God demonstrates His mercy & justice by punishing Jesus
1 John 2:2
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only but also for the whole world.
Observations
propitiation = substitute that bore God’s wrath in our place
God bore His own wrath
God bore His own wrath because of sin
God bore His own wrath because of our sin
God bore His own wrath because of the whole world’s sin
Sin causes God’s wrath
God does not want His wrath borne by mankind
God’s wrath must be borne
That’s weird. It’s weird that God would have wrath that He would bear on Himself. Why not skip the wrath?
(standard answer) → then He wouldn’t be just (what’s the verse for that idea?)
but is it just if the criminal doesn’t bear their own punishment?
apparently so, that’s God’s system and He’s just
but is that explainable without tautology?
it is nice that this is the way it is, but it’s confusing
why is it necessary? Why must there be a propitiation?
See also
Exodus 34:5-7
5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him
[Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord,
the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in
goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means
clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth
generation."
“the guilty” does not appear in the Hebrew — but it’s entailed in the
Hebrew word that’s translated cleared — נָקָה (naqah, Strong’s H5352)
Gen 24:8 Thou shalt be clear from this oath
Gen 24:41 Then shalt thou be clear from this oath
Exodus 20:7 The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain
Exodus 21:19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff,
then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for
the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
“quit” as in “acquit” as in “not punished”
in the ‘law of jealousies’ in Num 5:28 “And if the woman be not
defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall
conceive seed."
that is to say, such and such a sign will indicate that she is
not guilty and so she shall not be punished
etc.
God will by no means allow the guilty to go unpunished
Things God Does
and other interpretations
God protects people from His wrath at great personal cost
God’s wrath is an essential part of His character: He will not allow guilt
to go unpunished.
If the accused is found to be innocent, then they are not punished
But if the accused is found guilty, that person cannot be acquitted
God does not acquit the guilty, but He does take their punishment on their
behalf (if they ask Him and if they turn from their old ways)
God maintains justice by allowing no guilty party to go unpunished
and expresses mercy by taking the punishment on behalf of all those
who believe and repent
God is just and merciful
God’s justice cannot make sense in light of His mercy without seeing
the punishment laid on Jesus when He became the propitiation for
our sin
God’s mercy cannot make sense in light of His wrath without seeing the
punishment laid on Jesus when He became the propitiation for our
sin