I’m not about to condemn somebody to death for some simple preaching, simple Jewish carpenter, or Son of God.
And if it truly is the fathers will that Jesus dies on a cross, then he’s gonna die on a cross, even if a bunch of enraged Jews or what have you take it into their own hands instead of the Romans doing it for them.
Heck, who knows, maybe when I go to tell him to set him free I’ll have a stroke and history is preserved.
And this does of course assume I don’t go an get myself killed with a bumbling explanation that, no I’m not God (Ghost Buster’s reference anyone?), there is only one, and that’s his son you are wanting me to set free or condemn.
By let him go, I meant not stop the crucifixtion. He had the power to stop it, if he’d wanted to and I would hate becoming a pillar of salt or something…
I’d “spare” Jesus’s life, secure in knowing that if he really was the Messiah that I believe in, he would die a martyr sooner or later and the world might as well get as much benefit out of having him on the earth as possible. If the Romans didn’t crucify him, he was probably going to be stoned for blasphemy sooner or later.
If Myles means to suggest that not letting Jesus be crucified means that Jesus would live to a ripe old age, I think he’s silly. Of course, this whole question is silly.
Perhaps you missed the part of the OP that read “(for the purposes of this exercise pretend you are a Christian),” which I think can only be reasonably read to mean pretend for the sake of argument that basic Christian theological doctrine is correct.
Frankly, I like ILWN’s answer. Jesus actively interfered with his disciples’ attempts to protect him from his fate. Why should I get in the way of the agenda of the Son of God? Murder of those preaching the Good News ain’t unforgivable – ask Saul of Tarsus.
It’s a no-brainer. I could never condemn a human being to die in such a horrible fashion, especially not for what amounts to heresy and some political sedition.
If God wants to die, He’ll find a way.
If Jesus directly asked me to let him be crucified, then I would. But, absent specific instructions, I have to save him.
I’ll end up on a cross sooner or later myself once they figure out I’m not a god and start warning them against the emperor, so maybe Jesus can save me then.
I like Robert Grave’s theory he advances in * King Jesus*: Mary was from one of the families that could bear an heir to the throne that Herod left vacant, and which Augustus still sorta held in trust in case a legitimate heir was produced. Jesus was actually the sorta legitimate son of Herod’s son, Antipater.
That’s why some wacky Jewish street preacher is meeting with the freakin’ Roman Procurator. Kind of like having a homeless guy in jail getting an interview with the Governor.
That’s why Pilate put the king of the Jews sign up. Roman officials were not exactly famous for their sense of humor at this time.
Poor JC tried to get his inheritance by fulfulling the prophesies of the suffering servant, etc. rather than legitimizing himself through the vile Roman oppressors. But El the Sky God didn’t come through; thus 'Eloi, Eloi, lamech sabbachthani?"
So, to answer the OP, I’d tell Jesus- “don’t be an idiot. Save the next 2000 years of civilization a lot of tiresome arguments and just Herod yer the king. You do have your birth certificate, right?”
I feel like both the Christians and the Unforgiven have choked on my indigestable post. Sorry.
If I can’t air my bizarre views in Cecil’s Funhouse, whither weirdness?
“Hey, Yeshua, since I got you off the hook you owe me big time, right? I’m remodeling my kitchen cabinets in the summer home outside of Nazareth. If you’re headin’ back that way can I get a bid from you on the job? Thanks, dude.”
If God wanted to fix up humanity’s sin, he could have. Jesus never had to die, since God’s omnipotent. So, whichever I choose, it’s God’s fault. Hey, the whole thing was God’s fault anyway. I think I’ll spare humanity.
Gadfly, I think we were supposed to understand that he did take care of sin. The ultimate sacrifice would be to put your “only beloved son” through hell, literally. Trying to come up with something people would understand 2000 years ago and now would be a trick. Big learning curve. Trying to show the depth of his love for us. Would you rather someone chose to love you or would you prefer forcing them to? Come to me Zombie earthlings. I have struggled with the all sin is equal and I came up with the answer. Makes sense to me anyway. I think I was on nitrous oxide at the dentist when I thought of it, but hey I don’t do drugs, so I’ll take inspiration anywhere I can. We think murder is worse than stealing. Everyone probably has a list of worst to least. Not understanding the BIG PICTURE. I don’t think when we humans die, it’s considered a big tragedy to God. Why would it be when he knows for sure that it’s just a location change. Okay, this next part is going to sound lame to some people, but just think about it. God’s not here in person or anyway that we can recognize on a day to day basis. So the only real way we can show him love, respect, etc. is how we treat each other. That basic list of commands he left had more to do with how we treat each other than what we could do for him specifically. We were told to basically “Do No Harm”, love each other, take care of the poor, etc. Okay, he did throw in that part about not putting any other god before him. Can’t blame him for that. He went to alot of trouble to get this whole thing in motion, so you can’t blame him for being a little possessive. Pretty obvious looking around that he has a sense of humor too, but I’m not gonna go there. My faith is strong, but my religion is a little mixed. I take what I need, what seems right and leave the rest to other people.
I won’t hijack too much longer, but us caring for each other entitles murder being equal to sin? Huh? I’ve stolen a friend’s pencil, so I’m giving him as much ill will as I would if I murdered him? You got me there, God.
And if God knows everything, then we really don’t have a choice. He knows what’s going to happen. He knew what would happen when he made the Earth. Jesus died (allegedly) because that’s how God set things up. Like another poster once said, if you play a video that you are familiar with the contents of, and you don’t like the video, it’s your fault, not the video’s.
And as for persuading people: The apostles really didn’t need much persuasion, and it really wasn’t as persuasive as the Bible itself, which of emerged long after the whole “Cross, Nails, Hill, Hucha-Hucha… Dead Jesus” thing happened.
“Hey, Herod, before I do this, can I talk to him for a minute?”
“Okay, sure.” <off to wherever Jesus is being held>
“Hi, there, Jeezy Creezy.”
“Don’t call me Jeezy Creezy!”
“Sorry. Okay, here’s the deal. I’ve been given the responsibility of deciding your fate. I know you’re the Son of God and that you must give your life for the good of the world, so your death will be a good thing. But I’m still responsible for it. You see my dilemma? What do you think?”
“You have to kill me. Thanks for checking, though.”
“Sure.”
“Wait, wait, not now, urkkkk— gotta— be— on— cross— urrkkk—*”
Gadfly, It’s not about ill will. It’s about this journey(on earth) not being the most important part of our lives. All sin is wrong. You better send that kid a pencil. If someone kills me and I really hope they don’t cause I want to finish this part of my life before going on; let’s say I end up in this really awsome after-life(whatever you want to call it). I’m probably not going to be near as ticked off as that kid who had to take a test with no pencil. All sin is not equal in our eyes. We have a very limited frame of reference. And as long as we’re here, we’re going to have feelings mostly about where we are right now. To God, all sin is equal. Wrong is wrong. To me, it depends on it’s impact here. I’m only saying I can see why it’s different. He knows more than I do. Next time you need a pencil, just ask. There’s always someone who will share. Okay, I’m done.