Traditionally, we look at the gospel and the principles through an almost mystic lens. This is how I used to look at the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well, but through my studies I have found that a vast majority of the principles of the gospel make sense on a fundamentally human level. There are many things that are beyond our understanding, such as the resurrection, but I think that the most important things in the gospel are things that just work because of who we are.
that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.
Doctrine and Covenants 130: 2
This will be an investigation of how we are reconciled to God, our fellow men, and ourselves. It is a story of deeply personal interactions and solutions. This hopefully, is a story about how the atonement really works.
In Christ’s life there was a particular moment that stands out from all the other’s. A moment when Jesus Christ was called upon, impromptu, to serve as a judge in a life and death case of a woman caught in adultery. Though the callous Jewish rulers were gleefully looking for a chance to catch Jesus in an impossible situation, between the demands of Mosaic law and the Roman occupational authority, this incident gives us the best look at Jesus acting as a judge in all of scripture.
Part 1: A Parable of Judgement
For this investigation we are going to not look at this as an a single isolated event and instead as a parable. A parable is in instructive story. In this parable there are three groups or parties to consider. First, the woman herself, the person undeniably guilty of a grave sin. For the examination of this parable I will refer to this individual or group as the sinners. The second group are the Accusers, those that have seen the law been broken and who want to see justice enacted according to the law. The third party is Christ, or the Judge. The Judge is the person who is there to ensure justice is done according to the law.
The first question that I want to explore is this, “which group represents you (us) in this parable?” Are you the Sinner, the Accuser, or the Judge? In a classroom I would have you all discuss, but here I will just just ask you to consider it for a few moments and comment your initial thoughts if you feel up to it.
Are you the Sinner?
The sinner is someone who has sinned. You or I may or may not be guilty of a sin such as the woman in this incident, but we have all sinned in one way or another.
Perhaps not adultery, but are you guilty of another sin? Maybe you were taken in gossip, or being unkind, or unworthy thoughts, yea in the very act. Even though our sins maybe different, every living being who ever lived, with one notable exception, will at least once in their life be part of the sinner’s group. But let’s not stop there, let’s see if we could also fit in with the second group.
Are you the Accuser?
While assessing that we are a sinner is an evident and scripturally established truth, evaluating the nature of the accusers and our potential relationship with them is not nearly so clear. When we read the story in the bible it is easy to look down on those ready to stone the woman. We can see this group as barbaric by modern sensibilities, but they were following the law of Moses, which was given by Jehovah. So ironically, they were literally asking The Lawgiver himself if they should obey and carry out the law.
Let that sit for a second. Maybe the people didn’t see it this way, but Jesus understood that he was sitting before people who were asking him to do what He had commanded that they do. This was the Law of Moses, but more accurately it was the Law of Jehovah for the people under Moses. Everyone knew the law and they were expected to abide by it.
We don’t know the intentions of the individuals in the group. It could have been a gang mentality. It could have included people personally hurt by the woman’s actions, for instance the husband or family of the either of the offending parties. They could have been filled with pain and anger at the betrayal and humiliation done him by the pair. Whatever their reasons, each person in that crowd with justified under the law in participating in the stoning of the adulterer.
The role of accuser is the one I think we have the least understanding of and appreciation for as modern Christians. This act of stoning was sanctioned under the law of Moses, which was itself pointing towards Christ and the higher law. So let’s take some time to think about these people and their role in under the law.
To understand the accusers we first have to understand the importance and place of laws.
Laws, Consequence, and Enforcement
Societies are built on laws. Laws tell the citizens what is allowable and what is not allowed in that society. Laws are the box in which members of a society are allowed to operate. When those laws enable actions that lead to peace and happiness and do not allow actions that lead to sadness and destruction, the society prospers. In other words, Good laws lay the foundation for a good society. But having laws on the books is only part of the equation.
Laws need to be more than just ideals or suggestions if they are going to have any power to dissuade bad actions. Alma teaches: “Now, if there was no law given—if a man murdered he should die—would he be afraid he would die if he should murder? And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.” Alma continues, “But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed,” (Alma 42: 19-20, 22) The power of law is in the punishment affixed to it.
Punishments are great for disincentivizing bad behavior, but the best laws also go towards healing the damage done by the lawless behavior. If a person steals then the punishment should be to restore what was stolen and then some. If a person lies and injures your reputation then they should have to go around make sure that everyone who believed the lie is corrected and that your reputation is fully repaired and then some. Some broken laws are extremely difficult if not impossible to repair, but that is a topic we will explore later on.
Good laws with proper consequences are still not sufficient to give the laws power. What happens when a child knows that the rules of a parent are empty threats? They readily start to ignore them. A law without a punishment is merely a suggestion. This is very much like many laws that are written and passed and that are broken regularly. Why? Because no one enforces them. Many of these laws are simply outdated. but what of laws like the speed limit in America where “everyone goes 5 miles over the limit.”
Without enforcement, its as if there was no law at all. In other words, if the laws are not given and upheld then lawbreakers would not be afraid to break the laws. This would quickly or slowly lead to rampant crime. This is something that we are seeing play out in some cities across the world. Even if there were only a few people who continually did these crimes, the entire society suffers. You or someone you loved could be the victim of a crime at any time.
