Tom Wright
Fast forward a hundred years and hardly anyone will remember
the names of our present political leaders, let alone today's so called celebrities. However the whole church will still
be talking about and learning from Tom Wright[1].
With the sheer volume of his output, the detail of his scholarship, and his fierce loyalty to what the Bible is saying in its historical context he is by far the greatest theologian Britain has
ever had, outshining even John Wycliffe. He stands in the premier league of Christian thinkers, such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, and Bonhoeffer, men who have shaped
the church, and so the world.
As a reader NTW has encouraged my own faith with his great work defending the historicity of Jesus Christ and his
resurrection (The Resurrection of The Son of God), and his measured argument in favour of the authority of
the Bible (Scripture and the Authority of God).
Moreover NTW has absolutely
shifted heavy furniture in my mind over two topics: the afterlife and the
impact of the cross.
In Surprised By Hope NTW shows us that there is no
spiritual heaven; in the future there will be a joining of a physical earth and
a physical heaven that will operate in time and space. We will live forever –
much as we are now, except with incorruptible bodies, and with the massive
responsibility of ruling the earth as co-regents. I found this a great relief.
In the book reviewed here, The Day The Revolution Began
NTW has shifted my thinking on the cross to see that it is about much more than
an individual’s salvation: it is about the inauguration of a new Exodus for
humanity. The revolution has begun and this means the church can tear into the
evil powers that oppress and demean people right now. There is no need to wait.
The Day The Revolution Began is a fascinating read. Below
is an outline of its main argument followed by three problems it throws up.
Further down are my notes on the whole book which I trust
might be helpful for those who might not have the time or inclination to read
the whole book.
Main argument from ‘The Day The Revolution Began’
1. The cross in the Bible is not primarily about Jesus
taking the punishment of an angry God for an individual’s sins to secure that
individual a place in a spiritual heaven.
NTW calls this the Romans Road version of the cross –
‘Humans were supposed to behave themselves; they didn’t.
God had to punish them, but Jesus stood in the way, so God forgave them after
all (provided they believed in Jesus). Rather than going to hell, they can now
go to heaven instead.’
2. This is wrong for three reasons
a. The cross in the Bible is not set in the context of a
moral (works) behaviour contract with God where there is punishment if the
contract is broken. The cross is set in the context of God’s faithfulness to
his covenant with Abraham to bless the world through him. Furthermore the cross
deliberately happens in the immediate context of the Passover which is not
primarily about punishment.
b. Though the cross is about individuals, it is much more. With
its Passover context the cross is about the inauguration of a new Exodus for
humanity. NTW argues that the New Testament’s short-hand for this is the
‘forgiveness of sins’ whereby the root issue of idolatry (not sins) is dealt
with.
c. There is no spiritual (Platonic) heaven in the Bible, so
all teaching that the cross takes us there is wrong. Rather than talk about heaven,
the Bible affirms the coming of the Kingdom of God. This is what the cross is
all about. It is about the end of exile, the arrival of God’s Kingdom and the
role of the redeemed in the new creation in physical time and space with Him. NTW
argues this brings back humanity to its original purpose, a covenant of
vocation.
3. The above misinterpretation has happened because the
Reformers imposed a plan of salvation on the Bible to deal with the issues they
were facing with the Roman Catholic commercialisation of salvation which was
set against the fierce background of a literal heaven and hell. This was then
further contaminated by the enlightenment’s exalting of the individual hence
the 19th C evangelical concern about individuals finding a place in
heaven.
4. This meant the Reformers and their followers have down
played the actual context in both the Gospels and Paul’s letters. Regarding the
Gospels Jesus deliberately chose to die during the Passover. Furthermore the Gospel
writers underline that Jesus died as a king expecting the Kingdom of God; hence
Jesus understood his death to be inaugurating a new Exodus. Regarding Paul’s letters
the Reformers cut the salvation teaching adrift from the concern for God’s
faithfulness to his covenant with the Jews who are looked at primarily as an
example of people who made a mistake. This is wrong. NTW insists that Jesus’s
death must be understood in its Jewish context and that Paul’s concern was not
going to heaven, but how God would be faithful to his covenant with Abraham.
5. Mission therefore is not primarily about persuading
people to believe that Jesus has died for their sins so they as individuals can
go to heaven; it is about implementing the arrival of the kingdom of God. This
means Christians must get much more involved with the world as it is, rather
than just trying to give people a ticket to heaven, and confront the defeated
gods of sex, money and power by the means of the cross: suffering, forgiveness
and love.
