UMC20230608 - Declaration of Faith - Part 4¶
We are in the fourth week of a journey through the Apostles Creed, a declaration of our faith, and are looking at what it is that we believe when we say the lines:
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
These lines are not only central to the Creed but to our faith. There are two major things that they address:
Firstly, mentioning Pontius Pilate places Jesus and the resurrection firmly in history as an event that actually happened. It is a specific moment in history. Pontius Pilate was real. Jesus was real. These events are not only recorded in the Bible, but in other non-Christian historical accounts as well.
Secondly, the more elaborate Nicene states that Jesus' crucifixion was "... for us and for our salvation". In the Old Testament, blood was the thing that carried life force. It was a common religious practice to cast ones sins and guilt onto an animal that was then sacrificed and its blood was spilled. This was symbolic of their sins dying with the animal. Blood spilled meant justice or restitution had been made for the the wrong doings and they could move forward with a clear conscience. This is salvation. The untangling of ourselves with sin and the damage it causes around us and moving toward Holy living. Jesus embodies this entire sacrificial structure, not just individual sacrifices. Jesus IS salvation.
We believe that Jesus was an actual person in human history. That in his crucifixion there was something mystical that happened. That it embodied the sacrificial system that brought about salvation and that we can freely participate in relating to this Jesus.
Love, Cliff