When
did the crucifixion begin to make a difference in your own life?
(Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page
1425).
It
is not uncommon for children to be raised in homes where parents will
do anything possible to genuinely benefit their children—commonly
to the point of self-sacrifice and even in extreme cases to the point
of death. Likewise soldiers and emergency personnel die for others
in combat or disasters.
What
makes the crucifixion of Jesus different? After leaving a loving
home, it took a while for it to completely sink into my thick skull
that generally speaking the people I meet and greet in the world have
less than absolute commitment to my welfare. I would quickly add
this applies to my own disposition relative to the welfare of others
as well. In other words, the general rule is that interpersonal
commitment is strictly limited. Now in this context the sacrifice
made by Jesus is exceptional—even singularly so—since he died
because of and despite of the sins of mankind, and he did so with a
loving and forgiving spirit. In other words, if I were to give my
life for someone, it would almost certainly entail a judgment on my
part that the person for whom I was dying was exceptionally
deserving. It is extremely unlikely that I would die to save an
enemy asshole combatant. But that is precisely what Jesus did. His
sacrificial act was redemptive in part because he refused to view the
enemy as unworthy, undeserving, and unredeemable. Rather than seek
to destroy assholes, he lovingly sought to redeem those tragically
blind to their own misguided passions.