The vision is richer, but not without questions
The book is absolutely right to insist that the cross must
be interpreted in its own Jewish context. Ordinary Christians now have a much
richer canvas to gaze at when considering what it means when pondering the
truth that Jesus ‘died for our sins according to the Scriptures.’
And the canvas is so much more positive.
Instead of an angry God determined to kill sinners and send
them to hell unless they believe His innocent Son has paid the price He
demands, Wright argues that the Bible teaches that God has always been for
mankind (hence he loves and gives, John 3:16), and has planned to bring us back
from exile – through his covenant with Abraham. The cross is where this
revolution is launched for here sin in Jesus is dealt with. How still remains a
mystery, but it is something that had to happen, like the original Passover,
for the new Exodus to be inaugurated. The outcome is not a spiritual ‘heaven’,
but it is a new heaven and earth in real time and space. The kingdom of God will
have familiarity which is comforting for those of us uneasy about floating
around on clouds. The campaign for that kingdom is already underway. Right now,
as Wilberforce and countless others have understood, Christians can challenge
the powers and help bring in a better way of living using the means of the
cross – love and suffering.
So this is a tremendously important book giving us a much
richer, and more practical, vision of the cross. However, like a sailing boat
rushing through the ocean as it leans into the water, the sea easily crashes
onto the deck.
Perhaps the most disturbing crash of waves onto the deck is
the question of God’s wrath. It is all very well saying that God is for mankind
and that He operates according to a covenant of vocation not a contract of
works – but for ordinary readers of the Bible it is hard to escape the
conclusion that there is a dreadful fury awaiting those who do not obey his
commands. Take just Deuteronomy 28 where it is bluntly stated that a whole host
of terrible curses will fall on people who do not obey God’s commands. There
are fifty verses on this.
Here is a flavour of the tone from just a few of these
verses.
The Lord will send disaster, panic, and frustration on
everything you attempt to do…The Lord will afflict you with consumption, fever,
inflammation, with fiery heat…until you perish…Your corpses shall be food for
every bird of the air…The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and
confusion of mind....The Lord will take delight in bringing you to ruin and
destruction.
This is a behaviour contract. If you obey you are blessed;
if you disobey you are cursed. This is in black and white and if a theologian comes along and says, ‘Well, this is not what it really means’ then why is
it set out to be understood in this way? It is either what it is, or it is
criminally offensive in terms of miscommunication.
For this reader the issue of God’s fury towards people who were sinners was not really addressed by NTW. Indeed at one point NTW says
the Gospels do not warn about hell, saying, almost as an aside, that Jesus’
references to hell is about the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem. For the
uninitiated that is quite an aside: what about the rich man separated from
Lazarus, what about the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, what about the man
who got cast out for not wearing the correct wedding garment, the unforgiving
servant? Just one of these parables is enough to convince the reader that there
is going to be a judgement, a terrible division and the discerning will want to
make sure they are saved from the fury of God.
The rejection of the behaviour based scheme that could engender
God’s wrath then opens wide another question. In the Romans Road it is quite
clear why Jesus suffered on the cross and was abandoned by God. The wrath of
God that should have fallen on the individual sinner, fell on Him. However in
NTW’s paradigm this is not so clear. NTW argues that God has gathered all sin
together in Jesus, and punishes sin, not Jesus, in Jesus. There is also reference to Jesus taking on all the force of evil which seems to hark back to the ransom theory of salvation. Whatever the detail, something happens on the cross that deals with
the issue of sin and the powers sin has invited in, so unleashing a new Exodus. God deals with sin in Jesus to bring
back man to the original calling. This feels a little vague, but has a certain
logic.
The real problem is it is not clear where the individual stands. At the
end of his book NTW urges the reader to join the revolution. That is great. But
still – we are only human – we want to know along with the medieval people and
the later Reformers how we can escape the wrath to come. NTW does not spell
this out. Perhaps he has in other writings.
All of this impacts what mission is. NTW has a wonderful
emphasis on all that Christians can achieve with the new Exodus paradigm.
However unless this issue of where we as individuals stand vis a vis the coming
wrath of God, the Christian missionary will not have a spring in their step.
History bears witness to the great impact of evangelicals such as Wesley, Wilberforce,
Booth, Hudson Taylor, William Carey and a host of others on society. But it is
crucial to note what they all have in common. The assurance of their sins
forgiven because of the great exchange that happened at Calvary. NTW might well
argue that he is not taking that away; in which case it might be good if he
wrote another book explaining how a sinful human being can have assurance of
salvation because it is not clear in this book.
