Responding to "Why Jesus?"

United Methodist Bishop William Willimon has written a book, which I've not read, and now he's blogging about it - or from it, technically.

In recent weeks, pastor and author Rob Bell has been catching a lot of press about his new book Love Wins.   In it (I'm in the midst of reading it), he puts re-articulates an old theological position that God's love and grace are so big that God makes space for all people to be drawn into relationship with God (some might say, "be saved").  I talked about this idea with my small group this past week and it was a very interesting conversation.  With some, there was a concern that if God had the intention of "saving" every person, why did God need Jesus?  I had mostly left this conversation behind until I read Bishop Willimon's recent post answering part of the question, "Why Jesus?"


Here's a teaser from the last paragraph of Bishop Willimon's post:

Some people think of the cross of Christ as our way to get to be with God in heaven when we die. Surprisingly, the gospels portray the cross first as God’s way to get heaven to earth now. When Jesus breathed his last and died on the cross, Matthew says that the curtain in the temple – the veil that separated heaven from earth at the high altar, sinful people from righteous God -- was mysteriously ripped in two.[viii] Who slashed the curtain? It was as if in one last, dramatic, wrenching act of self-sacrifice, God ripped the veil of separation between earth and heaven. Now Israel need not gather on the Day of Atonement (the day of “at-one-ment” with God), stand before the temple, give over their sins to the priest who pulled back the curtain, entered the temple’s holiest place, and offered their sins to God. The curtain was ripped asunder. Now we could get to God because God had gotten to us. On the cross, Jesus had somehow done something decisive about the distance between us and God.