In Christ Was Life, the Light For All People | Lent Devotional Day 20

Exploring the Meaning of Jesus’ Death
March 9, 2026
Written by Adam Baker

In Christ Was Life, the Light For All People

Scripture:

The thief enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest. (John 10:10)

Jesus replied, “My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.”
(John 18:36)

Reflection:

Atonement theories try to answer an important question: if we struggle with sin, how do we make peace with a sinless, perfect God? The Church has answered this question in different ways, explaining God’s response to humanity’s sin through theories in which the work of Jesus plays different roles. Christ’s death on the cross is generally understood as the act through which humanity is freed from sin and death and returned to unity and life with God.

When atonement theories ask what God does through Jesus “because of sin,” they become complex for queer Christians and their allies. Queer theology’s struggle with ‘traditional’ atonement theory doesn’t necessarily stem from conflict with Jesus, but rather with the doctrine of sin itself. Atonement theories have often been proposed by a Church who understands any sexual or gender identity other than straightness to be sinful. By declaring queerness to be sin, the Church justifies anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment, leading to dehumanization and cruelty by people who say they follow Jesus.

Queer Christians and their allies often deny that queerness sin, explaining that such a position comes from confused biblical interpretation and theology. Rather than God judging queerness to be sinful, they say, the real sin is a) to suggest that the work of Jesus doesn’t apply inclusively as a radical welcome to all people, and b) institutions that oppress and harm God’s beloved people. The work of Jesus (being born, living, dying, and living again as an oppressed human being) shows God’s deepest desire is to be intimate in solidarity with those being harmed by systemic oppression (sin).

Through a queer lens, the atonement that Jesus offers is unifying, freeing all people from fear and oppression and welcoming a diversity of love. This is “life to the fullest” (John 10:10), even if the world (and sadly, even the Church) may see this as strange. Those in power are often still looking for a Messiah, or faith leader, who wields strength and earthly success. What Jesus offers “isn’t from here” (John 18:36), and yet invites all of “here” into something different, inclusive, and new.

Prayer:
 
I know, oh God, that all have fallen short of your glory, and
I won’t deceive myself and say that I’m not haunted by sin
But teach me how being made in your image matters more
Than the darkness of death that they say defines me.
Show me how my difference is your delight
So that my thanksgiving might be praise
In which I am shaped by Christ’s love
And others might also find the light of that love
A love that is for all people, and
Even fully me.
Amen.

Reflection:

When I think about sin and sinfulness, how do I understand it? Who has taught me what it means? Where have they drawn their understanding of such things, and what has influenced what I understand about sin and its impact upon myself and others? How do I understand Jesus’ encounter with the power of sin in my own life, challenging death and all of its language within me?

Sign up to receive the Lenten Devotional straight to your inbox here.