No doubt libraries of books will be written in response to
this attack by NTW on the Romans Road version of salvation. My summing up would
be this. The book is tremendously strong on reminding Christians of what
the cross achieves, the inauguration of the kingdom of God. This is a great
encouragement. It is not so strong on how the cross achieves this
– whereas the Romans Road version is very clear. The lack of clarity on the how
will not just hamper mission, it might unsettle some people’s faith.
Here are the notes if you’ve got this far.
N.T. Wright
THE DAY THE REVOLUTION BEGAN
PART ONE - INTRODUCTION
Chapter One: A Vitally Important Scandal
Shows the dominance and beauty and attractiveness of the
cross. No one can escape the cross…but what does it mean?
Chapter Two: Wrestling With The Cross
The point of understanding the cross is to experience God’s
power that operates through the cross. We are put right to then take up our
role in God’s kingdom. But still need to know what it means when we say Jesus
dies for us. NTW then gives a history of interpretation of the cross. There is
the Christus Victor…and the substitution…Anselm…God’s honour impugned. Also
Abelard, the moral example. In the East, more emphasis on the resurrection. The
issue of salvation put into sharp focus because of the vivid heaven and hell
pictures of the medieval church. Reformers got rid of purgatory, but very much
kept the need for God’s wrath to be satisfied. The punishment on Jesus had been
meted out, so there is no need for purgatory. The price has been paid. This also
got rid of the Mass…there is no need for the priest to repeat the sacrifice.
This means that the Reformers were giving biblical answers
to medieval questions – not to questions in the bible which are more important (?
– what could be more important than avoiding the wrath of God)
The Reformers did not challenge the heaven and hell paradigm
(i.e. NTW does…because he believes in a new heaven and a new earth) It should
have been because the Bible does not teach that we will leave a time and matter
universe for a spiritual heaven.
The above flaw in the Reformation worsened by the collusion
of the church with the 18th C enlightenment. Penal substitution put
the emphasis on my sin, my heaven, my saviour. So we have Moody and Graham and
others and sinners being saved. Then the problem of evil in society was
separated from the cross and the overall emphasis of the church, and ‘Christian
society’. God though deals with evil on the cross.
Plenty of confusion over the meaning of the cross today…the
charge of cosmic child abuse combined with the cross as a symbol of violence
from some, and uneasiness with poetry such as:
And on the cross when Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
NT is against this…says it makes it sound as if God is
hungry for another to suffer.
Outlines the plan as often given, NTW also calls this the
‘Romans Road’: man sinned and God is angry; Jesus has died and that helps
because he is innocent and divine; so now we’re in the clear and if we believe
this we’ll go to heaven
Some think this makes God look like a blood thirsty tyrant
and question the use of violence - so there is confusion and this obscures the
more important truth which is that something happened on the cross and when we
get caught up in that happening, we become a part of making the world
different.
For crucial truth is that the cross bring heaven to earth
(not taking sinners to heaven)
NTW doesn’t like this idea that ‘someone has to die’, ‘it
made my blood run cold’.
Why not just forgive; why Jesus…
Instead of God loving the world and giving, we have God
hating the world and killing.
So – now God is an angry pagan despot in NTW’s mind.
Says the death of Jesus happens because of the love of God…
NTW arguing that this type of God puts people off. (It
doesn’t matter what people think; it only matters who God is)
What happens though if you rule out the punishment model of
atonement?
Well – there’s the idea of winning a victory over shadowy
powers.
And this is the supreme example of love…but there must be a
reason to die, it has to achieve something.
Then there is the thought of what is happening in the
father’s heart…there too is suffering.
NTW suggests
Accept that:
the cross has varied meanings
all things will be summed up in Christ (Ephesians 1:8 -10))
salvation is about new heavens and a new earth
salvation for us = a priestly vocation.
Chapter Three: The Cross In Its First Century Setting
This chapter puts the cross into its first century context.
Latin and Greek literature filled with wrath and war. Cross part of this. About
asserting power and humiliating the enemy. Idea of dying for someone strong in
pagan literature. Must place Jesus’ death in his Jewish context. So –
lens of Passover, and of liberation from exile.
What exactly does ‘Jesus died for our sins in accordance
with the Bible’ mean?
Rejects idea that animal sacrifice was a transferred death
penalty.
Sketches outline of thinking
We are heading for a new heaven; the obstacle is not sin,
but the idolatry which causes it; released from this we can get back to
the plan, the vocation of stewardship.
God’s way of doing this is focused on Israel. So Jesus
stands in for Israel. His work of atonement = the whole process of putting
things right.
