The Victory of Christ
When and how does Jesus win?
We know the answer, of course. Jesus died for our sins on the cross and rose
to victory three days later. Both parts,
the sacrificial death of the “Lamb of God” and the resurrection of the “Lion of
Judah” are essential theologically.
Regarding historical fact, no one doubts that Jesus died; whether or not
Jesus really rose is the central question for anyone considering
Christianity. As Paul wrote to the
Corinthian believers, if Christ was not raised we are still in our sins, we are
of all people to be pitied.
As I say, we know the answer. Jesus won by dying and rising. But we need to think carefully about the
implications of our doctrine. “When” and
“how” can guide our reflection.
When
does Jesus win? Understandably,
Christians are sometimes confused about this.
Jesus died a long time ago; the creed specifies: “. . . suffered under
Pontius Pilate.” And: “He rose the third
day . . .” So Jesus won then, in the
first century. (We call it the “first”
century precisely because he won then.
We count the years “of our Lord.”)
But Christians also believe Jesus will return. Only then, when he returns in triumph, as
Paul wrote to the Philippians, “every tongue will confess that Jesus is
Lord.” So it seems that Jesus will win in the future, that his victory
is not yet complete.
Bible readers are familiar with
this tension between “already” and “not yet.”
We can call this the tension of
temporal discipleship. The
individual Christian and the Church as a whole live between the victory of
Jesus already accomplished by his death and resurrection (affirmed by the
Christian now) and the return of Jesus to reign (when everyone will acknowledge
him). We live in tension between what
has been accomplished and what will be completed later. The virtues appropriate for temporal tension
are faith, hope, and love. We believe in
Jesus, we hope for his return, and we love as he loved.
How
does Jesus win? In the first century
Jesus won by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Both his death and resurrection are required
for this victory. From the world’s point
of view, Jesus lost by dying and won by rising, but Christian theology insists
that death and resurrection go together.
There is no resurrection not preceded by suffering and death. (Side note: this is why Christian
spirituality has long valued suffering.
It is not that suffering is good in itself, but that suffering and death
are necessary to resurrection.)
What about Jesus’ return? Many Christians think that Jesus’ victory
when he returns will be accomplished in a very different way. Pointing to passages in the Revelation, they
think Jesus will kill his enemies. Jesus
will ride on a horse, leading his troops into battle, slaughtering millions of
unbelievers. Then, having killed them,
Jesus will judge them, condemning his enemies to the lake of fire. Naturally, Christians disagree about details
of prophecy; for instance, in the Revelation “sin” and “death” are also thrown
into the “lake of fire.” What does that
mean? Interpreters differ.
Whatever one thinks about the
details of this reading of the Revelation (Does Jesus slaughter all
unbelievers—billions of them—or only the armies marshaled against him—hundreds
of millions?), the real problem is its denial of Jesus’ victory on the cross.
Notice: there is nothing
self-contradictory in affirming that Jesus defeated sin and death in the first
century and that he will complete that victory by raising his people sometime
in the future. The temporal tension of discipleship may be difficult for us in many ways,
but it is not impossible or self-contradictory.
In contrast, the violent Jesus
interpretation of the Revelation directly contradicts the heart of the
gospel. In his death and resurrection,
all Christians affirm, Jesus defeated his enemies, including the worst of them,
sin and death. According to Paul, Jesus
took our sin and death on himself. In
baptism we know who we are: dead in his death and alive in his life. Jesus accomplished this victory by letting us
kill him and rising in triumph. It is
important to say that “we” killed Jesus.
No more nonsense of blaming the Romans or the Jews. Theologically speaking, Jesus bore the sin
and death of the whole world. He died
for me in the fact that I killed him.
Notice the contradiction. Jesus defeated his enemies by dying and
rising. But on the “violent Jesus”
reading of the Revelation, Jesus will defeat his enemies by killing them and
preventing them from rising.
Here’s another aspect of the
contradiction. Given the temporal
tension of discipleship, we noted that the appropriate virtues of Christian
life are faith, hope, and love. What are
the “virtues” of Christian life when we eagerly anticipate the death and
damnation of Jesus’ enemies? Far too
often in history, Christians have accepted the violent Jesus idea. And that history shows us the “virtues”
appropriate to that idea: suspicion, condemnation, and hate. With torture Christians have interrogated
those they suspected, with self-righteousness we have condemned our enemies,
and with hate we have killed them. At
the least, these historical failures should cause us to think critically about
the theology that motivated them.
A temporal tension means I must wait in faith, hope and love. But a moral
contradiction between a loving savior who wins by resurrection and a
violent conqueror who wins by slaughter and condemnation leaves me confused and
helpless. I am tempted by vices of
suspicion, condemnation, and hate. Who
should I follow, Jesus who loves or Jesus who kills?
Faith, hope and love are real
virtues. Therefore I affirm that Jesus
wins by death and resurrection, not by killing and condemning.
