:14 says, "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil." So Jesus did not die to appease God the Father, but to defeat the forces of evil.
Before Jesus became sin on our behalf, Satan had no power over Him because it is sin that gives Satan a foothold. This is why Satan could not harm Jesus when He fasted in the wilderness, but he could tempt Him. And if Jesus had succumbed to temptation, then Satan could have destroyed Him. However, in John 14:30-31, Jesus says, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father." The "ruler of this world"--this fallen world--is Satan, and he has a claim on sinners. Sin separates us from a holy God, so we don't experience His power and protection.
Although Satan had no claim on Christ, God allowed the sins of the world to be placed on Him, and our sins separated Jesus from the Father. This meant that the spiritual forces of evil could do whatever they wanted to Him--humiliate Him, cause Him psychic torment and excruciating physical pain, and kill Him, and that is what they did. Jesus was punished for the sins of the world, thus paying the penalty that we could not pay, reconciling us to God, and granting us freedom from the power of sin and death.
This is not God demanding a burnt offering, because they never pleased Him. Hosea 6:6 says: "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
Isaiah 1:11, 17 says: "'The multitude of your sacrifices--what are they to me?' says the LORD. 'I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats . . . Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.'"
Micah 6:6-8 says: "With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
And Hebrews 10:4 says that "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." In other words, this ritual of burnt offerings accomplished nothing, even though the Law of Moses required it. But like the rest of the law, it was powerless to save, and was a mere shadow of what was to come: God sending His own Son to pay the penalty for our sins and bridge the chasm between God and sinners. This means that we may receive the Holy Spirit, who has set us "free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).
Clamflats was right when he said in a comment, "At least with the word 'appease,' we are following a ceremonial sacrifice script which is recognized cross-culturally." People sacrificed to appease their gods until Constantine, the first Christian emperor, ended the practice in the Roman Empire. Although sacrifice never pleased God and never took away sins, it was within this cultural framework that He worked His plan of salvation. But instead of demanding a sacrifice from us, God turned the "ceremonial sacrifice script" around and sacrificed Himself for us.
Charles Wesley's hymn, "And Can It Be?" aptly says, "Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?" but the sacrifice of Christ was more than just a symbol of His love. Romans 8:3-4 says, "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
Wesley's hymn continues:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
The atonement of Jesus "quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven," by breaking down the barrier between God and humanity. His atoning blood has the power to set us free from the chains of sin, so that we will escape the wrath of God, or His righteous judgment of sin, when He ushers in "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13). Jesus gave Himself for us, giving us His righteousness in exchange for our sin, suffering that we may be healed, and dying and rising that we may live.
Since that was a lot of complicated theology, I also included the clip from The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a simple but theologically accurate allegory of what Christ has done for us.
12 comments:
Thank you, Anette. This is an issue that has troubled me, so I was doing a search for it and found you. Several songs that we sing talk about the wrath of God being poured out on Jesus. I'm thankful, with you, that it wasn't. I may be mentioning this controversial issue in my own blog eventually.
Thank you for stopping by, Rebecca!
I know what songs you are talking about, and they have always bothered me as well. But I noticed that when people say that God poured out His wrath on Jesus, they never give any Bible citations in support of it.
I agree that there is no support in the Bible for the idea that God poured his wrath out on Jesus, but I am not sure what you say about the atonement is quite correct either. Here is what I see.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. ” (Heb. 9:27) There are two deaths: the first death that is “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6:23) and the second death that comes at final judgment (Rev. 20:6).
Though we must die because of sin, it was God’s plan from the beginning to resurrect us. But because we are all sinners, God has no justification for resurrecting us. Jesus was not a sinner, so God is justified in raising him up. He did it for mankind; to build a kingdom. God is justified in restoring Jesus’ kingdom to him. That is why Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). The only reason God forgives, saves and resurrects us, and gives us life is because we belong to Jesus; he does it for Jesus.
Notice that every man is resurrected, even the unsaved (Rev. 20:5-6, 11-13). Jesus is the resurrection for everyone. The problem is, however, that the justification does not apply to those who did not receive Jesus. They do not get life; they are judged by their works and cast into the lake of fire--the second death (Rom. 20: 14-15). Only those received Jesus get life and actually become part of his kingdom.