PART TWO – IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE BIBLE
Chapter Four: The Covenant of Vocation
Wrong destination = heaven; right destination = everything
summed up in heaven and earth in the Messiah, as in Ephesians 1: 8 - 10
Sin is rooted in idolatry; way out is not to be set in the
covenant of works = I behave well I will go to heaven, I can’t, but Jesus has
sorted this out…hence the root problem still = a covenant of works. This is
usually backed up by Romans – but this is not what Romans is about.
‘Such a view of the relationship between God and humans is a
travesty’
Bible offers a covenant of vocation, to bear his image, to
stand where heaven and earth meet. To take responsibility for the world…it’s
about getting back to the vocation (but what happens when this doesn’t
happen, is there no punishment…what is the rich man and Lazarus all about?)
And we hand over to other powers. The root of all sin is
idolatry which leads inevitably to death because it opposes the source of life.
Jesus’ death deals with this and sets us back on vocation
road – so we will reign in life.
Want to show this in the whole Bible story
Chapter Five: In All The Scriptures
:Covenant of vocation clearly seen in God’s calling of
Israel – Exodus 19.
But OT gives the feel of being unfinished.
Whole story about exile – so there is a strong theme of
hope. Must connect Jesus death to this narrative. Must not make images of court
or slave market the main context. (This is an important correction to the
emphasis in Stott’s book)
Israel and land set in parallel with Adam and Eve – loc
1332. Must put cross in this context. Exile a sort of living death – for Adam
and Eve, for Israel. What would God do, this is about a covenant, not about a
work. And it’s about bringing people back to true worship, responsibility and
away from sin which allows dark forces to destroy the vocation. So there is a
need to deal with Israel’s sins so the project can continue…because God has
chosen Abraham.
Chapter Six: The
Divine Presence and the Forgiveness of Sins
Sin causes exile. Israel in wilderness had the tabernacle, a
place where God would meet with his people, especially where the Ark of the
Covenant was…where the lid was – kapporeth, hilasterion. The ark went to
Shiloh, then into the temple. God’s glory came here – this is physically where
heaven met earth. The glory departs…in Ezekiel the vision of a rebuilt temple.
The temple was rebuilt, but the glory never returned and it was destroyed
forever in AD70. The NT says though that Jesus is the new temple, so John’s
prologue, He tabernacled among us. And the glory moment comes on the cross.
This happens in context of Jews longing for restoration in this world. This is
the rescue from the death of exile. The context is of God being faithful to his
covenant; not God deciding to punish sins. So forgiveness of sins is the
communal restoring of Israel.
‘We have domesticated the revolution’ i.e. we have made it
just a personal ticket to get to heaven.
The Good News of Isaiah 52 is the news that Babylon has been
overthrown, so there would be a new exodus and this exodus – unlike the first –
is seen as being about the forgiveness of sins. Same message in Daniel.
So the cross in the mind of the first Jewish Christians is
about the coming of God’s kingdom. This happening through suffering ties in
with 1st C resistance movements.
Chapter Seven
No thought of a suffering Messiah for 1st
C Jews. This came when Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 were looked at. Important to keep
to the context that Isaiah 53 is about the means not just the occasion of
redemption. The issue of means kept alive in the suffering faced by Jews in the
160s BC under the Syrians. The Maccabean movement longed for that second exodus
which will deal with sins. NTW’s point is that the Maccabeans establish the
idea re the role of suffering…there is talk of the ‘native land’ being purified
‘by their endurance.’, and of ‘atoning sacrifice’.
There will be redemption and this happens because of God’s
faithful love, i.e. the covenant.
NTW very blunt about sin –
‘The suggestion that sin does not make God angry…needs to
be treated with disdain.’
In paganism people have to pacify this anger; in Israel God
does this.
Out of covenant love God will rescue Israel, and this will
be extended to the nations.
Non-Jewish peoples are to have their own Exodus. (See for
example last chapter of Amos)
So it is divine love – through Israel.
So when the NT talks of Jesus dying for our sins in
accordance with the Scriptures this means – in its own context – that the new
exodus has begun because the sins that caused the exile have been dealt with.
Hence the emphasis during the cross of the Passover. The
cross is the start of the new Exodus.
In Isaiah 53 this happens through the death of the servant
who represents the sins of Israel. This is the work of YHWH himself.
PART THREE – THE REVOLUTIONARY RESCUE
Chapter 8: New Goal, New Humanity
Jesus explained the Scriptures to the two on the road to
Emmaus as a fulfilment.
