This is the third of six posts in which I draw on an article by liberation theologian, Ignacio Ellacuria, to reflect on and seek to re-frame the connected themes of sin, Jesus' death, and salvation.
A key theme I have aimed at writing about in my blog is the importance that a continuing sense of faith and spirituality have in my life. Closely connected to this is my commitment (mi compromiso) that faith must be lived; that it must be embodied in and connected with the concrete, earthly realities of daily life: Journey Inward ~– Journey Outward; Journey Outward ~ Journey Inward. At the same time writing these posts has also served as a vehicle for me to explore my understanding of faith in ways that enable me to talk of faith with full integrity and Twenty-first Century meaningfulness. This has meant on a number of occasions distancing myself from my fundamentalist upbringing and in a few instances from more mainline traditional Christian views. So now, again, with understandings of sin, the meaning of Jesus' death, and salvation. I am grateful to liberation theologian and martyr Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J., for his 1978 article: “El Pueblo Crucificado” / “The Crucified People”1 which helps re-frame these questions.
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A key theme I have aimed at writing about in my blog is the importance that a continuing sense of faith and spirituality have in my life. Closely connected to this is my commitment (mi compromiso) that faith must be lived; that it must be embodied in and connected with the concrete, earthly realities of daily life: Journey Inward ~– Journey Outward; Journey Outward ~ Journey Inward. At the same time writing these posts has also served as a vehicle for me to explore my understanding of faith in ways that enable me to talk of faith with full integrity and Twenty-first Century meaningfulness. This has meant on a number of occasions distancing myself from my fundamentalist upbringing and in a few instances from more mainline traditional Christian views. So now, again, with understandings of sin, the meaning of Jesus' death, and salvation. I am grateful to liberation theologian and martyr Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J., for his 1978 article: “El Pueblo Crucificado” / “The Crucified People”1 which helps re-frame these questions.
A good starting point
is to look at the question of Jesus' primary purpose and message.
What
Ellacuria highlights is something that theologians and biblical
schoars have often recognized but without making the connection that
Ellacuria makes to salvation: that is, that Jesus' purpose and
mission was to announce the Reign (Kingdom) of God. This was his
central message. In the gospels of Mark and Matthew Jesus begins his
public ministry announcing: “This is the time of fulfillment. The
Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe this good news”
(Mark 1:15, Matthew 4:17).
Luke's
gospel elaborates. We are told (Luke 4:16ff) that Jesus inaugurates
his ministry in the synagogue “in Nazareth, where he had grown up.”
On the sabbath he was invited to read from the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah. He does so, choosing the following passage:
“The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because
he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He
has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and
recovery of sight to the blind,
to
let the oppressed go free,
and
to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
He
then rolls up the scroll and sits down. When the people look to him
for a comment, he says simply: “Today this scripture passage is
fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, the
Power and Reign of God is present, it is here in your midst!
A
few verses later, in Luke 4:43 Jesus makes it explicit. Explaining
to the crowds following that he could stay no longer, he says: “To
other towns I also must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of
God, because
for
this purpose I have been sent.”
In
Luke 8:1 we read again that Jesus journeyed from one town and village
to another “preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom
of God.” Mark's gospel, chapter 4, also records a series of
parables where Jesus offers some practical images providing metaphors
for what the kingdom is like.
So
from his own mouth as recorded in the Gospels, Jesus negates the traditional Christian view
that he came to die. While later in his ministry it becomes clear to
him that his life and ministry are leading to his death, the stated
purpose and goal of his ministry, his
mission, is not to die but to announce and call people to recognize
and align their lives with the in-breaking Reign of God.
This is the first point re-framed in Ellacuria's article. And this,
for me, opens up a whole new understanding and perspective!!
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1 The
article is reprinted in various collections of Ellacuria's work. It
is also availble online in Spanish (http://www.seleccionesdeteologia.net/selecciones/llib/vol19/76/076_ellacuria.pdf 2015-03-6) and
English
(http://www.womenpriests.org/theology/ellacuria.asp
2014-01-18).
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