Jesus in the Drama of Salvation<\/a>) that human beings are \u201csimultaneously involved in two situations. As responsible for sins, all belong to the great band of those who form an alliance against God\u2019s anointed, judge him, drive him out, and reject him. As victims of their own and others\u2019 sins, they find themselves part of the universal community of those with whom the crucified one identified himself and for whom, through his ordeal of being struck and killed, he turned evil actions toward the good\u201d (192-3).<\/p>\nHe points to Jesus\u2019 prayer that His killers be excused to highlight the fact that even while murdering, they were also victims: \u201cTheir actions arose not from their wide-awake decision, but it just happened to them, so that they were more victims than agents. The reasoning in Jesus\u2019 request also makes clear that the distinction between responsible action and being a victim is not identical to that between active deeds and passive suffering. The executioners of Jesus were certainly active at the crucifixion, but because of their lack of knowledge they were ultimately not responsible agents: in their actions they were victims. They acted under a spell and took the role of that power to which they fell victim\u201d (171).<\/p>\n
For Schwager, this raises the hope of universal salvation: \u201cChrist by his yes in the event of the cross identified himself with all other people insofar as they are victims of sin. This inclusion of all has an immediate consequence for the exclusivity of his deed: if he identified himself with all victims of sin, then every offense against a fellow person or against one\u2019s self is aimed against him\u201d (192). Jesus who identified with victims is the victim in all victimizations.<\/p>\n
He finds this dynamic in several of the parables of Jesus that seem to end with vengeance and retribution against those who defy God. Schwager notes that the judged often anticipate Jesus\u2019 own experience: \u201cThe unmerciful creditor is given over to the torturers . . . and Jesus also was handed over to the soldiers for torture (scourging, crown of thorns). The man without a wedding garment . . . and the worthless servant are both cast into \u2018outer darkness.\u2019 In a similar way Jesus found himself in the outer darkness of abandonment by God. . . . Many parables speak of the evildoers being in different ways violently killed . . . and Jesus too experienced such a death.\u201d Even the goats who are cursed (Matthew 25:41) share the fate of Christ who was made a curse (195). This leads Schwager to conclude that the parables don\u2019t actually predict how the Father will respond to the rejection of the Son. And if the Father forgives the assault on His Son, \u201cthere is no other thinkable deed which God would not willingly forgive\u201d (197).<\/p>\n
And yet: Jesus says that the sin against the Spirit will not<\/em> be forgiven, and Paul and the other apostles often warn of an impending judgment. If the Father has departed from the parabolic script, how do these fit? <\/p>\nSchwager\u2019s powerful and often insightful treatment of the atonement goes off track because he doesn\u2019t take the story of the gospel to its end. Pentecost is not<\/em> the concluding act in the establishment of the new covenant, and the concluding act is precisely an act of judgment and retribution against those who have rejected not only the Son but the Spirit, who assaulted not only the Bridegroom but the Bride. If we don\u2019t delete AD 70 from our soteriology or from our account of first-century history, it becomes much harder to delete divine retribution and punishment from the evangelical complex.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Raymund Schwager (Jesus in the Drama of Salvation) that human beings are \u201csimultaneously involved in two situations. As responsible for sins, all belong to the great band of those who form an alliance against God\u2019s anointed, judge him, drive him out, and reject him. As victims of their own and others\u2019 sins, they find themselves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1488,409],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ad-70","category-judgment"],"yoast_head":"\n
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