NT interpretation has been pasted onto an idea that makes
good people going to a platonic heaven, but that is not the NT interpretation
of the cross.
In much popular modern Christian thought we have made a
three layered mistake. We have Platonized our eschatology (substituting ‘souls
going to heaven’ for the promised new creation) and therefore moralized our
anthropology (substituting…moral performance for the biblical notion of human
vocation) with the result that we have paganized our soteriology (substituting
killing Jesus to satisfy his wrath for the genuinely biblical notions we are
about to explore)
Jesus’ death was the victory over destructive powers –
because this achieved the forgiveness of sins (why?)
Zechariah talks about the forgiveness of sins in the context
of national liberation, and the way in for Gentiles.
Same with Peter – asks for repentance so there can be
forgiveness of sins and then the ‘restoration’ of all things.
This is both and…both forgiveness of actual sins, and the
restoration.
Acts never talks of people going to heaven…it talks of the
age to come.
In Acts forgiveness of sins is anchored to the coming
kingdom of God.
Yes, this includes individuals being reconciled to God, but
this belongs in a much larger context, that something has happened in the
‘actual world of space, time, and matter, as a result of which everything is
different’
The cross is about ushering in the new age, not inventing a
new religion.
Forgiveness of sins is short hand to explain this, a fact
about how the world now was and this is played out in how the early church
was...and how the marks of the new Kingdom were there: a. the power have been
overthrown b. the Messiah is the ruler of the whole world c. God’s own presence
comes to dwell with his people in the new temple which is Jesus, where there is
true worship.
In Acts there is worship, witness, and the hope that Israel
will be rescued from pagan rule…and that is because Jesus was the
representative of Israel. And the church has become the new people of God. This
has all happened through the death and resurrection.
Chapter Nine: Jesus’ Special Passover
To learn about the cross it is good to start with Jesus
whose views on the atonement have been largely ignored by theologians. Need to
see how the Gospels interpret the death of Jesus.
Interesting to note that Jesus has very little to say about
souls getting saved and going to heaven
(what about all the parables about entering the kingdom
of God or entering hell, e.g. The wedding guests; the sheep and the goats;
unforgiving servant; and….)
Look at Gospels – cross for followers = end; resurrection
total shock. Resurrection meant bodily resurrection, not going to heaven.
It is the resurrection that enabled them to interpret the
crucifixion.
Jesus only says on the road to Emmaus that his suffering was
a part of a divine plan…but he doesn’t say what that plan was.
Nor does Acts.
The resurrection convinced the disciples that Jesus was the
Messiah.
Sign over cross said he was the king of the Jews…and he had
always spoken of the kingdom of God.
Jesus was aware of this. And he knew his death was happening
at the time of the Passover. So central fact is that Jesus chose the Passover
as the time of his execution.
This means the cross from Jesus’ perspective has to be set
in the context of a new Exodus.
So the temple confrontation connects to Moses and Pharaoh
and the end of that story is worship in via the tabernacle; that is what Jesus
saw. And so the centrality of the Passover Meal, which now looks forward rather
than back.
How would the victory be won?
By dealing with people’s sins…that is what forgiveness of
sins means…and here not an angry God bent on killing someone…but…a ‘covenant
keeping God who takes the full force of sin onto himself’.
Hence at the meal…the exodus is about to happen.
The mention of blood does not have to be sacrificial, but to
do with the covenant as in Jeremiah 31 and Exodus 24: 3 – 8. This is covenant
renewal; and that is what Jesus is re-enacting. No suggestion that this is
punishment to appease an angry God.
The reference to blood ties in with what we have from Hosea
through to Qumran that the redemption of Israel would come via suffering.
Isaiah focuses this on one person who is Israel’s representative.
Jesus is doing what God said the servant would do to bring
about redemption.
So the cross is about the selfless love of a covenant
keeping God.
Chapter 10: The Story of The Rescue
No going to heaven in the Gospels (What about all the
parables about entering the kingdom of God – see above)
‘Almost nobody in the gospels warns about going to hell’ (Just
the story of Lazarus and the rich man is enough. What about Matthew 25?)
Accuses preachers of imposing a salvation scheme on the
story that isn’t justified and this story ignores the story about the kingdom
(so the Gospels are not long introductions to a passion narrative).
Now wants to show how the story of the cross links the
suffering to the coming of the kingdom and not to going to heaven.
‘The cross is the cross of the king of the Jews’
The Romans Road separates these two themes…the cross and the
kingdom.
The Gospels are about a returning king. It’s about Israel’s
God visiting his people.
And he is a loving God.
