Research Paper On Jesus's Crucifixion

According to the New Testament, nearly 2000 years ago, the world was changed forever thanks to one man. Born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus grew up to become a greater advocate for the Jewish faith than any other man or women preceding him. Going from town to town, he healed the sick, befriended the poor, and captivated the hearts of nearly everyone to whom he preached the word of God. Yet, none of his life impacted the world quite like the climax of Jesus’s life: his crucifixion. Jesus Christ, the son of God, did not have to die on the cross, and yet he did so that we might not be burdened by sin—Christians, or those whom believe in Jesus Christ, are taught this from day one. Generic as it might be, this widespread understanding is not far off

Throughout the Old Testament and up until the crucifixion of Christ, we find God’s people constantly falling away from him through sin and disobedience; thus, it is Christ’s crucifixion which restores the balance in the relationship between God and humanity. This act of justification through Christ’s crucifixion, however, can take on several means and explanations. According to the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, John H.P. Reumann describes several models that explain the meaning of the crucification of Jesus relative to how it ultimately justified people: substitution, redemption, reconciliation, and participation

In participation, we view the crucifixion of Jesus as a means to escape the power of sin, allowing us “to die and rise to new life” with him. In writing to the Romans, Paul declares that this emancipation from sin is not to be taken as a ‘free pass.’ Rather, Paul reminds us that “when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, [we] were baptised into his death.” Since through baptism people are united with Christ, so we shall too “be a resurrection like his; realising that our former self was crucified with him, so that the self which belonged to sin should be destroyed and we should be freed from the slavery of sin.” According to the participation interpretation of Christ’s resurrection, Baptism, therefore, allows us to participate fully in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and thus opens the door to seeing ourselves as not only “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