Jesus paid the penalty for sin by dying (that was the sacrifice--he was not a man, a sinner, that he should have to die, yet he became a man to die so God would have the righteous man he needed to be justified in resurrecting man), but he did not pay everybody’s penalty--we all still die! He bear the sins of many--he became one of us--all things to all men that they may be saved. We must be careful in our understanding what “bearing “ means. When we bear each others burdens, that does not mean the one who originally had the burden is free from it. What it means is that we share in it. What Jesus did was suffer the first death with us so we would not have to face final judgment and suffer the second death. He became our righteousness substitute--the justification God needed to raise man. When we repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord, we become part of his kingdom and we are restored to him. God did lay the iniquity of us all on Jesus, but not in the sense that he took a proportionate amount of punishment for it; that is not in the Bible either. What it means is that all the depravity of the world came together at the Jesus--the perfect Son of God--on the cross. It was Jesus’ responsibility to endure what he had to endure is man was going to be saved. Everything that was wrong in the world came to a pinnacle in the false witness, wrongful judgment, horrible torture, and murder of the perfect Jesus Christ. It was the ultimate witness to God’s righteousness and our depravity.
That is why we repent and take up our cross with Jesus and follow him. He is not just some dude who got me off the hook and sent me along to do his bidding. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is one to be inquired of, believed, and followed not matter what the cost. He is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE.
Hi Anonymous. Thanks for stopping by!
I can't tell from your comment what I said about the atonement that you disagree with. I certainly agree that Jesus is "not just some dude who got me off the hook and sent me along to do his bidding. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is one to be inquired of, believed, and followed not matter what the cost."
I also agree that those who do not receive Jesus are not justified by faith.
So if you can be more specific about what you are referring to, we can see if we actually disagree on anything about the atonement.
It is the penal aspect that I disagree with. You state: "Jesus was punished for the sins of the world, thus paying the penalty that we could not pay, reconciling us to God, and granting us freedom from the power of sin and death." I do not find that in the Bible. What Jesus paid was the righteousness where we fell short.
The best illustration of what happened with Jesus is found in Genesis 3:21: "And to Adam also unto his wife did the LORD make coats of skins, and clothed them." God had to sacrifice an animal to make up for the shortcoming now found in man. It was a temporary fix, and it was more educational than anything, being a foreshadowing of what God was going to have to do to be justified in resurrecting man' ie, sacrifice his Son so that man could be clothed in His righteousness (Rev 3:18 and the several other passage talking about being clothed in righteousness and white linen).
Neither the animal in Genesis that was sacrificed for his skin nor Jesus were punished by God; they were sacrificed by him. Jesus was sacrificed by being delivered to evil hands. They punished him, but that is not what appeased God. What appeased God was Christ's righteousness--his willingness did become man, knowing that he would be wrongly punished by man even though he did no wrong--so that God would have a man that did not come short of the glory of God so that He would be justified in raising man from the dead, death being the consequence of sin. We are resurrected because God is restoring to Jesus the kingdom that was lost when he was murdered. Those who are lost are lost because they have rejected that kingdom.
But, again, what I disagreed with the penal aspect of the atonement. Jesus was not punished by God--he was sacrificed.
It is the penal aspect that I disagree with. You state: "Jesus was punished for the sins of the world, thus paying the penalty that we could not pay, reconciling us to God, and granting us freedom from the power of sin and death." I do not find that in the Bible. What Jesus paid was the righteousness where we fell short.
Isaiah 53:5 says: "For He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed."
The word for "chastening" can also be translated "punishment."
However, as I said in my main post, Jesus was not punished by God; however, He still died as our substitute and died to take away our sins.
It is the penal aspect that I disagree with. You state: "Jesus was punished for the sins of the world, thus paying the penalty that we could not pay, reconciling us to God, and granting us freedom from the power of sin and death." I do not find that in the Bible. What Jesus paid was the righteousness where we fell short. Isaiah 53:5 says: "For He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." The word for "chastening" can also be translated "punishment." However, as I said in my main post, Jesus was not punished by God; however, He still died as our substitute and died to take away our sins.
Maybe “chastening” can be translated “punishment,” but it is the Hebrew chalal we need to be looking at because that is the word that was translated into “chastening” in your version, and “wounded” in mine. The Hebrew translates to:
1) to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin
a) (Niphal)
1) to profane oneself, defile oneself, pollute oneself
a) ritually
b) sexually
2) to be polluted, be defiled
b) (Piel)
1) to profane, make common, defile, pollute
2) to violate the honour of, dishonour
3) to violate (a covenant)
4) to treat as common
c) (Pual) to profane (name of God)
d) (Hiphil)
1) to let be profaned
2) to begin
e) (Hophal) to be begun
2) to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore
a) (Qal) to pierce
b) (Pual) to be slain
c) (Poel) to wound, pierce
d) (Poal) to be wounded
(Piel) to play the flute or pipe.