The Gospels link all that happens to Israel’s story – which
includes plenty of darkness. There is no Galilean springtime for Jesus either
and so in this story evil overreaches itself and is dealt with – as with
Pharaoh. Jesus lives out Psalm 2.
So – the Gospels and Acts is about evil being overthrown and
Jesus enthroned.
Emphasis on kingship in John’s passion narrative is well
known.
Jesus wins the crown by suffering as representative
substitute for the Jews. The servant dies for the nation.
An intimate and personal exchange achieves the victory (but
who is the exchange for?)
In Luke this is underlined through the Barabbas story and
the thieves on the cross…the good one saying…remember me when you come in your
kingdom.
NTW suggesting that Jesus died because of evil, not God’s
wrath
‘Jesus, by taking upon himself the weight of Israel’s
sins, dies under the accumulated force of evil’
Matthew also massive emphasis on the kingdom…and the Sermon
on the Mount outlines how it will come about.
The link back to Abraham shows that Jesus is the
continuation of a story…and how he fulfils God’s saving plan in Israel.
Same story line in Mark…Jesus’ death accomplishes God’s
Kingdom in fact Mark 10: 35 – 45 ‘contains within itself…the whole of the NT’s
vision of how Jesus’ death overthrew the dark powers.’
Must let the story tell its own truth, not push abstract
theology into it.
And the Gospels invite us to make this story our own.
Chapter 11: Paul and the Cross – apart from Romans
Paul believed that:
People are redeemed to share in priestly work for the new
creation
The means for this is the death of Jesus
These two fixed.
Paul often talks about Christ dying for our sins according
to the Scriptures. And great emphasis on the power of the cross…so again, this
overthrowing of evil rulers.
According to the Scriptures for Paul meant what?
The one who died was Israel’s Messiah…so in Paul’s mind he
goes back to the Torah and the Exodus… (not how ‘the punishment of sins was
heaped onto the innocent victim)
The background story for Paul is immensely important. It
can’t be ignored to drag penal substitution centre stage.
Galatians: the letter is not about salvation but
unity. That we are a single family – because of the cross, which has thrown out
the evil powers, echoing the Exodus. The only thing that matters is the new
creation that has happened because of the cross. Everyone in this new creation
can be welcomed as sons and daughters. Circumcision denies the new creation.
Abraham was promised one family, and now he has it. This is about the covenant
of vocation, that the seed of Abraham would be a blessing for the whole world.
Jesus now undoes the curse from Deuteronomy that cause exile. All other
identities disappear in the light of what the cross has achieved.
Corinthians: Paul never fully explains what he means
by the cross here. Emphasis on the Passover, even with a Gentile background
church. And in 1 Cor 15 the assumption is that Jesus is ruling the
world…because sin has been dealt with.
In 2 Corinthians, responding to the super apostles, Paul
emphasizes the role of suffering in the overthrow of evil, i.e. he models
himself on Jesus. The cross has unleashed the power of generous self-giving in
the world. (This is meaningless – was there no self-giving in the world
before?) The cross is about giving us a ministry, not booking a place in
heaven. We are liberated from sin to be God reflecting. And the liberation
happens – 5:21 – by the substitution of one who alone is the true
representative.
Philippians: The cross is the means of victory in
chapter two, and this is worked out in our humility to love others. As in
Corinthians, the cross unleashes a stronger power in the world. (Poem very
early, shows the essence of Biblical theology – that God did this because He is
God. This is his character)
Colossians: Emphasis on the defeat of the powers,
being nailed to the cross. Ironic but true. When sin is dealt with, idols lose
their power. That is why the cross defeats the powers.
Chapter 12: The Death of Jesus in Paul’s Letter To The
Romans
Romans 1 – 4 been taken as the works contract. Humans were
meant to behave themselves; they didn’t; so God punished Jesus and now all is
fine.
Must always remember the large canvas of the letter; can’t
pick and choose.
Ideas about justification by faith have been superimposed on
the book, especially by the Reformers.
Paul’s emphasis is not about going to heaven, but about the
new creation.
Paul doesn’t start off with sin, but with idolatry, the
problem of the wrong worship, worshipping that which is not God. That brings
havoc. Paul looks at Abraham as the one who truly worshipped, and sees God as
seeking a new priesthood, hence Romans 12 begins with the reference to being a
priest.
Romans 3 is about God’s faithfulness to God’s covenant with
Abraham, through which all nations will be blessed. Promises to Abraham are played
down; he is just used as the example of a man who had faith.
The paradigm that has the problem of sin (1 – 4) and how it
is dealt with (5 – 8) is all wrong. It is a superimposition.
