Think of a time you had a really bad toothache, or some other time it really hurt a lot. Now multiply that by a lot, and you get how much it hurt. It doesn't matter if you know you're coming back, that would have hurt more than anyone would want to put up with. On top of that, Jesus took the sins of the world onto himself, so he couldn't be in God's presence - his own father disowned him. This is the same father that Jesus was with for an eternity beforehand, and from whom he got all his confort.
But, that's not my point. Sure, it hurt a lot, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc - but it wasn't "on faith". It was planned out. It would be like someone saying, "I'm going to kill you, your family, your friends, and everyone else you know, unless you allow me to burn your arms off with this lighter, starting at your fingertips." Sure, you'd live; by doing it, you'd save a lot of people... but it would hurt a heck of a lot.
Who cares if Jesus knew he would come back from the dead? The whole dying-and-coming-back part isn't great because Jesus died, but because of what he stood for WHEN he died.
Oh, and, God doesn't really punish... think of it as conservation of crud - you do something bad, and bad things happen, to you or to others. |
