These perceptions had to affect both the way they remembered the story of Jesus’ last days and the manner in which they told that story. Now, the death of Jesus appeared to them not as accursed, but as a death in which he bore the curse of others (Gal. 3:13*). Jesus was not a sinner but a righteous man (Luke 23:47*; Acts 3:14*), whose death was not a punishment but a sacrifice for others (Rom. 3:24–25*; 1 Cor. 15:3*). His death was not an accident but a fulfillment of God’s will (Eph. 1:5–10*). Rather than being the result of disobedience to Torah, his death was, in fact, the outcome of radical obedience to the God who revealed Torah (Phil. 2:8*; Heb. 5:8*), and, in light of it, Torah would now need to be reevaluated as the ultimate norm of righteousness. These convictions they found confirmed by Torah itself. The categories of interpretation became their categories of perception, and these progressively became the symbols by which they told the story itself. LT Johnson – The Real Jesus