One In Jesus

We are continue to reflect on Michael J. Gorman’s The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement.

Atonement for this world

Moreover, Gorman argues that the new covenant provides a perspective on atonement that is this-worldly. It’s not just about what happens in heaven (as important as those things are).

The spirituality of the new covenant, as a participatory spirituality, is decidedly a this-worldly spirituality. It is this-worldly, first of all, because it is fundamentally Jewish and therefore affirms the goodness of creation. It is this-worldly also because it is grounded in, and is a means of sharing in, the events of a very this-worldly reality: a Roman crucifixion that Christians confess to be the divine “medicine for the world” (crux est mundi medicina, a saying of the ancient church).

(Kindle Locations 5700-5703). Continue reading →

Brought to my attention by a reader, and well worth a listen, all the way through.

We are continue to reflect on Michael J. Gorman’s The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement.

A community covenant

Gorman thus concludes,

The purpose of Jesus’ death was to effect, or give birth to, the new covenant, the covenant of peace; that is, to create a new-covenant community of Spirit-filled disciples of Jesus who would fulfill the inseparable covenantal requirements of faithfulness to God and love for others through participation in the death of Jesus, expressed in such practices as faithful witness and suffering (cruciform faith), hospitality to the weak and servant-love for all (cruciform love), and peacemaking (cruciform hope).

(Kindle Locations 5473-5476).

That would make for quite the congregational mission statement, wouldn’t it? It’s not particularly clever marketing though. I mean, who wants to attend a church that promises “faithful witness and suffering”? For that matter, are we really in the mood for peacemaking? I’m not seeing much of that in the modern church. Continue reading →

We are continue to reflect on Michael J. Gorman’s The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement.

Deuteronomy 30:6

Another path that Gorman might have traveled down is the Old Testament thread beginning with Deu 30:6. It is, in my mind, as central to the Mosaic covenant as, say, the Ten Commandments.

(Deu 30:6-10 ESV)  6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.  … 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today.  9 The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers,  10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 

Deuteronomy records the second giving of the Law, just as the Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan River to begin the conquest of the Promised Land. It’s in the form of an Ancient Near East treaty. And it therefore concludes with a series of blessings and curses. Continue reading →

We are continue to reflect on Michael J. Gorman’s The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement.

The Lord’s Supper

The accounts of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper refer back to Jeremiah —

(Mat 26:27-29 ESV) 7 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,  28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

(Mar 14:24-25 ESV) 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.  25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 

(Luk 22:20 ESV) 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

(1Co 11:25-26 ESV)  25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Luke and Paul explicitly reference the “new covenant,” an obvious reference to Jeremiah 31. They add “in my blood.” How is the new covenant “in” the blood of Jesus? Continue reading →

We are continue to reflect on Michael J. Gorman’s The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant: A (Not So) New Model of the Atonement.

Transformation — another missing element

Gorman cites several New Testament texts that speak of our salvation in terms of the death and resurrection of Jesus, such as the baptismal discussion in Romans 6. He concludes,

In texts such as these, we see that the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ death was to create a transformed people, a (new) people living out a (new) covenant relationship with God together. Moreover, this people will not simply believe in the atonement and the one who died, they will eat and drink it, they will be baptized into it/ him, they will be drawn to him and into it.

That is, they will so identify with the crucified savior that words like “embrace” and “participation,” more than “belief” or even “acceptance,” best describe the proper response to this death. (Even the words “belief” and “believe” take on this more robust sense of complete identification.) Continue reading →