Ressurection....What did Jesus Do

Three days after Jesus' disciples witnessed him dying on the cross, the women went to go and care for his body and prepare it for final burial.  However when the women went to the tomb, they found the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus gone.  A messenger, an angel of God, told them that Jesus was not among the dead but is now among the living.  Jesus had been Resurrected.

How did they react?  Like many of us do, they were shocked, amazed and basically confused.  Even among the disciples there were those who did not believe.  Not until Jesus appeared to them and they were able to see the wounds upon Jesus with Jesus living right before them once again. Then Jesus tells these men and women to go and share this news with everyone.  They do even when they were confronted with death, they would not go against the message that they knew to be true.

So what was accomplished here within the resurrection?  Well that depends greatly on the faith tradition you are in and what atonement theory you believe.

For all Christians, it is an understanding that there is life after the death that we have on Earth.  Yet what that new life looks like varies greatly among understanding.  This complex event is the source and basis for the faith of Christians throughout the world and yet it is not often understood. However mixed in with the understanding of the resurrection also comes with it, an understanding of Free Will, the Atonement Theory, and the meaning of the Resurrection.

Resurrection - the rising from the dead to a new life. Now with this very simple definition a person can begin to understand that a person has a life, dies, and is given a new life.  However, this is not a zombie and this is not reincarnation.  What makes these things different?  A zombie is a living thing but would not have a soul attached, and with reincarnation, the person is given a new life in a new form here on earth.  With a resurrection, the person is given a new life but it is not clear if this is a spiritual or a physical or both.  This confusion is actually derived from the understanding from the witnesses that saw the resurrected Jesus.  (I am sorry that they were not scientists or journalists who asked the right question in the midst of their shock and awe.)

If a person is resurrected only in a spiritual sense, does that make the flesh the only thing that is our cage that keeps us here and separate from God?  This was a Gnostic understanding.  It was a simple need to understand what resurrection was about.  In their thinking, we could be freed from flesh and live with God in spiritual form, however God created the flesh and said that "It is good" so our human nature is important to being with God.  A spiritual nature is important so that we can encounter and relate that God is present within our spirituality.

If the resurrection is merely physically and not spiritual, then we are stuck in the same relationship that we were before only finding ourselves in a new body but falling into the same patterns and bad relationship with God and others that are not healthy or intended for us.  (This is also a form of reincarnation.)  It would seem that both would be important in understanding and relating to God.  When Jesus appeared to the disciples, they did not recognize him, his physical nature changed to the point that the people who had been with him for 3 years did not recognize him.  So Jesus resurrected physical and spiritual natures were different.  Not until Jesus did something that revealed who he was, did the disciples recognize Jesus.  Yet there are accounts where the disciples were able to witness the physical wounds Jesus sustained from being on the cross. Going back and forth, we see that there is evidence for both knowing Jesus and not knowing Jesus when Jesus appears, so it does not seem to be clear.

Free Will - we have control over the actions, events and control over parts of our life.  As a person discusses resurrection, the discussion can also include conversation about the inclusion of Free Will and its role in the resurrection.  Is it necessary for the person to believe in the resurrection, which type of resurrection?  If a person has complete Free Will to determine their own salvation, then the person must choose to accept the reality that the resurrection is something that impacts their Free Will to the point that they give everything to God so that the gift of salvation is theirs.  It is through their CHOICE that they are saved by God, their life is changed, and they share that same message with others.  Thus the choices that you make in this world, affect the life that is to come following your death.

For others, we as humans have free will within the Earth but the salvation and spiritual is something that God determines.  So here, we choose to follow Jesus, live a new life and share the news with others.  However the work of our salvation is given to us by Jesus. There is another thinking, where everything from our salvation, to our very life each day, along with every event, is planned out by God.   In this way, our very life and our salvation is given to us, the good and the bad.  Basically this whole discussion of Free Will revolves around our involvement in the work for our salvation and the world around us.

Atonement Theory - the way in which humankind was reconciled to God for their sin.  Once again, we come face to face with different theories.  Currently there are nine different theories of atonement, yet one Lord and Savior.

Each of these definitions can be found upon searching for Atonement in Christianity within Wikipedia.

