THE DAY THE REVOLUTION BEGAN:
Rethinking the Meaning of Jesus’ Crucifixion
By Tom Wright
SPCK. 440 pages. £16.99
ISBN 978 0 281 06145 7
Wright writes again, popularising in one book much of his academic work over the years on the subject of Jesus’ death, but surprising himself, as he says, with fresh ‘lines of thought and interpretation’ (p.417).
His main task is to present a bigger picture of what Christ’s death accomplished than the one most Christians and puzzled onlookers realise, one that will send even theologians and preachers to look afresh at the Bible texts relating to the atonement.
Wright argues that ‘when Jesus died, something happened, as a result of which the world was a different place’ (p.355). He wishes to get away from abstract doctrine and see the message of the cross along the storyline of Israel’s history, set in the context of a real, down-to-earth historical event. In addition, he is anxious to dispel the pagan idea that Jesus’ death was about making God love us.
Power and appeal
His 15 chapters are divided into four parts. Part One provides the introduction, in which Wright emphasises the power and appeal of the cross over the centuries. He shows how through models and theories the church has tried to understand it and then seeks to set the event within the Greco-Roman and Jewish world of the first century.
Foundations
Part Two, entitled ‘In Accordance with the Bible’, presents the foundations for Wright’s understanding of the cross as God’s revolutionary means of rescuing the world. He insists that we cannot assume the meaning of the text: ‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures’ (1 Corinthians 15.3). His argument is that Jesus’ death is to be understood in the light of Israel’s exile, an exile that paralleled Adam’s exile from the garden, and an exile that was only ended at the cross. Redemption, sacrifice and sin must be seen within the context of Israel’s history. Sin is viewed as idolatry, a failure to worship God and to reflect his image. This ‘vocational failure’ leads to exile/death. The Israel that was to be the means of humanity’s salvation had itself failed and added to the human plight. Prophets indicated that it would be through God’s personal presence and rescuing action that exile would end, thus indicating the forgiveness of sins in a national and cosmic sense as well as a personal sense. Other themes from Daniel and Isaiah are introduced, such as the Kingdom of God, Passover and Exodus, the servant theme and God’s faithful love.
Jesus’ mission
In Part Three Wright considers some key New Testament texts that spell out the message of God’s revolutionary rescue, very aware that he is not presenting a complete account of what is said. He begins with Acts and then deals with Jesus’ own understanding of his mission in terms of the Passover. Wright persuasively shows from each of the four Gospels how much more there is concerning Jesus’ death than Mark 10.45: ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ Paul’s letters to Galatians, Corinthians, Philippians and Colossians are covered before concentrating on Romans, where the Exodus theme is once more brought to our attention.
Where we fit in
Part Finally, Four, ‘The Revolution Continues’, shows where we fit into the story that he has outlined. With the victory already won at the cross, proclaiming the forgiveness of sins and the defeat of the evil powers, mission can go forward with confidence and humility. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are also powerful announcements of Jesus’ victory.
The revolution continues through the company of rescued humans, who now worship the true God and who work for his kingdom on earth as royal priests. This inevitably involves suffering. The Messiah’s followers display forgiveness, not revenge, and engage in ‘new-creation work’ by being actively concerned for justice and beauty in our world. We are urged to join the revolution and celebrate it.
Momentous event
As always, Wright has numerous helpful insights and the book is generally easy to read, although there are some challenging sections. His main aim is to show that Jesus’ death was not the small, otherworldly affair affecting only individual believers that some people imagine, but a momentous event involving ‘God’s plan to unite all things in heaven and earth in the Messiah’ (Ephesians 1.10) and there is no doubt that he achieves his purpose. He also helpfully indicates how the death of Jesus was ‘the self-expression of the love that made the world’ (p.258).
Caricatures presented
In the process of achieving his aim, he sadly rubbishes preachers whose message is all about the way people in their sins can escape hell and go to heaven through believing that Jesus bore the punishment in place of sinners (pp.38-39). He also scornfully dismisses covenant theology (pp.74-5). In both instances, he presents a caricature of what is preached and taught.
Of course, Wright tries to disarm his Evangelical Reformed critics by stating that the teaching that God saves us from our sins through Jesus’ death so that we might have fellowship with God and be assured of heaven when we die is in itself ‘quite a revolutionary idea’ and is taken as read in his scheme. But, for him, popular Christian thinking has ‘Platonised’ eschatology by substituting ‘souls going to heaven’ for a promised new creation, ‘moralised’ anthropology by substituting moral performance for the human vocation and ‘paganised’ salvation by substituting the idea of ‘God killing Jesus to satisfy his wrath’ (p.147).
Disparaging
Wright’s response to Stuart Townend’s hymn is typical of the way non-evangelicals react when they hear: And on the cross, when Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied.
While Wright is right to emphasise that the ultimate state is the new creation, there is a place for mentioning and not dismissing so disparagingly the assurance of the intermediate state for those who die in Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 5.6-8; Philippians 1.21-23, verses not in Wright’s biblical index). He has much to say about sin and forgiveness and he does eventually mention Jesus’ penal, substi-tutionary death, but the way he presents it leaves much to be desired and makes it almost impossible for those convicted of their sins to understand it, or for a preacher to declare it.
View of sin
Wright fundamentally goes wrong by not viewing sin, first and foremost, in the light of God’s holiness. For him sin in humans is basically a failure to fulfil their vocation as God’s image bearers.
Other concerns could be highlighted, but it is troubling that, in an attempt to please those who find evangelical atonement theology distasteful, Wright has made the traditional Reformed understanding of the gospel look ridiculous and unacceptable, while arguing that his own views are more biblical and appealing.