But even if it could be translated “punishment,” we would have to look at the rest of what the Bible says to determine which translation to use. Isaiah 53:4 states pretty explicitly that it was not God punishing Jesus. It says “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.”
That says pretty clearly that it is error to believe it was God that was punishing Jesus.
It did indeed please God to “bruise” Jesus (Isa 53:10), but the bruising was sending him to become flesh and be submitted like a lamb to slaughter, knowing that was going to be his fate if he did become flesh. God bruise Jesus by submitting him to evil me knowing it was going to happen (Actw 2:23). That was the sacrifice.
As far as Jesus being our substitute, where is the substitution? We still die spiritually (or are born dead spiritually) and physically. After this is the judgment and the second death, the lake of fire. Jesus did not die the second death--he is the judge at the second death! He died the first death, just like us. He died the first death so we don’t have to die the second death. He did not take our place to keep us from the first death; he died to redeem us--to bring us back from the first death. The only substitution you can draw out of that is a righteousness substitute; Jesus was the righteousness that justifies God in raising him up. We are raised up due to the fact that we belong to Jesus; God is restoring his people to him, like he restored Job’s family to him after he was sacrificed. Job is a picture of what happens with Jesus.
One other point about substitution. In all the passage that say Christ died "for" us that are taken to mean substitute, the Greek word translated "for" is "hyper" which means:
1) in behalf of, for the sake of
2) over, beyond, more than
3) more, beyond, over
When "for" is used to mean something more along the lines of a substitute or replacement, like "eye for an eye," the Greek word used for "for" is "anti," which means:
1) over against, opposite to, before
2) for, instead of, in place of (something)
a) instead of
b) for
c) for that, because
d) wherefore, for this cause
Why did they not use "anti" if they were talking about a substitute?
Another thing to consider: God teaches us to pray "forgive us our debts/sins as we forgive our debtors/those who sin against us." Is he telling us to find a substitute to take our wrath out on so we can forgive the offender? Certainly not. God is teaching us his ways, and he is not sending us to find a substitute. There is no substitution: there is mercy forgiveness, remission of sins for the repentant. Nothing more, nothing less. We must be very careful not to be adding things to the Bible, lest God "reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" Prov 30:6 (sorry for the harsh words, but that is how God himself addresses the issue of adding to his words.).
Anette, I had a wonderful discussion with my son in law at lunch today regarding God's providence. I am always saying that I don't believe in coincidence, that I trust His providence. I have a picture hanging in my office of the statue of Jesus at ND with the Latin inscription on the front Venite Ad Me Omnes. I decided to do some research and found your blog. I was so very blessed reading your posts and look forward to working my way through them. Your insight and understanding of His Word is so enriching. Your faith in the Lord is inspiring. Thanks so much for taking the time to share. I pray the Lord continues to use you. Blessings. Pastor Jack
Thank you so much for your encouraging words, Pastor Jack! I agree with you that there are no coincidences, and your comment is a case in point. I'm currently going through a family emergency and yesterday was a very discouraging day. But your words helped me put things in perspective--including your mention of the statue at ND.
This was so wonderfully written and brought a lot of light on the subject. This comment is merely a possible insight that came to me while reading. The wrath of God that was going to be on us during judgment day, we would have faced if Jesus would not have sacrificed his life and overcame death. So if Jesus took our place and received the punishment that we deserved, is it conceivable that He experienced that wrath? Regardless the wrath of God, that was going to be on us on Judgment Day, has been quenched for believers.
Thank you, AlysonJoy!
You raise a good point. Jesus certainly experienced God's absence, which may in one sense be like His wrath because everything good is from God.
But it has always made me cringe somewhat when Christians talk about God's wrath being satisfied when He poured it out on Christ. To me it makes God seem like an unjust, irrational, primitive deity.
And since I noticed that people say it without referencing Scripture, I decided to research the Bible to see what it actually says. I was relieved that it doesn't use those words, so now I don't have to either. :)
Have a blessed Christmas!
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