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.

40. CHAPTER II. THOSE THREE, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, ARE THE THREE ESSENTIALS OF THE ONE GOD, BEING A ONE IN THE SAME WAY AS SOUL, BODY, AND ACTIVITY, WITH MAN ARE A ONE

1. The Divine Trinity, which is at the same time a Unity, cannot be comprehended by anyone in any other way than as being like soul, body, and activity, in the case of man; consequently in no other way than that the Divine Itself called the Father is the soul, the Human called the Son is the body of that soul, and the Holy Spirit is the activity proceeding. ¹

2. Everywhere in the Christian Church, therefore, there is acknowledgement that in Christ God and man, that is the Divine and the human, are One Person, as are soul and body in man. This acknowledgement is there due to the Athanasian Creed.

3. Anyone, therefore, who has an understanding of the union of soul and body, and the resulting activity, comprehends God's Trinity, and at the same time His Unity, in an obscure sort of way.

4. A rational man knows, or can know, that the soul of a son is from his father, and that the soul clothes itself with a body in the mother's womb, and that afterwards all activity proceeds from both.

5. Anyone who has a knowledge of the union of soul and body, also knows, or can know, that the life of the soul is in the body, and that the life of the body is thus the soul's life.

6. Consequently, that the soul lives, and accordingly feels and is active, in the body and from it, and the body lives, feels, and is active from itself, yet all the while from the soul.

7. This is so, because all things of the soul are the body's, and all things of the body are the soul's. It is due to this and to nothing else that there is union between them.

8. It is only an appearance that the soul acts separately of itself through the body, the fact being that it acts in the body and from the body.

9. From these things a rational man acquainted with the interaction between soul and body can grasp the meaning of these words of the Lord:

that the Father and He are One; [John 10:30]

that all things of the Father are His, and all His are the Father's; [John 16:15; 17:10]

that all things of the Father come to Him; [John 6:37]

that the Father hath given all things into the Son's hand; [John 13:3]

that as the Father works, the Son works also [John 5:17, 19]

that he who sees and knows the Son, sees and knows the Father also; [John 14:7, 9]

that they who are one in the Son, are one in the Father; [John 17:21]

that no one hath seen the Father, save the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, and who has brought Him forth to view; [John 1:18; 5:37; Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22]

that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father; [John 17:21]

that no one cometh to the Father but by the Son [John 14:6]

that as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; [John 5:26]

that in Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; [Col. 2:9]

besides several other places. In these passages, by "the Son" is meant the Father's Human.

10. From these statements it follows that the Godhead and the soul of the Son of God, our Saviour, are not distinctly two, but are one and the same.

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