I wonder

I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die
For poor on'ry people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky. *

Many of the very earliest 1st Century Christians were converts from the Jewish faith. They probably could be thought of as Jewish-Christians. Because their early understanding (pre-christian understanding) of how God forgave sins was through animal scarifies it seems logical that this sacrificial concept would have followed them into their "new religion" as Christians. Therefor Paul, originally a Jew, could/ did say, as he did in Colossians1:20a:

And God was pleased
      for him to make peace
by sacrificing his blood
     on the cross.
(The above emphasis is mine.)

There are those today especially among the Emerging Generations, I have read, who find it difficult to accept the idea that a loving God, the heavenly father of Jesus, would sacrifice his Son as the only way to forgive us our sins.

I think that we have a clash of concept, understanding and culture here. The 1st Christian-Jews saw blood sacrifice as a way for sins to be forgiven. But today people see that as barbaric and primitive. Is it possible that that the earliest Christian-Jews were so shocked byJesus' death that to make it understandable and acceptable that they had to see this death as blood sacrifice to be a forgiveness of sins? Is it possible (and I'm thinking of Leslie Weatherhead's The Will of God) that people at that time could have accepted Jesus' teachings and His death would not have been necessary? After all, God being God could simply forgive us our sins if we are willing to accept that forgiveness and follow through.

If this is even a possibility, and the crucifixion of Jesus was a result of the actions of people could God therefor be viewed, more accurately, as a loving and not as a fratricidal, blood thirsty deity?  And would this understanding fit better into our postmodern sensibilities and be more accepted by the Emerging Generations?

But whatever our speculations Jesus did die on the Cross and he did die to forgive us our sins. With the concept of people, not God, determining the method of Jesus' death the onus is placed on people not God. This allows for the correct concept of God being a loving and not a vengeful, blood thirsty  deity. God's love is further demonstrated by Jesus being raised to new life. That new life is promised to us after our Earthly life. But there is also new life for us while we walk about this Earth. New life not only as Life After Life (to steal the title of another book) but new life as we attempt to emulate the life of Jesus and His teachings, such as those found in Matthew 25.

Our world view reflects and determines how we understand events. Jesus' teachings can alter our world view.


* Lyrics from: "I Wonder as I Wander" found at

http://www.oldielyrics.com/christmas/i_wonder_as_i_wander.html