Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (Jn 15:13)
I guess that, if we where to ask to the average Christian (whomever that may be) the reason for Jesus’ death, he would probably reply that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins. If we were to ask him what those sins for which he died for were, our imaginary interviewed Christian may start to hesitate a bit. Depending on his level of sophistication, he may answer that it had to do something with Adam and Eve eating from the forbidden fruit. More knowledgeable Christians would probably talk either about Jesus as a substitution, a ransom, a satisfaction or a moral reparation. C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity appears to suggest that it does not even matter why he died, the fact is that he was killed for us and by his death our sins are washed out, “that is what has to be believed”.
From my particular experience (and this is only my personal view on this topic), having been told over and over for a long time that Jesus died for my sins was the source of a great deal of remorse and shame. After the statement “He died for you” it came another, never voiced, but often implied, “What have you done for him?” or “What are you going to do about it?” and of course, nothing I could ever do was going to be good enough, I was a sinner and no petty effort of mine to be “good” could ever be remotely comparable to his sacrifice. As a result I started rebelling against and reject the whole idea. I especially reacted against the ever-present sense of guilt that such interpretation conveyed. What good is a religion that makes people feel guilty, inadequate and wicked? What kind of bloodthirsty God would demand a sacrifice before being able to forgive us? Forgive us for what? Should not mercy be preferred to justice no matter the magnitude of the sin? What loving father would condemn me (and the rest of us sinners) for all eternity for an action committed in an infinitesimally small instant that is my life when compared to time without end? Did God really need/want such a horrific sacrifice? Did Jesus really need to die such an atrocious death? Who asked him to die for me anyway! Now I am stuck with this colossal debt with not real possibility to ever paying it back. I could not think of a crime big enough (even if committed against God) that would deserve eternal punishment; does not God know what kind of silly creatures we humans are? Was it fair to put me here in the first place if he already knew that I was going to screw things up? All of it just was consistent with the image of a loving Abba portrayed by Jesus.
One of the goals of therapy is to develop people whose locus of evaluation resides within; people able to be fully alive, and willing to bear witness that it is possible to be joyful, to be free. That a life without sin (free from ignorance and fragmentation) is possible. However, we have also seen how society feels threatened by such free individuals, since they do not “play by the rules”; they cannot be controlled by social criticism, legal coercion or financial restrictions. Truly self-actualized individuals have cut all the strings; they are not puppets any longer. As Tony De Mello used to say, such rare individuals no longer march to the drums of society, but to the tune of the music that springs up from within. In my opinion, Jesus was truly a self-realized (and also self-transcended) individual.
I believe that Jesus died due to humanity’s blindness (or unwillingness) to face the truth as was being uncompromisingly presented by him. His plan was not to die, but if he was going to be coherent with his teachings, then he really had no option but to stand his ground and face the consequences of what he had been preaching. From reading the gospels it becomes apparent that everybody knew that Jesus’ life was in danger. That going to Jerusalem was not a good idea if he wanted to have a long life. He certainly could have avoided being taken prisoner. He could have hidden or run away, organize a revolt (as many wanted him); or simply and quietly taken back his words in face of the Pharisees’ accusations. However, in doing so he would have betrayed his own beliefs, and with any other (of the very few) fully realized human beings, the truth of his message was more important than his life. The cross was neither an arbitrary intrusion not an unforeseen consequence in the life of Jesus, but a willingly and knowingly accepted outcome of a life of uncompromised commitment to freedom, truth and love. Only someone who has truly transcended all psychological bonds and is fully convinced of the truth that lies beneath his message is able to walk willingly to his death. Such consequence was, I believe, accepted, but not desired.
The crucified Jesus is a symbol of coherence to its last consequences, of living one’s own believes not matter what, unwilling to accommodate, to negotiate, to compromise. In words of Armand Veilleux: “Christ saved us by his life, not by his death. But his death is part of his life. Christ was not killed as a sacrifice; he was murdered”.
The crucifixion can also be read as the ultimate metaphor of transformation, since in Christianity; Jesus’ death cannot be understood without the idea of the resurrection.
The Jesus presented by the gospels is not a distant guru sitting in a cave, someone preaching comfortably from the pulpit, or writing from a luxurious office beautiful worlds for others to observe. He, just like every one of us, knew pain, knew suffering and felt abandoned, even by God. Suffering by itself, does not imply growth or realization; but it “open us up” to love, compassion and wisdom. Being fully open to suffering, as Jesus was, prepare us for growth and transcendence. Jesus triumph over death, however understood, is a powerful symbol of what is available to us, if we are willing to walk that extra mile (Mt 5:41).
Historians can only establish historical probabilities; never reconstruct the past with absolute certitude or empirically prove anything that ever happened. Miracles by their very nature are improbable events that simply go beyond what historians can prove or disprove. The resurrection, as any other miracle, escapes the realm of historicity (cf. Bart D. Ehrman). Fortunately for our purposes, it is completely unnecessary to enter into such analysis. What is really important is the symbolic meaning that the resurrection can convey to us about Jesus’ life and teachings. To follow the risen Jesus requires us to go through the same process that he underwent, to know our true self, to align with our true nature.
The process of psychotherapy is a grueling process. How, as the beatitudes describe, confronting our ego centered existence, acknowledging that we have been functioning from a false self and embracing our shadow is a dispiriting and humbling process. A process where we are forced to get ride of our façade, our organizing principles and defenses, and even give up our earthly possessions in what can be easily compared (and many times experienced) to a dying to our old self. In a sense we are willingly and knowingly giving ourselves in, like Jesus before us, for our crucifixion; where we are the victim and executioner, the women mourning, the frightened disciples, the judges and the curious by passers. All of our facets, our sub-personalities or ego-states are analyzed, challenged and –hopefully– reintegrated in a more cohesive and harmonious Self. If we are willing to lose our life (Lk 9:24), we will gain life in abundance (Jn 10:10); we will, just as he did and many have experience through psychotherapy, resurrect in a new body, as newly born children in the Kingdom of Heaven.
But then again, what do I know…
