not a victim

I have a lot running through my head after our catechism this morning.

We looked at our icon of the Nativity of Christ closely.

Notice the wrappings of the Christ child. These are grave wrappings. Notice where He is laid, not in a light-illumined, hay filled manger, but upon the tomb. Christ was born to die. He was not born to live, as we are, but to die.

Our priest spoke about how Western Christianity views Christ as a victim, but He was not a victim. He was in control of his crucifixion and of His sacrifice. As we say in the Liturgy, He is both the High Priest and the sacrifice. But what does this mean? We discussed this today, and particularly what is on my mind is a relatively new concept. It's not exactly entirely new to me, but I guess I should say unexplored. Everything I have received in Protestant churches has been scratching the surface. What I receive in Orthodox teaching is full of depth and light. Father asked us what redemption is to us. We gave such answers as we knew, or explained what we had previously been taught.

Here is the jist of it, as eloquently as I can manage:

Christ died to trample death by death, as we sing. This is the thing we should focus on. It is not that Christ came to wash us clean from our sins, or to defeat evil, or to make God like us again. What was redeemed was death itself. Christ came into the world to die and in the death of His Divine Humanity, humanity was sanctified and will be resurrected. Christ did not die to pay a debt we sinners owed to God, or a debt owed to the evil one. He died so that death would not be our end, and that eternity would be possible for the souls which He created. We had brought death upon ourselves, and death became nothing through His death and resurrection.

Christ didn't die for me. He didn't die for you. He died to trample down death. His Passion was voluntary, He was in control of the Resurrection, and as a result, upon those in the tombs He bestowed, and is bestowing, life.