The Spiritual Death of Jesus?

some thoughts on dying and coming to life

When you hear the words “spiritual death” what comes to mind?

Personally, I think of someone who sins and is then separated from God. This kind of death is talked about in the Bible on both an individual and corporate level. For example, James describes the process of spiritual death in James 1:14-15. In Ezekiel 37, the entire nation of Israel is depicted as spiritually dead in exile.

I want to make it clear that I do not believe that Jesus was ever separated from the Father. When Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, he was not admitting that the sins of the world had separated him from God; instead, he was tying his death to the 22nd Psalm which answers this question at the end of the chapter: “For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me but heard when I cried to him” (Psalm 22:24).

The Father did not turn away from the Son. As Jesus said himself, he would never be left alone.

“The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me” (John 16:32).

While “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us” is a beautiful song, it gets this part wrong.

This next part isn’t necessary for you to read, but it explains where this idea comes from if you’re interested.

The reason some, including myself, had to believe that Jesus faced spiritual separation from God on the Cross is because we allowed penal substitutionary atonement to warp our view of the cross. The basic idea is that you and I have a sin debt, and this debt requires some kind of punishment. Jesus had to endure the punishment of sin in order that God could forgive us and be just. To be specific, the wrath of God had to be poured out upon Jesus so that God’s justice could be satisfied.

The death Jesus experienced, then, had to be more than physical since the punishment of sin is more than physical death.

I believe that the Bible uses the language of substitution to describe the Cross of Christ. It is one of many ways the Bible speaks of the atonement. But I do not believe that penal substitutionary atonement accurately depicts what happened on the Cross. Not only do I not find it in scripture, I also believe, if one is being consistent, that it inevitably leads to an affirmation of total hereditary depravity, unconditional election, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints, and, probably worst of all, limited atonement.

So if Jesus didn’t die a sin death or spiritual death, then what does Paul mean in Romans 6?

“The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God” (Romans 6:10).

This passage, in isolation, sure does make it seem that Jesus died a spiritual death, but such an isolated reading misses the beauty of this text.

First of all, this passage is about our death to the world of sin through identification with the death of Jesus through baptism. We are united with Christ in his death so that “the body of sin might be destroyed” (Romans 6:6). As Paul explains, “Whoever has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:7).

“Death to sin” is not spiritual death; instead, it is dying to the world of sin and walking in newness of life.

“How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” (Romans 6:2).

When Paul says that Jesus died to sin, he is not saying that Jesus was separated from the Father; instead, Paul is teaching that Jesus died to the world of sin and has now paved a new way for us to live.

But if Jesus never sinned, how could this be?

This is a great question! And it is natural to ask.

But this question looks at Jesus as an individual separated from the community of Israel in particular and the body of Adam in general.

What I mean by this could be explained by asking another question: “Why was Jesus baptized?”

If understand John’s baptism as a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, then an individualistic understanding of sin could never comprehend why Jesus must undergo such a baptism.

That is, since Jesus had no sins of which to repent, his baptism meant that he was following a command of God, setting a good example for the rest of the people, and, if we’re being generous, set him apart for his ministry as the Messiah.

But I believe that Jesus was baptized for repentance for the remission of sins, but I do not think that Jesus had any sins of which he needed to personally repent.

Instead, Jesus understood that he was a child of Abraham, a citizen of Judah, and, like his brothers and sisters, in a kind of exile until the son of David should come. Like Daniel in Daniel 9, Jesus is repenting of national sins. The sins he is seeking forgiveness for are national sins.

Jesus himself wasn’t guilty, but he was born “under the law” as Galatians 4:4 says. He took on flesh and blood. And all of this meant that the consequences of his ancestors' sins were real consequences he faced as a boy and man.

In fact, his death, you might say, was a consequence of Israel’s past sins. Rome, who had the power to crucify Jesus, was occupying Judea because of the sins of the fathers, and the religious leaders were blind to the gospel of Jesus because of these sins as well.

In Romans 8, Paul explains it this way, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh…” (Romans 8:3).

Jesus took on flesh so that he might overcome sin. He entered into the despair of his nation by being born into poverty, living the life of a homeless minister, and being executed by the state. He entered into the travail of Adam by suffering every temptation, being rejected by his family and friends, and facing suffering and death. Yet, Jesus conquered both of these sets of circumstances.

In terms of national despair, Jesus was revealed as the son of David, fulfilled the expectations of Israel, and established the Messianic kingdom. In terms of human despair, Jesus offers reconciliation to all peoples of every nation.

He took on flesh, died to the flesh, and was raised in the Spirit.

Thus, we are invited to die to the flesh as well and live for God. Just as Jesus died to sin, so we too are to die to the world of sin and live unto God.