We are encouraged to live in the light of the story of Jesus, the revelation of a God of love, and in the power of a new Spirit. We are confronted with ourselves, but offered radical grace and acceptance and invited into a taking up of responsibility to live differently in the world.
Read MoreJesus was already preaching the forgiveness of sins and forgiving sins before he died. He did not have to wait until after the resurrection to do that. Blood is not acceptable to God as a means of uniting human community or a price for God's favor. Christ sheds his own blood to end that way of trying to mend our divisions.
Read MoreJesus refuses to see God as a tribal warrior deity; he doesn’t bend to the vision of God offered by the violent political and religious powers.
Read MoreGod is in the place of abandonment – even supposed abandonment by God. Christianity is a protest against the vision of God as a being out there somewhere turning his face away from our pain. God cries out in Christ against that kind of God.
Read MoreDeath and new life is woven into the very fabric of existence itself. And so when we reflect on the story of Easter, this is not just about a transaction, involving payment and appeasement. It is about seeing and participating in the fundamental aspects of reality.
Read MoreDo we really believe that God is so angry with all of us that He can’t forgive any of us unless the blood of a truly innocent man is offered as a human sacrifice to appease his wrath? But if that’s not what the story is about, then why does it matter at all? Does Jesus save us? And if so, what from, and how?
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