The meaning of Jesus (His death)

Borg: “Why was Jesus killed?” Chapter 5

Wright: “The crux of faith” Chapter 6

These two chapters focus on the Cross. I think it is fair to say that for Wright the Cross is the central feature in the story of Jesus whereas for Borg it is his life that carries more weight. One might ask Wright, would it matter if we knew nothing of Jesus’ life. One might ask Borg, would it matter if we knew nothing of Jesus’ death. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but I think it reflects a tendency in the theology of each.

Borg as noted in Chapter 4 sees Jesus as a Jewish mystic or, in terms of his other books, as someone who lived constantly in a “thin place” aware at all times of God and, in that sense, living God out for those around him. For Borg, Jesus body of wisdom teaching, his passion for justice as a social prophet, his healings and inclusive meal practices are all crucial. This is not to say that Borg thinks that Jesus did not expect to die, he did, or that the Cross has nothing to do with our salvation, it does. Borg accepts both of these but argues that the notion of salvation was revealed to the disciples after the crucifixion by their experience of the risen Christ.

So, why did Jesus die? According to Borg it was because the was threatening the temple authorities. The throwing out of the money changers in the temple was a clear provocation but his willingness to heal and to pronounce forgiveness outside of the temple where these things were normally done were clear challenges to the authorities. Ultimately, “Jesus was killed because he stood against the kingdoms of this world and for an alternative social vision grounded in the kingdom of God.” (p. 91) It was a political killing in other words rather than a theological killing. And it was carried out by the Romans and the religious elite with very little involvement of ordinary Jews. Borg believes that the blame was shifted to the Jews later as the church sought to curry favor with Rome and that the result was hundreds of years of terrible persecutions of Jews by Christians.

Wright, on the other hand, believes that Jesus went to the Cross believing that he was the Messiah. As Borg describes it (p. 80) “Tom sees Jesus’ death as central to his messianic vocation and purpose. Jesus not only knew that his life would end in crucifixion, but he also saw it as the climactic kingdom action that would defeat the powers of evil and bring about the real return from exile.” And again (p. 81), Tom claims “that Jesus saw his own death as accomplishing something of utmost importance in the God-Israel relationship, an as ‘the final battle against the real enemy.’ Jesus took the suffering and sin of Israel and the consequences of its present historical direction upon himself. He saw his death as atoning for the sin of which Israel was guilty and he himself was innocent.”

Stating this another way, Wright rejects the notion that Jesus died for purely political reasons. He also rejects the notion that Jesus died for our sins, although this is a side-effect. He argues that the Cross fulfilled a much larger purpose. In his words (p. 105), the New Testament points “to a larger and stranger victory that is to be worked out in the world . . . Darker powers, unseen forces, are involved in these struggles.” His death, says Wright, is the “hinge upon which the door to God’s new world has swung open.” Our individual salvation becomes possible, but only as part of a larger cosmic salvation wrought by Christ’s suffering and as we suffer with him we make his death “effective in strange ways in the world around, beyond what may be calculated in terms of individual humans coming to faith.” (p.106)