Editing Openai/68f4fa5b-9e68-8006-b937-25cffa9b8c36 (section)

===== Some early Christians (and some modern scholars) argue differently — that Jesus expected to bring change or God’s kingdom, but not necessarily to die. =====
They believe that his death came as a result of rejection by his people and the Roman authorities, and the “sacrifice meaning” was interpreted later by Paul and others to make theological sense of what happened.

Evidence for this idea:
* Jesus often spoke of the Kingdom of God coming soon — not about dying.
* In the Gospels, the disciples are surprised when he’s arrested and crucified — if his mission was to die, why were they shocked?
* Some historians say the idea of “dying for sins” reflects Paul’s interpretation, not necessarily Jesus’ own self-understanding.