What Is Propitiation?

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

A propitiation is a gift or payment to placate the anger of an offended person. The best way to explain this is through an illustration.

Meet Neil and Sally. They met at the office and quickly began dating. One night they went to a party. Neil had too much to drink, and while he was driving Sally home, his car crashed into a tree.

When Neil came around in the hospital, he immediately asked, “How is Sally? Can I see her?”

“No,” the doctor said. “She’s paralysed, and she won’t ever walk again. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Sometime later Neil received a letter from Sally’s lawyers. In the light of her permanent disability, Sally was bringing legal action.

There are three factors in this situation: first, there is an offence. Neil acted recklessly when he decided to drink and drive. Second, there is an offended person. Sally is paralysed and angry. And third, there is an offender. Neil is sorry, but that won’t change the fact that he is at fault, and Sally’s lawyers are preparing legal action against him.

When the lawyers talk about what it will take to settle the case, they discuss what will satisfy Sally. What Neil thinks doesn’t matter. Sally is the offended party, and when the lawyers identify a sum of money that would be acceptable to Sally, the payment is a propitiation.

Since our sin is an offence against God, He is the one who determines what the payment should be. The question is: What will satisfy God? And John tells us here that Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins” (2:2).

Can you imagine how your answer to the question “What will satisfy God?” might be different than His? Which one matters?