The emphasis is on the new creation the cross has
inaugurated.
‘The Adam project for humans to share in God’s rule over
creation is back on track’
The cross is the inauguration of the reign of God’s grace.
Misunderstanding about the law which some think is given to
terrify people so they will run to Jesus for rescue.
This is not what it’s about.
The law came and Israel sank – this was God’s will. It
was not an accident.
Romans 6 – 8 is not Paul’s description of the Christian
life. This is about the redemption, which is an Exodus narrative.
So baptism is like the crossing of the Red Sea; leaving
Egypt, on route for the promised land. Jesus’s death has dealt a blow to SIN,
as Moses did to Pharaoh. Again this is all about the defeat of the powers…Paul
develops from sins, to sin as an active power in Romans.
Paul very much tied to Israel’s history and to showing that
the Gospel and Israel’s history belong together.
Christians often ignore the Old Testament. They go from
Isaiah 53 and Daniel 7 straight to the NT. In this Israel just becomes an example
of humans getting things wrong.
For Paul the purpose of the law was to ‘heap’ sin into one
place. And then the Messiah would meet this Sin. This is what he meant by Jesus
dying for our sins.
Jesus died for our sins according to the Bible = the Jewish
Scriptures = the history of Israel. All this comes out in Romans 7:13. It was
the divine intention all along for sin to increase under the law. Israe-
repeated Adam’s sin. The two are being woven together. So the famous passage
about doing what you don’t want to do this is about Israel under the Torah –
for Paul was a loyal Torah loving Jew.
Through the law God is gathering sin together in one place
so it can be dealt with. And this is happening in the context of Israel’s
calling.
So in Romans 8 we read that the punishment has been meted
out on Sin.
‘Paul does not say that God punished Jesus. He declares that
God punished Sin in the flesh of Jesus’.
This is certainly penal. And it is substitutionary…because
sinners who are in the Messiah are not condemned.
‘This substitution finds its true meaning not within the
normal ‘works contract’ but within the God and Israel narrative, the vocational
narrative…in accordance with the Bible’
This resonates with the four Gospels.
Paul has ‘resolutely located the deepest meaning of the
cross within Israel’s narrative. That is where it should remain.’
Take it out of this context and we have a quasi- pagan story
about Jesus placating an angry god.
There is no angry god…this is God’s plan, carried out by
God’s Son, to fulfil God’s love. The result is that the human calling is
restored…a ruling priestly (hence intercession in Romans 8) role. And the Holy
Spirit is like the cloud in the wilderness for God’s people.
Chapter 13: The Death of Jesus in Paul’s Letter To The
Romans (special focus on Romans 3: 21 – 26)
Romans 3: 21 – 26 is where people pin atonement theology.
‘Read as the vital move in the wrong story: humans sin, God punishes Jesus,
humans are let off.
Need to set this in its proper context of a covenant, of the
cult of idolatry and that of the ark.
Central word in the passage is hilasterion which is the lid
of the ark.
Another explanation of the works contract location 4316.
Paul is not saying that God justifies people who are morally bankrupt through
the death of Jesus. NTW unpacks why the reading is wrong in great detail: e.g.
undermines Abraham in chapter four. Blanks the Jews as a light to the world.
Ignores the root of idolatry; instead focuses on sin; there is talk of God
passing over former sins (passing over, not punishing)
Nothing here about going to heaven.
NTW outlines four major problems with the works contract
interpretation. Adds that beyond these the main one is a misunderstanding about
the meaning of the word righteousness.
God’s righteousness is NOT God’s moral standing, but God’s
faithfulness to his covenant.
The whole emphasis is on covenant, not morality.
Here is the problem for Paul: How is God to be faithful to
his covenant if Israel has been faithless?
NTW very wary about Western interpretations drifting away
from the Jewish roots of the passage. Paul is not just interested in sin,
punishment, pardon: he is interested in Israel. (Absolutely correct)
The passages which look as if they are underlining the human
propensity to sin are in fact underlining the human propensity for idolatry.
Hence the overall issue is worship, not behaviour. And he is making a different
point about the Jews in chapter two. He condemns their behaviour to focus on
how they are violating the covenant. The Jew does have a special status in
Paul’s scheme – and this is blanked in Western interpretations. What Jesus has
done is to restore Israel’s vocation, he is restoring the covenant. In other
versions the Jews were essentially like a broken car, to be parked on the side
of the road and abandoned and people are now to join the new Jesus movement.
But the Jesus movement is very much a part of the Jewish movement. They can’t
be separated. When they are all too often we end up having an anti-Jewish story
with terrible results.
