In discussing how participation in Christ’s death brings resurrection life Karl Barth writes something very interesting that I thought I’d share (from The Epistle to the Romans, 159 on Rom. 5.6):
“Neither the personality of Jesus, nor the ‘Christ idea’, nor the Sermon on the Mount, nor His miracles of healing, nor His trust in God, nor His love of His brethren, nor His demand for repentance, nor His message of forgiveness, nor His attack on tradition, nor His call to poverty and discipleship; neither the implications of His Gospel for social life or for the life of the individual, nor the eschatological or the immediate aspects of His teaching concerning the Kingdom of God—none of these things exist in their own right. Everything shines in the light of His death, illuminated by it.”
Barth is claiming that without the death of Christ his life means something altogether different. How do you feel about this quote? How do you feel about this much emphasis on his death (remember, Barth is not separating it from resurrection since that is the context in which this quote finds itself)?
the archives near Emmaus 
I love this quote and I think it makes complete sense. Christ’s crucifixion was His glory, His exaltation as King. It was completely the opposite of any other king or emperor or president or dictator who has ever existed (as far as I know anyway). No one is glorified or exalted in the fashion that Christ was and is, so saying that all of the things He taught and brought into the world is illuminated by His death and only through His death makes sense to me.
And honestly, if anything different had happened when Christ was on the cross or even before He got to the cross, I don’t think the movement He started would have lasted this long. I don’t think I would have known Him without His death.
go karl barth, i agree!
i have always believed that the crucifixion, the death of christ was the nexus of christian believing. beyond all else it is the point at which all confessing followers of christ find themselves firstly, before anything else, one must, if to obtain all the promises and understanding of god, meet jesus, themselves and others at the cross of christ. there, nothing else is seen, heard, felt, tasted; it is were burdens are laid down, perspective of Life is given, and understanding rested. the process beginning from the last supper all the way to the crucifixion is sobering to the plight of ones own humanity and without it, nothing else can be seen clearly!
@Jeremy: Indeed, death by crucifixion + resurrection = Christianity’s lasting power. If he had died of old age we could hardly speak of him like the evangelists did or the author of Hebrews did. Crucifixion makes him “the Lamb of God”.
@Juven: Indeed, all Christians must be confronted by a bloodied, beaten Messiah. There is no other way to understand God’s salvation that to see our Lord first hanging on a cross.
Fantastic quote 🙂
it’s excellent!