解説

 

A Ransom for Many - What can that mean?

作者: New Christian Bible Study Staff

A Ransom for Many - What can that mean?

Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth -- Jesus Christ -- was crucified. He died. Painfully. And then, by the second morning after that, He was risen from the dead. His physical body was gone - or, rather, in light of subsequent events, it seems to have been transformed into a spiritual one. (That's an interesting thing to think through, in itself, but it's not the focus of this article.)

Instead, here we want to focus on some of the things that are said in the Bible about why Jesus died. There's an almost-2000-year-old confusion about it. Let's dig into it...

In Mark 10:42-45 (and in Matthew 20:25-28), we find this well-known lesson, which occurs late in Jesus's ministry. James and John - still not really understanding the depth of what was going on, are lobbying Jesus for promises of sitting at His left and right hand when he is "king". The other disciples are displeased, of course. Jesus knows what's going on, so He gathers them all, and tries to explain the real nature of His mission, and what their mission should be, too.

Here's the text:

"But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

A ransom. The Greek word used here is λύτρον, or lutron, which means the price for redeeming or ransoming, from λύω, luo, for loosening, untying, or setting free.

Some theologians have taken this text, and combined it with the text from the crucifixion story, when Jesus says three things that show his distress, and his feeling of separation from his Divine essence -- "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?", and "Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done", and "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

It can certainly be interpreted as a sort of sacrifice, in which Jesus acts as a sort of scapegoat, substituting his death for the human race that had disappointed His Father. Some theologians have done that. Anselm of Canterbury, in around 1000 AD, was one of the leaders of a faction that made that argument. But we don't think that's the right track; in fact, we think it was a wrong track that's been pretty damaging.

In New Christian theology, it doesn't make sense that God was angry. He's love itself. Is He disappointed when we don't reciprocate His love? Sure. But angry? No. There's certainly the appearance of it, especially in the Old Testament at times, but the core nature of God is love.

What's more, it should be even clearer that the death of Jesus's physical body wouldn't make God the Father feel better. Remember, they are really ONE person, of one mind - not two.

Instead, the whole cycle of God's incarnation, ministry, physical death, and resurrection was undertaken so that new truths could reach humankind.

Here's an interesting passage, from Arcana Coelestia 1419,

"The Lord, being love itself, or the essence and life of the love of all in the heavens, wills to give to the human race all things that are His; which is signified by His saying that the Son of man came to give His life a ransom for many."

Further, in Apocalypse Explained 328:15, we find this explanation:

“The phrase ‘to ransom’ means to free people from falsities and reform them by means of truths. This is signified by the words, ‘Ransom [redeem] me, O Jehovah, God of truth’” (Psalm 31:5)

One reason Jesus died was to overcome the power of hell. Jesus fought against evil spirits throughout His life. The clearest description of this is just after his baptism, when he spends 40 days in the wilderness. His suffering on the cross was the final struggle against evil, and His resurrection was his final victory over it.

For every person, overcoming evil involves temptation or a struggle against evil. As we struggle against evil individually, Christ struggled against evil on a cosmic scale. His death was the conclusion of that struggle, but it wasn't a loss; it was a win. The Bible says that God took on flesh and blood so that

“... through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14,15)

Another reason that Bible gives for Jesus’ death was that He might unite His human nature with His Divine nature, so that He could “make in Himself, of two, one new man,” (Ephesians 2:14-16, cf. John 17:11, 21; 10:30).

There are other reasons mentioned, too:

He could "go to the Father" (John 13:3; 14:2, 28; 16:10).

He could be "glorified" (John 17:1,5) or "enter into His glory" (Luke 24:26).

He could be "perfected" (Luke 13:32), or "sanctified" (John 17:19).

In Swedenborg's True Christianity 86, it says,

"Jehovah God came into the world as divine truth for the purpose of redeeming people. Redemption was a matter of gaining control of the hells, restructuring the heavens, and then establishing a church."

At the crucifixion, the forces of evil thought they had won. The religious and civic powers of the day led the way in condemning him. He was mocked. The crowd turned against him.

The death of Jesus' physical body was a "ransom" in this way: by undergoing that torture and death, He could then show that his spiritual power transcended natural death. He freed us, loosened us, from domination by the hells, and established a new church -- a new way that we can follow.

聖書

 

Luke 24:26

勉強

       

26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

スウェーデンボルグの著作から

 

Arcana Coelestia#6451

この節の研究

  
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6451. 'I am being gathered to my people' means that [spiritual good] will come to exist within the forms of good and the truths of the natural which spring from that good. This is clear from the representation of the sons of Israel and of the tribes named after them, to which 'his people' refers here, as forms of good and truths in the natural - dealt with in 3858, 3926, 3939, 5414, 5879, 5951, 6335, 6337 - which, it is self-evident, sprang from him; and from the meaning of 'being gathered to that people' as existing within those forms of good and truths. Since the subject here and in what follows is the gathering of spiritual good, which is 'Israel', that is, its coming to exist within the forms of good and the truths of the natural, which are 'his sons' or the tribes named after them, something must be said about how one is to understand all this.

[2] Within a person there is what is inmost; there are interior things beneath what is inmost; and there are exterior things. All these are utterly distinct and separate. They follow one after another in consecutive order, thus from what is inmost to what is outermost; and in accordance with that consecutive order there is also a flow from one into another. This being so, life flows in by way of what is inmost into the interior things, and by way of the interior things into the exterior ones, in accordance with the order in which they follow one another, and it does not come to rest except in what is last and lowest, where it is brought to a halt. And since interior things flow in accordance with order right through to what is last and lowest and are there brought to a halt, it is evident that interior things exist together within what is last and lowest. But they do so there in the following order: What is inmost and has flowed in occupies the central area; interior things, which are beneath what is inmost, encircle the central area; and exterior things are on the edge all the way round. This applies not merely in what is general and overall but also in every specific thing. The first kind of order is called consecutive order, whereas the second is called simultaneous order. The second arises from the first since everything simultaneous arises from what is consecutive, and then exists as it was when first brought into being.

[3] Because the interior things are also present all together in what is last and lowest, the appearance is that life exists in what is last and lowest, which is the body. The reality however is that it exists in interior things, yet not in them but in what is highest, which is the Lord, the Source of all life. This also explains why the life in the exterior things is obscure when compared with the life in the interior ones, for in exterior things the life is wholly general, the product of many, indeed countless elements that flow in from interior things, yet are seen all together as a general, single whole. All this now shows to some extent how one is to understand the idea that spiritual good, which is 'Israel', will come to exist within the forms of good and the truths of the natural, which are 'his sons' or 'the tribes'. For spiritual good, which is 'Israel', exists in the interior part of the natural, while the forms of good and the truths, which are 'his sons', exist in the exterior part of it. The idea that spiritual good will come to exist in them is meant by 'I am being gathered to my people'.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.