Jesus is the incarnated Son of God – who is Israel’s
Messiah.
The heartbeat of NTW is that God has not put aside his
covenant with Israel.
God promises to rescue the world through Israel; does that
mean that because Israel has failed, God now should break his promise? Of
course not. Israel remains centre stage.
Hence Abraham and chapter four. It is God’s faithfulness to
his covenant with Abraham that the problem of sin and idolatry will be solved.
And this happens through the cross.
It is the God of Israel that the Gentile must have faith in.
The hilistarion is the place where people are cleansed so
they can meet with God. This is the cross. This is the restoration of true
worship.
In 3: 21 – 26 there is a lot of repetition of the word
righteousness…= God’s faithfulness to his covenant. So the passage is about the
covenant. Which is an act of grace – as all covenants with God are. Renewal of
the covenant means a new Exodus.
The Israel shaped purpose to which Israel had been
faithless has been fulfilled in the Messiah himself.
We join this by faith – which means faithfulness.
Israel shaped purpose seen in Isaiah 53.
Justified means a. declaration as a part of the family b.
being in the right. And the verdict of the future has been declared in the
present. As happened with the resurrection of Jesus. He was declared in the
right. That happens to all who join Jesus in baptism. The resurrection proves
the justification happened on the cross.
The use of the word redemption is not random. It relates to
Egypt and the Exodus. So the cross is a new Passover, a new Exodus which sets
us free – as it did the Isreaalites – to worship. The Exodus led to the
tabernacle, i.e. worship. There is a place of meeting, where the blood
cleanses. The lid of the ark. Nothing about punishment here; cleansing yes.
It’s about a holy God being able to meet with sinful people without ‘disastrous
results’. Sin offerings were a sign of penitence, not punishment. When he says
we are declared to be righteous by the blood this is just the prerequisite for
the rescue from the wrath to come; it’s not the actual rescue.
Another indication that this passage is not about a
mechanism whereby an angry god pardons individual sins…b/c it talks about how
God ‘passed over’ former sins.
That’s massive. It means that God can just overlook sin if
he wants to. (What about – God will by no means clear the guilty?)
Punishment in Paul’s mind – as in all Jews’ minds – was for
the future. No mention here of divine wrath being satisfied over the suffering
of Jesus.
Instead the suffering of Jesus is about providing a meeting
place for man and God where idolatry is overthrown. So the exile is ended. That
is what forgiveness of sins means. And it happens through the one who is
Israel. That links back to Isaiah 40 – 55.
Instead of thinking in terms of punishment it is better to
think in terms of consequence…the consequence of sin which is exile, it is
dealt with.
Just as we must not make righteousness mean moral standing;
so too we must not make punishment mean some individual being hit for his or
her sins; but rather the consequence of sin.
Conclusion = Redemption Accomplished, Revolution Launched
PART FOUR - THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES
This is whole section is about mission. Basic point is that
because this revolution has been launched we must take our place, heralding the
arrival of the kingdom of God in word and action.
Mission. Unlocking the prison doors.
Mission is not primarily about persuading people that Jesus
died for your sins so you can go to heaven. There is a personal side to
mission, but it must be set in the larger context of a massive revolution, the
true human vocation.
Christian mission means implementing the victory that Jesus
won on the cross.
Handel’s Messiah is celebratory, a welcome to God’s kingdom
on earth. This was then overtaken by the going to heaven sort of mission. This
encouraged Christians to leave the affairs of the world. Huge mistake. Need to
address this balance and get mission more involved in the world, rather than
saving souls from the world.
Mission needs to both have victory over the powers and
forgiveness of sins at its heart. Being a royal priesthood has many dimensions.
Work for God’s kingdom on earth with heaven’s energy. Need to bring Christ into
the public square.
The victory of the cross will be implemented through the
means of the cross, i.e. there will be suffering. And prayer. And the
sacraments.
Chapter 15
The Powers and the power of love
Forgiveness is the new reality; it’s the way creation is. A
new way of being human has been launched. Forgiveness is the new reality. Free
to give allegiance to God the creator. The defeat of all gods – and powers.
Especially money, sex, and power.
Mission = cross shaped work that bring true worship, and
signs of the kingdom in human lives and institutions.
Embrace the covenant of vocation and be embraced by its
creator. In the power of that love, join the revolution.
[1] His proper title is: The
Right Reverend N. T. Wright, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity
at University of St Andrews. He is widely known as Tom Wright, and in this blog
he will be called by his initials, NTW.
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