Does God vindicate or is He vindictive?

[Michael John]

Personally, I believe that by continuing His good work even to the point of death, that Jesus proved that He was sincerely devoted to righteousness, and therefore, God was pleased with Christ and vindicated Him with the resurrection.
(See James 3:17, 5:10-11, 1 Peter 3:14, 1:6-7) There's a whole book about this [removed]

But others seem to think that Christ was cursed by God Himself, that God Himself punished Jesus for other people's sin. To me this is the worst injustice imaginable, and it is attributed to God.

And I don't think that these two interpretations are compatible with each other. Either God vindicates Christ with the resurrection for His devotion to God, or God is being vindictive against Him by punishing Him for others' sins. God cannot vindicate and be vindictive at the same time. That's a contradiction of terms.

So I think this penal substitutionary atonement theory is blinding the Church from affirming that Christ is worthy of honor and worship because He proved sincerely devoted to righteousness. This is Jesus' real virtue and true glory. But you can't say that God rewards Jesus if you are saying that God is the one pouring out the punishment on Him.

 

[Dan57]

Christ himself did not need to be vindicated, he didn't do anything wrong..

We are vindicated of sin through Christ, so yes, imo God vindicates by washing us from sin.

God was not vindictive towards Christ,, to the contrary; "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). God is not our accuser either, its not his will that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). But God is vindictive in the sense of; "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19)

 

[lforrest]

But it was God's will to punish Christ for our sins.

Isaiah 53:10
"Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand."

 

[Michael John]

But it was God's will to punish Christ for our sins.

Isaiah 53:10
"Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand."

There are different ways to interpret Isaiah 53. This may only mean that God destined that Christ should suffer and die. The Hebrew language only has two verb tenses, it did happen, or it will happen. Hebrew can't express concepts like, he be caused to suffer. And so it seems as though Isaiah is saying that God was the one pouring out the wrath.

But as Jesus said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. If satan casts out satan, then his house is divided and it cannot stand. Same can be said here. If God the father is punishing God the Son, then His house is divided and it cannot stand.

I don't see how in any way the justice of God can be satisfied by God being angry or wrathful against one who is by definition innocent. That would make God out to be the worst sinner of all.

No! The one who falsely accuses the innocent is the devil. The one who vent his wrath on the righteous is the devil. This penal substitutionary atonement theory is basically putting the devil in the place of God. And I think we need to kick that devil out of heaven.

 

[Deborah_]

But it was God's will to punish Christ for our sins.

Isaiah 53:10
"Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand."

There are different ways to interpret Isaiah 53. This may only mean that God destined that Christ should suffer and die. The Hebrew language only has two verb tenses, it did happen, or it will happen. Hebrew can't express concepts like, he be caused to suffer. And so it seems as though Isaiah is saying that God was the one pouring out the wrath.

Actually, this is not the case. It's true that Hebrew has only two tenses, but it has other ways of expressing related concepts. There is a specific form of the verb that expresses causation, and that is the one used here in Isaiah 53:10. "Cause him to suffer" is the correct translation.