Jesus BORE the sins of MANY, and by that means DIED FOR the sins of ALL.

Penal substitution advocates read “penalty” and “punishment” into text after text after text where no such idea is to be found. However, there is a penalty attached to such errant eisegetical flights of violence—a penalty which their own faction has dubbed “forensic blindness.” Let us beware of making Scripture a wax nose, and ourselves suffer from glazed eyes—symptoms of the Pinocchio syndrome. [03/21-08]

E = mc²

The energy released by a nuclear reaction is by no means a calculable product of the energy invested by the triggering explosion, any more than the power of a dynamite explosion is some computable product of the energy contributed by the fuse.

Or to use a more relatable illustration, the “electricity” in a romantic relationship bears little relation to the “energy” contributed by the cupids who brought the enchanted couple together.

In such cases, the “active ingredients” for the reaction were already present, just waiting for the ideal moment to be brought together. That accomplished, the reactions, whether nuclear, chemical, or psychical all took off on their own, by an inner compulsion that bears virtually no mathematical, economic, or merely logical relation to the respective inputs.

So likewise, though these parallels suffer by comparison, what was witnessed in the resurrection of Jesus and his further exaltation was a power all along residing in the heart of the Father, just waiting for the perfect occasion to be displayed in proper glory. To be sure, without the requisite obedience of some son of Adam—“the Son of mankind” of Whom Jesus so often spoke—the covenantal reaction we know as THE RESURRECTION could never have irrupted into cosmic time with all of its restorative repercussions. Now, in this case the repercussions do most definitely bear an ethical identity or kinship with the triggering event, but their respective magnitudes are incommensurable. What Jesus won by his lifelong labors is out of all proportion to his input and will never make sense unless we factor in GOD’S SAVING JUSTICE. This is RESTORATIVE JUSTICE at work, AT PLAY…ON DISPLAY! [03/21/08]

JESUS BORE THE SINS OF MANY, AND BY THAT MEANS DIED FOR THE SINS OF ALL

Jesus bore the sins of many in order to become a protective covering (hilasterion) concerning the sins of all.

Those “many” were neither “the elect” (i.e., the many vs. all) nor “all mankind” (i.e., the many vs. a few), but precisely the historic perpetrators of his crucifixion. David sees them prophetically in Psalm 22:

But I am a worm and not a man,

A reproach to mankind and despised by the people.

All those seeing me deride me;

They open up their lip in sneering;

They wag their head, saying,

‘He exults in Yahweh; let Him deliver him!

‘Let Him rescue him, since He delights in him!’

* * * * *

O do not be far from me, for distress is near,

Because there is no one helping.

Many young bulls surround me;

Sturdy ones of Bashan, they compass me about,

They open their mouth wide against me

Like a lion, ravening and roaring.

I am poured out like water,

And all my bones are disjoined.

My heart has become like wax;

It is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My vigor is dried up like earthenware,

And my tongue clings to my jaws;

And You bring me low to the soil of death.

For curs have surrounded me;

The crowd of evildoers has encompassed me;

They dig into my hands and my feet.

I number all my bones;

They look; they stare at me.

They apportion my garments among themselves,

And they cast the lot for my clothing.

Yet You, O Yahweh, do not be far away!

My Fortitude, do hurry to my help!

Do rescue my soul from the sword,

My only one from the paw of the cur.

Save me from the mouth of the lion

And from the horns of the wild bulls—

YOU HAVE ANSWERED ME!

—Psalm 22:6-8, 11-21

So you see, it worked! God did save Jesus from the many who were involved in his mortal downfall at the cross. Accordingly, by way of overcompensation, God gave him authority over all and gave him such superabundance of Holy Spirit that any and all can be saved. In the graciousness of the Father and the Son, God possesses sufficient even to “waste” on those who end up apostatizing and “trampl[ing] on the Son of God, and deem[ing] the blood of the covenant in which [they are] made holy/wholesome contaminating,”—which blood, I must emphasize, harbors that Messianic faithfulness through which God Himself got His own Son purposed for a protective covering around the sins of the whole blamed world (Romans 3:25)—including even those “outrag[ing]” the very Spirit of that graciousness! And don’t tell me, “The Spirit can’t take it,” or “won’t take it”! Because Jesus himself “took it” in the gut on the cross to demonstrate exactly Their joint divine graciousness! Why wouldn’t His very own Spirit be able to “handle such mistreatment from those for and from whom Jesus, the Savior suffered abuse and was slain as a flawless offering to God THROUGH THAT SAME AGELONG SPIRIT (Hebrews 9:14, 10:29)? It’s a shoo in! A no brainer. [03/21/08]

Jesus bore the sins of many and by that means died for the sins of ALL! Given the supercompensating logic of divine justice, this is all that was necessary. Because of the sterling faithfulness of Jesus, in combination with the rock-solid righteousness of Yahweh, God could launch a universal salvation from a wretched cross! [3/21/08; 8/22/21]