One Soul

Question

Would Jesus have died for one sinner?

Background Research

C. S. Lewis was not shy about being allegorical. In Perelandra, the second book of his space trilogy, he wrote, "When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less."

I was shocked. I did a quick search on Google. I was hoping to steal some Scripture passages that others used to support the idea that Christ would (and indeed did) die for each individual. However, I kept encountering articles.

One said, "Nothing in the Bible suggests that Jesus would have died for only one person. The statement is a logical fallacy since there is a basic flaw in the premise."

Holy moly. "Logical fallacy"! Sounds like somebody took Logic 101 at community college. As it turns out, superlatives like "nothing" are very dangerous and themselves often lead to logical fallacies.

Another said, "It is not really very useful to make conjectures about unrealistic scenarios."

What? What what?! What did Jesus Himself do? He definitely didn't have parables, unrealistic scenarios from which he drew conjectures for His listeners. He would never do that. Nope, nuh-uh. That would just be logically fallacious.

I was hoping they'd make my job a little easier, but I guess I'll have to get my own data.

Hypothesis

Obviously, I begin with this presupposition: Jesus came to this planet and died for us collectively.

Furthermore, I hypothesize that Jesus would die for one sinner.

Experiment

See Conclusion.

Data

Here are a couple passages that at least give a strong impression.

Genesis 18:23-32

Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
...
Hemming. Hawing.
...
"Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

True, this isn't Jesus dying for sins. True, it's not technically 1 person only. However, it's interesting to see God's mercy extending to fewer and fewer.

Matthew 10:29-31 "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Strangely enough, people sometimes seem more easily convinced that animals go to heaven than they are convinced by the idea that Jesus dies for individuals. Nonetheless, the Father keeps track of individual sparrows and human hairs. This is not proof that Jesus died for each one person, but it makes a bold statement.

John 17:12 "I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost."

Jesus guards individuals — whatever "guards" means.

Romans 5:8 "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

I selected this passage because, even though it talks about "we" and "us," it still shows God's love seeking after sinners. It would seem that if His grace can reach us while we're sinning, it could reach individuals — which means it could reach one individual.

Conclusion

First, I wanted to explain why I didn't write in an experimental procedure.

My life has been the experimental procedure. Some of the simple tests I have undergone have been prayers concerning specifics in my life and the lives of others.

If God were to care only about the masses, it is hard to imagine He would bless individual days or individual efforts or individual people.

I cannot tell you all the specifics that have happened in my life this year; I'd have to recount like half of my blog posts. This year has brought so many very specific blessings: friends, healing, board games, dancing, jobs, contacts, presents, opportunities, luxuries, adventures, painting, growth, rest, family, and more and more and more.

Some of these blessings have been shareable. Some of them have been for me the individual. And that's just my own life.

I have seen individual impacts in other's lives. You'd have to read their blogs too to start grasping at it. (Some of them don't have blogs though 🙁)

Besides what I've just experienced then, I have all the passages I listed above in Data. God seems to have an encompassing concern for His creation. When I say encompassing, I mean big and grand as well as small and precise. If He fusses over a single bird or a single hair, He must have some great concern for a single human.

Results

However, what then shall we do with this notion? This reflection was inspired by a conversation I was having with a friend — we'll call her Rutabaga. Rutabaga was worried about a certain effort losing support, losing participants. She felt that the effort was becoming useless since it had become reduced to so few people.

I'll tell you what: I wish all my efforts drew massive crowds. I'l tell you what: having my projects reduced to little or no support is demoralizing. But I recall the parable of the talents. One guy was given 10 talents. He double his money and was warmly received. One guy was given 5. Also doubled; also received. One guy was given 1. He buried it in the dirt.

When the master came back, He didn't say, "Eh, you only had 1; you're off the hook."

He "cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness."

You may suppose that's just mean, but recall the lady who dropped a few pennies into the offering plate:

Mark 12:41-44

He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

She had one penny. She gave it, and it was worth more than all the extravagant donations of the wealthy.

Afterthoughts

Because of some shifts in my life, I don't get to work with Rutabaga anymore, but I pray and hope that she can sense the love that Christ has for each one of us. I pray she can sense the great worth of each and every soul. I pray that she can be renewed and encouraged by knowing that Christ cherishes her — even her by herself. I pray that she may carry renewed vigor into the project we had begun.