If asked why Jesus had to die on the cross,
most Christians today would immediately answer, “To pay for my sins.” Jesus
certainly paid the price for our sins, but it might surprise some reader to
learn that this wasn’t the way Christians would answer this question for the
first thousand years of Church history. The main reason Jesus died on the cross,
according to this earlier view, was to defeat Satan and set us free from his
oppressive rule. Everything else that Jesus accomplished, including paying for
our sins, was to be understood as an aspect and consequence of this victory.
This earlier understanding of why Jesus had to die is called the Christus
Victor (Latin for “Christ is Victorious”) view of the atonement. In my
estimation it captures the profound beauty of the New Testament account better
than the view that focuses exclusively on what Jesus did for us.
The Christus Victor motif is strongly emphasized throughout the New
Testament. Scripture declares that Jesus came into this world to “drive out the
ruler of this world” (Jn 12:31), to “destroy the works of the devil” (I Jn 3:8),
to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb.
2:14-15) and to ultimately “put all his enemies under his feet” (I Cor 15:25).
Jesus came to overpower the “strong man” (Satan) who holds the world in bondage
and to work with his children to “plunder his house” (Lk 11:21-22). He came to
end the reign of the cosmic “thief” who seized the world to “steal and kill and
destroy” the life God intended for us (Jn 10:10). Jesus came to earth and died
on the cross to disarm “the rulers and authorities” and make a “public spectacle
of them” by “triumphing over them on the cross” (Col 2:15).
Beyond these explicit statements, there are many other passages that express
the Christus Victor motif as well. For example, the first prophecy in
the Bible foretells that a descendent of Eve (Jesus) would crush the head of the
serpent (Gen. 3:15). The first Christian sermon ever preached proclaims that
Jesus in principle conquered all God’s enemies (Ac 2:32-36). And the single most
frequently quoted Old Testament passage by New Testament authors is Psalm 110:1
which predicts that Christ would conquer all God’s opponents. (Pslams.110 is
quoted or alluded to Mt 22:41-45; 26:64; Mk 12:35-37; 14:62; Lk 20:41-44; 22:69;
Ac 5:31; 7:55-56; Rom 8:34; I Cor 15:22-25; Eph 1:20; Heb 1:3; 1:13; 5:6, 10;
6:20; 7:11, 15,17,21; 8:1; 10:12-13; I Pet 3:22; and Rev. 3:21) According to the
great New Testament scholar Oscar Cullman, the frequency with which New
Testament authors cite this Psalm is the greatest proof that Christ’s “victory
over the angel powers stands at the very center of early Christian thought.”
The Incarnation of the Son of God fulfilled God’s original dream of uniting
himself to humanity to acquire a bride and co-ruler. But it’s clear from the
Christus Victor motif we’ve just examined that, because of our
rebellion, the Incarnation also involved a rescue mission that included a
strategy for vanquishing the powers of darkness
- Greg Boyd
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