Demanding Justice
Let’s for a moment imagine that we live in a society that actually functions well. there are good laws and people follow the laws. They are enforced and anyone that might have a propensity to break them are held back by the fear of punishment. This would be a pretty happy society. There might still be squabbles, or disagreements, but nothing to rise to the level of a crime. You might even say it is almost heavenly. Now, imagine yourself in this society and then imagine what would happen if someone decided one day to break the law.
You are in this happy peaceful society and someone breaks the very foundational compact that enables your happy life. This person has violated something sacred almost. It is affront to your very world, your way of life. These are good and just laws, so someone breaking them means that they injured someone. Maybe it was you or someone you love that was injured by the lawbreaker. Maybe this is the first time this had ever happened? How would you feel about that? Would you want to make sure that this person was stopped from doing that, or something worse again? The very foundational principles of your society had just been violated. How would you respond?
With our mercy ringing loud in our hearts we might say that you should forgive the person and let them go free. They are grateful for not having to face the punishment, but then turn around break the law again? No matter how many times you forgive this person their heart isn’t changed and they continue to break the law, hurting people in the process. What can you do now?
Mercy is not enough to protect society from the unrepentant lawbreaker, and it hasn’t healed the damage the lawbreaker has done through their continued lawbreaking. You and those around you are rightly upset by the lawless behavior and you have a right to demand that your society protects you from the lawless by enforcing the laws. So you demand justice; you demand that the lawless person is punished and that they repair the injury that they did in their lawbreaking.
This stops this lawbreaker, but perhaps another lawbreaker continues ever after being punished. If the law is to have any power to protect then the law must be able to be enforced to the point to physically preventing the lawbreaker from continuing to break the laws. The only ways to absolutely ensure this are either permenant banishment from society or death. Whatever the extent of punishment necessary, that is what society has a right to demand in order to uphold itself as a place of peace and order for those that live there. In this way, demanding justice is not just a matter of being unmerciful or unforgiving, but it is a necessary part of any lawful and good society.
We have a right to demand that laws are enacted and that the punishments are dealt out because that is how a lawful society needs to be preserved and maintained. We don’t just want them enacted either, we want them enacted fairly and without bias. If they are not administered justly it is as if there is no law at all, just arbitrary punishment. It is in the best interest of every citizen of a society to see that the laws are enacted. In this light it is much easier to see why people, even those not directly involved in a crime, would be interested in seeing justice enacted. More than this, it is in their best interest to demand justice be done.
I have spent quite a bit of time discussing laws and the importance of fully following through with those laws, and each citizen’s interest in seeing those laws enacted. This understanding is vital to understanding the atonement of Jesus Christ. Justice is often referenced in connection with the atonement, but it might surprise you to learn that the exact phrase, “demands of justice,” is used in three separate discourses on the atonement within the Book of Mormon, always in direct connection with a discussion of the atonement. Here is an example:
15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself aatoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of bmercy, to appease the demands of cjustice, that God might be a dperfect, just God, and a emerciful God also.
Alma 42:15
(I usually take out the footnotes from verses, but I felt like leaving them in this time.)
We see that the end purpose of the law is to create a peaceful society and by discouraging people from breaking the laws. The demands of justice are to see that lawbreakers do not continue to disrupt the peace of society by enacting punishments on those that break the laws. In this way justice becomes not an arbitrary thing demanded by the unforgiving, but a necessary part of any society that seeks to remain. If these desires that justice fulfills are found lacking or robbed by a sense of mercy then the foundational compact of that society would be broken, the rule of law would be undermined, and that society could no longer be a perfect happy society.
You will never find a verse in all of scripture that says that the demands are justice will not be met. Always when the scriptures talk about justice it says that the demands of justice is satisfied or appeased, because as Alma teaches “mercy cannot rob justice.” The atonement is something that must satisfy or meet the demands that justice has, it doesn’t erase them. It must answer them, or “… God would cease to be God.”(Alma 42:25) As we continue we will discuss how the atonement of Jesus Christ is uniquely able to answer the demands of justice and still extend mercy, but before we get back to that let’s answer the question that this started explanation of laws and justice.
Am I an accuser?
In the parable, there are was a group of people that were holding stones before Jesus Christ asking if the punishment pronounced in the law should be carried out as written in the law of Moses. Can you now see yourself in this role? Someone who has been hurt by the actions of someone breaking the laws of God or even someone who has seen someone you love hurt by a sinner?
So do we fill this role? We have all been hurt and seen someone we love hurt. We have wanted to see those responsible pay for their crimes. This desire for justice is an innate human need. So, yes, we also are part of the group that demands justice and punishment according to the laws. We all have reason to demand that our injuries be made right and that we can be protected from those that have hurt us.
So ironically, if we put ourselves in this parable, we are both the sinners who have hurt others through our sins, and we are the accusers who have been hurt and want to see the sinner punished. It puts us all in a rather precarious practical and moral position.
This is the end of Part 1 of How the Atonement (maybe) Works, click here to continue reading. (This is will updated to the link when the next part is published.)
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