Why did Jesus have to die... This is a very common question and a full understanding of the answer takes most people a lifetime's work to obtain. Here's a few attempts at some answers: Only the Natural consequences Very often, when confronted with the teachings of Jesus, people say something like, "How can I live like a Christian, people will walk all over me!". This is certainly true to some extent, there are lots of people out there willing to abuse and take advantage of someone who is willing to give themselves unselfishly. So in a way Jesus death was the 'natural' conclusion to the way he did live his life.   Look at it like this - God tried every other way. If we look back at the history of how God has dealt with people in the world, it's almost as if God made sure that it was plain to see that before his son was sent, every other alley had been taken. Jesus came after a long line of prophets, priests and men of God who were ignored and mistreated by the people who God sent them to. "Maybe they will listen to my son?", was the saying of the owner of the vineyard in the parable. (Matthew 21:33-41).   Look at the Law We really cannot have a full understanding of Jesus sacrifice without comparing it to the animal sacrifices that were made under the Law of Moses in the Old Testament. Here's a quick summary of what the sacrifices achieved... Showing the seriousness of sin: The Blood of a living animal was designed to be something that couldn't be glossed over easily. The Israelite was supposed to think something like, "If my sin is so bad that it takes such horrific act to repair the damage then I can't let sin get a foothold in my life" How much more so with the blood of Jesus, is your response a determination to destroy sin in yourself? Taking away guilt: The Israelite would take a lamb lay their hands on it and have it sacrificed. The Sacrifice would bear their own sin and was a reminder that God was willing to forgive wrong-doing. Who would ever dare to say, "The blood of Jesus wasn't a good enough sacrifice to take away my sin" Provides the best way of bringing our sin before God: God instituted the Sacrifices for the Israelites, they didn't just make it up themselves. The fact that God himself instituted the way of coming to him enabled them to be confident in following the way. So many New Testament passages teach about the confidence we can have to come before God, confidence not coming from ourselves but confidence in the way opened up by God himself. How impossible is even the thought of having to design our own way of getting into the presence of God, without Jesus? Focus in on God: The focus of the sacrifice in the Old Testament wasn't just the sin but also the sin offering. The focus becomes the fact that God has been gracious enough to provide a way and that he is willing to forgive and that that brings glory to him. When we remember Jesus sacrifice we are not inward looking, we have a focus that is different than just our sin on its own and we have cause for rejoicing and praising God. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. His sacrifice was good enough to be one sacrifice for all time. The death of Jesus "cancelled the written code" and freed us from the Old Covenant (The Law of Moses) and brought us into a New Covenant with God by our faith in God who raised him from the dead. The Law was "A shadow of the things that were to come, the reality however is found in Christ" (Colossians 2:17)   Glory to God This is how we know how much God desperately wanted to reconcile the world to himself. It is the highest price imaginable to be paid by a Father. God wanted to say how much he loved us. He said it or rather shouted it louder than any man could scream, louder than the most violent thunderstorm, or the crashing of the largest waves.   God's power is shown in that he raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus death and resurrection is powerful evidence that Jesus is the way to come to God and indeed that God exists at all. There is little other explanation in terms of the motivation of the early church proclaiming the news of Jesus resurrection other than that it was fact. Early on there was certainly no worldly power to be gained by proclaiming the resurrection, only persecution and maybe even death.   Jesus is shown to be worthy of Glory God had provided Jesus with the option to come down from the cross if he wanted and was willing to provide legions of angels to rush and rescue him should Jesus so much as say the word. (Matt 26:53) This how we know the depth of Jesus love for us. Jesus himself said, "Greater love has no man than this; that he laid down his life for his friends". (John 15:13). This is the very definition of disinterested altruism. That is wasn't even for family or relatives or for any previous outstanding debt, but for people who he didn't know and to whom he owed nothing. Jesus could have come down from the cross but he chose not to, he could have had no other conceivable motivation than love (not even perhaps some seriously depraved sense of wanting to be famous!). Jesus showed his worthiness in his willingness to go to the cross. If you doubt his worthiness ask yourself this simple question - could you do what he did? (Revelation 5)   Jesus has shown what we as human beings have the potential to rise to. He was a trailblazer in selflessness and humility and in living a life powered by God's spirit at every step. He is our definitive example, Jesus life and the way in which he was willing to die shows us that real glory is not in the so-called 'honourable' ways we naturally tend to imagine of ourselves. But in giving the whole of our life.   God's shock tactics As with all human beings we have potential be very compassionate yet also the potential to be very hard hearted. The way that Jesus was killed is very affecting, it represents God's shock tactics. The contrast between the gentle person that Jesus was and the unfair and brutal way in which he was treated is great, so much so that even the hardest heart could be moved by it. Jesus did nothing in his life but help the poor people of his world, he always spoke only the truth and he showed a vast love to all even his enemies. He was the most noble, dignified, gentle and fair man who man ever to walk the surface of the earth. He was brutally and unfairly beaten for a long time, he was mocked and lied about, he was hated and spat upon and then brutally killed. Jesus was God's way to "Remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19)   True colours were shown; Jesus was shown to be faultless and unselfish but the religious authorities were shown to be corrupt. The ways in which they motivated / manipulated people were exposed.   In his suffering Jesus became a perfect priest for us A High priest who can sympathise with the very depths of all human emotions. He was "Tempted in every way even as we are". (Hebrews 4:15) He suffered pain, suffering and maybe even loneliness from God?   Sharing his resurrection We can also share in Jesus resurrection if we identify with him in his death, we have been given a hope. Jesus is the 'First-fruits' of all who will be raised from the dead when he returns in power in his kingdom, when our hearts will be made perfect and when we will at last have a pure motivation.   Something to remember One reason for Jesus death is this: Now we have a time to remember Jesus, when we share bread and wine or when we are going about our everyday lives. We have one powerful event to go over in our minds, one simple thought, one basic idea. Whoever we are however clever or not we may be, at any time in our lives, when we are low and in a bad way or when we are joyful we can find this focus; "Jesus died for me."
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