Happy Easter!
Jon

You know, this sounds pretty “Nagasawan”. Mako’s long tried to reconcile the substitutionary (“for”) model and the more Orthodox / Catholic / African American transformative (“with”) model, and I think he’s not sure how possible it is. He has some strong words about ways he feels substitutionary soteriology has damaged the Asian American church in particular (more so than most other groups) and often tries to steer away from it as much as possible. He also feels that the pursuit of social justice doesn’t fit well in a substitution-based framework, but makes a lot of sense in a transformative framework.

Happy Easter!

Matt and Grace were over for dinner last night, and we were just talking about you. And I’ve been in touch with one of the authors of the book you mentioned, and he’s shipping it to me. (He saw the Big Story.) So I’ll be reading it soon! Providential is a good word!

Hope you’re doing well, man!

While alone, I read a good chunk of the book Recovering the Scandal of the Cross. The gist, if I got it right, is that so much more happened at the cross than any one person, culture, theory, or metaphor can capture. The authors specifically critiqued the Western Church’s obsession with the theory of penal substitution. It was a fascinating exploration of Biblical imagery and church history with regard to unpacking the meaning of the atonement. On a personal level, it was intellectually and spiritually stimulating … encouraging me to reflect on Jesus’ radical love that made him a threat to the system and lead him to be put to death.

I appreciate your invitation to not only reflect and meditate on the cross but to share in it with Christ. After all, my goal is not to think Jesus but to become more like him.