Types of Atonement:

Limited (Calvinistic/Reformed) - only a limited number of people shall be saved by God for their eternal salvation

Unlimited (All other Christianity) - All of humanity shall be reconciled to God.  Here are those who view it as all humans are saved because God does not tell us the standards by which a person shall be judged.

Theories of Atonement:

Christus Victor (Patristic) - the first theory in which Jesus was the victor over evil and all the dominion that evil held within humanity and the world.  This was the understanding from the early Church Fathers until Anselm came in 1100 CE.

Governmental (Arminian) - The governmental theory teaches that Christ suffered for humanity so that God could forgive humans apart from punishment while still maintaining divine justice.

Moral influence (Patristic) - The moral influence view of the atonement teaches that the purpose and work of Jesus Christ was to bring positive moral change to humanity. This moral change came through the teachings and example of Jesus, the Christian movement he founded, and the inspiring effect of his martyrdom and resurrection. It is one of the oldest views of the atonement in Christian theology and a prevalent view for most of Christian history

Penal substitution (Scholastic - Reformed) - Penal substitution derives from the idea that divine forgiveness must satisfy divine justice, that is, that God is not willing or able to simply forgive sin without first requiring a satisfaction for it. Penal Substitution states that God gave himself in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for our sin.

Ransom (Patristic) - is one of the main doctrines in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ. The first major theory of the atonement, the ransom theory of atonement originated in the early Church, particularly in the work of Origen. The theory teaches that the death of Christ was a ransom sacrifice, usually said to have been paid to Satan, in some views paid to God the Father, in satisfaction for the bondage and debt on the souls of humanity as a result of inherited sin.  The ransom theory was the main view of atonement through the first thousand years of Christian history, though it was never made a required belief.

Recapitulation (Patristic) - Christ is seen as the new Adam who succeeds where Adam failed. Christ undoes the wrong that Adam did and, because of his union with humanity, leads humankind on to eternal life (including morality).

Satisfaction (Scholastic - Anselmian) - the satisfaction theory teaches that Christ suffered as a substitute on behalf of humankind satisfying the demands of God's honor by his infinite merit. Anselm regarded his satisfaction view of the atonement as a distinct improvement over the older ransom theory of the atonement, which he saw as inadequate. Anselm's theory was a precursor to the refinements of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin which introduced the idea of punishment to meet the demands of divine justice.

Substitutionary (Scholastic - Reformation) - is the name given to a number of Christian models of the atonement that all regard Jesus as dying as a substitute for others, 'instead of' them.

There is also a less technical use of the term 'substitution' in discussion about atonement when it is used in 'the sense that [Jesus, through his death,] did for us that which we can never do for ourselves'.

There are a number of differing theories that come under the umbrella term 'substitutionary atonement'. The four best known are the Early Church Fathers' ransom theory; Gustaf Aulen's demystified version of the ransom theory, called Christus Victor; Anselm of Canterbury's satisfaction theory; and the Reformed period's penal substitution theory. Care should be taken when one reads the language of substitution in, for example, Patristic literature, not to assume any particular substitution model is being used but should, rather, check the context to see how the author was using the language.

What is it that Lutherans believe?

I realize that for many of you, you may be reading this and thinking, "yea, I agree with that or part of this." What really determines what kind of atonement theory relates greatly to your understanding of God.  Since I am a Lutheran it is the theory of satisfaction. For it was through the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross, the suffering, words and death that we bear witness to the full payment and substitution. For Jesus takes on the sins of the whole world, yours, mine, and anyone else that you can think of. The sins of all were forgiven on the cross. It was not the sins of Jesus, for Jesus was without sin. However Jesus takes on our Original Sin and all the sins within your life. Yes, ALL of them. The payment for your sins is paid in full, not from anything that you have done but completely through the work that Jesus has done.

So then what is there for you to do within the world? Now you know fully of what God has done for you. You have bore witness to the events. Now that you are aware, no longer are you a servant in the world but you are equal to the Son. You are to go and do the work that has been commanded to you. You are to help those around you in need. You are to share the Good News of the work of the cross. For truly when Christ comes back among the living, he comes to announce that the gift has been given and the victory has been won. So we give thanks to God that we are members of the family, that we have received the gift he brought us, but that we can share in the Kingdom of God even here and now within this world. AMEN!