Good Friday.
I must confess this day still confuses me a little bit.
What kind of God would ask his son to be sacrificed for our sins? It is really hard for me to comprehend. And perhaps maybe there is another way to look at this day.
What if God did not demand that Jesus die to satisfy his anger,
or wrath, or even as the just punishment for our sins?
What if Jesus didn’t need to die to persuade God to forgive us or love us?
What if God simply loved us because it’s in God’s nature to love?
What if God really is that loving parent who loves his/her children
no matter what they do, no matter how many times they fall?
What if God really is like the father in the prodigal son who runs to his child
and embraces him even after he has squandered all that he had to live on?
What if God really is that Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 in the field
and goes off searching for the one that is lost?
Maybe our God isn’t a God who needs human sacrifice at all,
not even for his own son.
And maybe, just maybe, we created that version of salvation,
not because God can’t tolerate sin, but because we just can’t
conceive of true, undeserved, unconditional love.
Why then did Jesus die, if not for the forgiveness of our sins?
Perhaps Jesus died not to convince God to love us,
but to convince us that we are loved by God.
Perhaps Jesus died to show us in a complete and total and final way
just how much he loved us…
No greater love is there than this to lay down one’s life for a friend.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s why we call this day Good Friday!
Just a little food for thought.
The God I've come to know IS pure love. I agree with all of your what ifs,
ReplyDeleteWhat if all of it is made up and the entire history has been an orchestrated idea that somehow is exactly what was needed for us to maintain the hope for those who want to do good in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat if this story was created out of man truly connecting with the energy of the universe and the only reason it continues to use the story of salvation is because it connects deeply with who we are.
Granted, this is the point were believers say that's God's design. At the end of the day, it may not matter where all of it came from; it does represent humanity's true purpose.