The (True) Story of the Cross

The question of the cross is the primary question of Christianity, for it is the question of God’s love and justice. Usually it is asked something like this, “Why can’t God just forgive people, especially those who feel sorry for their wrong doings?” Keller offers a good answer to this question in three parts in Chapter 12 of his book, The Reason for God. The Cost of Forgiveness Keller points out that any forgiveness is costly. If someone damages your property there is a cost for the restoration or replacement. The other person pays, or you do (or some combination). But to fix what is broken, cost is necessary. Shift the damage to emotional or personal damage like an insult or cruelty or injustice or worse and the payment becomes much harder to quantify, but someone has to pay. If I am hurt by you, I want some recompense. Sometimes I get it by making you feel bad. There are other ways as well. But even if I get you to feel bad, it doesn’t really help me. Instead of feeling satisfied, I often become harder towards you or/and others. If my friends tell me I should just forgive you for the hurt you caused me, I have to pay. I pay via the agony of letting it go, of acting as if it never happened. And I suffer more hurt if my payment doesn’t cause any positive change either in you or in our relationship. The point is, all forgiveness requires some kind of payment. That is what the cross is all about. The wonder is not just that God accepted someone else’s payment for my sin, but that He entered into to the world to make the payment Himself. The cost of this forgiveness is beyond understanding. A Personal Exchange To understand the cross, it is helpful to consider the personal nature of the payment. Keller points out what many of us already know. Whenever a person needs help, real help only comes through personal connection. Emotionally wounded people are helped by stronger friends—but only as that friend stands alongside and carries some of the burden. One friend gives up strength so that another may gain strength. This is more dynamically viewed over the long haul of parenting. The only way children can move from complete dependence to self-sufficient independent people is through their parents giving up their own independence over years. The less the parents give up themselves the less well rounded and emotionally healthy the children will be. True love involves a personal exchange. God Himself did that in, on, and through the cross. A Great Reversal The cross is also a great reversal. Keller writes, “When Jesus suffered for us, he was honoring justice. But when Jesus suffered with us he was identifying with the oppressed of the world, not the oppressors.” This identification reverses the values of the world and lifts up the twin virtues of love and justice. God is both ‘just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 3:26). The reason the cross is so important is that it shows the costly sacrifice necessary for forgiveness and it shows the justification of godliness. But it works because it is personal. Tim Keller has taught me to tell stories that give momentum to the idea that sacrificial love can benefit others. He has also taught me that those stories by themselves will never really change my heart or my actions. What changes me is the astonishing reality that Jesus brings us into the story. We are not just hearers, we are recipients of the most costly gift ever given. He gave Himself for us. That is the true story of the cross.