The Redeemer Jesus (2)

"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." (Mark 10:45)

Yesterday I mentioned in brief about the early Christian community, the legacy of whose faith is the religious confession of today. Keeping in view of the utmost importance of Christian faith, this matter needs some additional explanation.

The content of today clearly says, “Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many.” Though such expression is closely connected to Jews’ sacrificial offering, it will be embarrassing if we approach to the matter of ‘a ransom’ and emphasize too much on it in a pictorial or caricaturized way. We should not identify Jesus with the sacrificial animal such as sheep or cow which are slaughtered and sacrificed on the altar. It is merely a religious metaphor and not to be taken in our real life situation.

You may have a little confusion here. The confusion may be arisen because on the one hand, I say to you to believe in Jesus who shed his blood in order to save us from our sin, and on the other hand, I say not to accept it in a pictorial way. The reason is that there is high possibility for Christians’ belief to be confined within the framework of Judaism. Though Judaism is the seabed of Christian belief, we cannot simply compromise our faith with theirs.

On the one hand, Judaism and Christianity have a common point in believing God, but they are completely different in their staunch faith on the other. The faith of Judaism is monotheism but ours is Trinity.

We have to understand that Jesus is a universal redeemer and as such, his purpose is to redeem and does not merely to end his life with the shedding of his blood on the cross. Jesus’ failure and his death became our victorious life.