Musings from the Back 40
Why Did Jesus Die?
by David Graber
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Agape n. <Gk. Christian love: the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which Christians were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God, among one another, and with enemies.
Just before 300 A.D. a farm boy near a small town just upstream the Nile River from Thebes was working crops in a field near the river with other young men. Pachomius, 20 years old at the time, and others his age hardly noticed a Roman ship with soldiers aboard pulling the ship upstream. But the centurion aboard did notice the young men in the field. He was on a recruiting mission, and knew farm boys had the strength to make good soldiers. He stopped. His methods were simple. He deployed his soldiers with chains and swords. The young men were caught, chained together in groups, and marched to the waiting ship. They cast off and drifted downstream to the city of Thebes, where the centurion stopped to wait for favorable winds before venturing from the Nile into the Mediterranean.
Waiting on the shore in chains, Pachomius and the new recruits were in shock. They were hungry and cold, and had no money. But more than that, they grieved knowing they might never see their homes and families again. Citizens of Thebes heard their cries in the night, but paid no attention. They knew it was best to ignore the affairs of the Roman army. But a small group of citizens had the courage to take the risk. To the amazement of the young men in chains, they brought money, clothing and nourishment, and quickly departed.
In a day or two the wind turned favorable, and they set sail. Held with the other recruits on board, Pachomius asked them the identity of the citizens who dared come to aid them. Only one knew anything. He told Pachomius he had heard of a new cult of Jesus the Christ, a resurrected God who commanded followers to do good to all, even enemies. Pachomius, on the boat on his way to war against his will, was determined to seek out this God. In the night, he made a vow that if he were to survive his military duty, he would commit himself to the Christian god and abandon the gods of the empire. Thus began Pachomius' life as a Christian (Information from translated writings of Tabenna and others. See www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/PACHOMI.htm or use search words such as Pachomius Thebes Tabenna Christianity)
I was a farm boy raised to believe that God's love demanded Jesus's obedience to love neighbors and enemies, and to refuse the sword when threatened because of acting on this love (see Matthew 5).
My family has a copy of the book in publication longer than any other, second to the Holy Bible: The Martyr's Mirror (Theileman J. van Bracht, Dort, 1659). All stories in this 1157-page volume, illustrate the Gospel stories of why Jesus died, as generally understood in the first three centuries of Christianity. Historical narratives of martyrs in this book extend from Jesus of Nazareth to the date the first edition was published.
Early Christians took literally Jesus' life and words, and felt the most absolute of all were his words about love, especially agape. He demonstrated this with his disciples, with sworn enemies chosen from both insurgents and collaborators with the Roman occupation in first century Galilee. Five days after crowds followed him on the Appian Way into Jerusalem at the beginning of the first Holy Week, he was arrested, tried in court and tortured to death the Roman way. His disciples, ready to fight for him with swords, were rebuked. Roman records corroborate Gospel accounts of his death.
Some of Jesus' words important to Christians the first centuries:
"Love your enemies, and be good to everyone who hates you… .If you love
only someone who loves you, will God praise you for that?" (Luke 6:27, 32 Contemporary English Version)
"Put your sword away. Anyone who lives by fighting will die by fighting." (Matthew 26:52 CEV)
"My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight." (John 18:36 New Revised Standard Version)
Mary's "Magnificat" (Luke 1: 46-55)
The "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5, 6, and 7).
So Jesus died because of love? The scripture statements are clear. Jesus died, as God's son, in a consummate outpouring of God's love for the whole world.
This understanding has left questions to ponder, just like the Bible record does. Today there remain a variety of precise explanations of what happened between God, Satan, the politicians who executed Jesus, all humanity, and Jesus himself. Among Bible scholars, these are known as theories of atonement. The history of Christianity includes the rise of these theories, a special focus of Constantine's council agenda at Nicea in 311 A.D. Since then atonement theories have clashed in Christianity. But among them all, this understanding of God's love, short on specificity and leaving questions unanswered, has endured through the dust of European Christianity.
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