A friend forwarded the following series of questions:

“Now here is a question. Jesus died for man’s sins. [I digress but why do people have to die to satisfy God? Wiped out a bunch in the flood because they were bad. Sodom and Gomorrah wiped off the map because they were too much like Vegas. Told Abraham to kill his son Ishmael (or was it Isaac) to test his faith. Tortured Job for the same reason. Sent His only Son to die. What's with the sacrifices? A big thank you is not enough?] Back to the original question. What sins did Jesus have to die for? Was it original sin? If you don’t buy the Adam and Eve story does the whole saved by Christ’s sacrifice go out the window? Do you have to believe A to get to Z or can you believe in bits and pieces? I am not asking to pick a fight, but I honestly don’t know the answers to these questions.”

These are important questions! And this author is not alone in asking them. A lot of people are finding the “handed down” orthodox answers to be less than satisfactory. I enter the dialogue here, not because I’ve got all the answers, but because the questions need to be pondered, not avoided. “Wrestling” with such ponderables is at the center of faith and is something of its essence. Here is my offering to the continuing conversation:

What sounds illogical and even crazy to us today wasn’t all that nuts to people “back in the day” (bitd). I’m talking way back, like just shy of 2,000 years or so. And what’s been handed down to us in the form of orthodox theology, which is packaged to sound as if it’s always been understood a certain way . . . hasn’t always been understood that way. In fact, bitd there were many “theories” or “theologies” (metaphors really) of what really happened at Jesus’ death, not just one. And unlike in more recent times, many metaphors was OK! So why did we have to nail it down (no pun intended) and settle on only ONE orthodox understanding? And aren’t we are poorer for it? Wouldn’t we be better off with many, even disparate, metaphors, assuming, of course, that Jesus’ death and resurrection is a mystery larger than any one metaphor can capture?

At the risk of arrogance and fallibility, let me offer a “metaphor mosaic” on why Jesus died. First, this is not an exhaustive list, only a sampling. Nor is it a closed list, because new understandings and metaphors need to be suggested and explored. Finally, I do not intend to speak in depth to each of the following metaphors, nor with great technical knowledge of each one. I offer them simply to suggest that it takes more than one of them to even begin getting our minds around the mystery of the cross. Here’s my list (most of which have biblical roots):

at-one-ment (or atonement)

cover/erase

threat to power (“expedient for one man to die”)

living atonement / living sacrificially (“laid down his life for his friends”)

I plan to elaborate a little on each of these metaphors over time, perhaps adding a little different twist here and there (not just to be different, but because it’s appropriate). It should offer some room for discussion for those who are inclined. I love the part where this guy wrote, “I’m not trying to pick a fight. I really don’t know.” I think people are a lot more attracted to Jesus when they are allowed to hear the story and are invited to enter it and are asked, “what do you think it means that Jesus died?” Rather than telling them what it means, what they have to do about it, and threaten them with hell if they don’t. (But now I digress . . . )

Brian McLaren wrote in one of his books (sorry, I don’t have the exact quote in front of me): “I don’t think Jesus understood why he had to die, either.” The fact is: people have found meaning and purpose in the death of Jesus for their lives both now and bitd, whether they understand the “why” of his death or not.

So, what’s your metaphor? What do you think? What should be added to the list?