Why did Jesus say he was dying for his friends?

Q&A by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, Senior Pastor

Question: Why did Jesus say he was dying for his friends? What does that mean?

Answer: I have no idea if Jesus said he was dying “for” his friends. Remember, Jesus didn’t write the gospels. People wrote those stories 40 – 70 years after Jesus’ death, so lots of words have been put in Jesus’ mouth that Jesus probably never said.

In ancient Greek culture, warriors who died defending the city-state were said to have “died for the people”. Perhaps the gospel writers saw Jesus in this way — willing to put himself on the line to make changes in the world and to empower people on the margins. While he was defending the sacred value of all people, he was killed like a warrior dying for his people.

When Dr. King was killed in Memphis, didn’t he die for the sins of racism, violence, and classism? Didn’t he live and die to improve the lives of others? It doesn’t mean God wanted him to be harmed; it just means that the love of God was so powerful in him that he was willing to risk death to bless people’s lives. Maybe that’s what the writers of the gospel were suggesting about Jesus.

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If you have questions about faith, the bible, the church, or sexuality & spirituality, you can email your questions to durrell@sunshinecathedral.org, or go to the Ask the Reverend Durrell Watkins page and click on the link there. Rev. Durrell Watkins will answer your questions and publish the answers here and in the weekly SunBurst. Your name will always be withheld, so only the actual question and the response will be published.