Yesterday’s Knowledge Is Not Enough for Today

Light of Truth

M.J. Thomas, S.J.

The early Christians were shocked by the most tragic murder of Jesus. They turned to the scriptures for understanding and comfort. They interpreted it as ‘sacrifice of atonement,’ ‘the new covenant in blood,’ and compared it with the death of the ‘suffering servant’ and the ‘lamb of God.’ They concluded that ‘Jesus died for our sins’ (1Cor. 15:3). They understood the resurrection as the begetting by the Father (Acts 13:33). Much light is shed on all this in the book of Jose Pagola (‘JESUS, An Historical Approximation’ pp.407-411). Let me mention some of them. What Pagola says may shock some who may not have the attitude of Karl Rahner who said “for me yesterday’s knowledge is not enough for today.”

The resurrection is the key. Jesus died trusting in the Father, and the Father received Jesus into His unfathomable life. It is death, resurrection. Resurrection is the Father’s clear approval of the life and teaching of Jesus, especially the teaching that God is Abba whose love is gratuitous and unconditional.

The Father did not save Jesus from death, but in his death. While Jesus was dying in agony God was with Him, upholding Him, suffering with Him and for Him, totally identified with Him. The Father does not want to see Jesus suffer. How could God will the unjust destruction of an innocent person? What the Father wants is that Jesus be faithful to His mission till the end, identifying Himself with all the unfortunate people of the world, seeking God’s reign and its justice for all.

Jesus does not offer His blood to please God. The Father and the Son are united in the crucifixion in confronting evil. The suffering is evil: the crucifixion is crime. No one wants it but the Jewish hierarchy in collusion with Pilate. For the Jewish authorities Jesus had become an incorrigible rebel, breaking many customs and traditions and Sabbath laws, and even correcting the scriptures. The acceptance Jesus got among the ‘crowd,’ the unclean and the outcast, especially after the cleansing of the temple, was seen as a serious threat to them. So they decided to kill Him (Mk.11:18).

Throughout His public life we see Jesus protecting Himself from physical attacks. Jesus does not want anybody to kill Him. He resists it but He will accept death if need be. Here is the depth of His trust in the Father and love for humanity. The Father does not want anybody to be unjust and cruel- to commit sin. The Father does not want them to kill His beloved Son: nothing would hurt Him more. But He will let Him be killed if need be. He will not intervene to destroy the murderers. He will go on loving the world- it is the ‘foolishness’ of God’s love!

The first Christians said in amazement: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” On the cross no one is making an offering to God, nor does God demand an offering so that He may show a more benevolent face to humankind. It is God who is offering what He loves most: His own Son. His love comes first (Rm. 5:8, 8:32).The crucifixion-resurrection is the supreme revelation of God’s love. In the crucified-risen Jesus, God is with us, thinking only about us, suffering like us, dying for us. Jesus teaches us that God is always forgiving, and wants us to be as compassionate as God is (Lk. 6:36).

God’s silence at the cross did not mean that He abandoned Jesus. He was with Jesus and raised Him, assuring His final victory. The amazing thing about God’s love is that it has the power to annihilate evil without destroying evil people. God was reconciling the world to Himself (1Cor.1:22-25).

God is not blood-thirsty like a tyrant. The Father does not appear to require Jesus’ suffering to satisfy His justice to forgive humankind. Jesus does not appear as using His suffering to influence God to forgive us. If God requires the blood of an innocent person, the image of the Father Jesus portrayed is totally false. God does not consider Jesus a ‘substitute’ for sinners. Jesus is the victim of Caiaphas and Pilate. The Father shares the unjust suffering of His Son.

It is God’s love- ever gratuitous and unconditional- not suffering, that saves us. The Creator God is the God of salvation. The only salvific thing about Calvary is the unfathomable love of God, incarnate in the dying Son. Suffering is evil but it is the real way to live and express love. Only the incredible love of God can explain what happened on the cross. In the shadow of the cross Christians proclaimed ‘God is love’: Paul exclaimed ‘Christ loved me’ (Gal.2:20).

Imitating Jesus, let us trust in God’s unconditional love and live to establish God’s reign on earth.

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