Why did Jesus have to die?
Because of the holiness of God and the reality of our sin. We sinned against a holy God, and the just penalty is death. In love, God the Son took that penalty in our place, satisfying justice so that God can be both just and the justifier of those who believe.
This question arose from studying Who is Jesus? and Is Jesus really God?.
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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
1Romans 3:23 · WEB Isaiah 53:6 · WEB
The problem: we have all sinned against a holy God
Scripture's diagnosis is total: 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' Isaiah says it like a confession: 'All we like sheep have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way.' The problem is not that God is too strict; it is that we have actually rebelled against Him.
for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
2Romans 6:23 · WEB Hebrews 9:27 · WEB
The penalty: death, separation from God
The wages of sin is death. Not merely physical death, but spiritual separation from the God who is the source of all life. 'It is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment.' Someone must answer for what we have done.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
3Romans 5:8 · WEB John 3:16 · WEB 1 John 4:10 · WEB
The love: God Himself acted
This is the scandal of the gospel: we did not climb to God; He came down to us. 'God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' While we were still enemies, He loved us.
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
4Isaiah 53:5-6 · WEB 1 Peter 2:24 · WEB 2 Corinthians 5:21 · WEB Mark 10:45 · WEB
The substitution: Christ took our place
The heart of the cross is exchange. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. He died the death we owed, in our place.
But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
5Romans 3:24-26 · WEB Romans 5:9 · WEB Hebrews 9:27-28 · WEB
The result: God is just, and the justifier
On the cross, God set forth Christ as an atoning sacrifice: 'that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.' Justice is not suspended; it is satisfied. The penalty is paid, the righteousness is given, and the love is proven.
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance; to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.
Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
Studying the Word naturally opens more of it. Follow what you just read: it leads somewhere.
Continue this trail
How can I be saved?→“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”Did Jesus really rise from the dead?→“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?→“For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”Why did Jesus call himself the Son of Man?→“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”Where is Jesus now?→“When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.””Does Jesus sharing God's nature mean there are two Gods?→“I and the Father are one.””What happened between the cross and the resurrection?→“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.”Why is Jesus called both the Son of God and the Son of Man?→“But he stayed quiet, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.””Is the Son of Man title about judgment or mercy?→“For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,”What does it mean that the world hates Jesus?→“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”Why did God become a man?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”Why did the disciples not recognize Him after He rose?→“But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of David?→“When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”Why did Jesus often tell people not to reveal who He was?→“The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!” He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.”How can one Person be fully God and fully man at once?→“The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”What does the creed mean by 'he descended into hell'?→“because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.”What is the final judgment, and who will be there?→“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”What did Jesus teach about the kingdom of God?→“From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.””How is the new covenant different from the old one?→“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”What was it like to see the risen Jesus?→“See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.””Why did Jesus appear only to certain people after His resurrection?→“God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”Who were 'the spirits in prison', and what did Christ preach to them?→“in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”What does it mean that God is one?→“Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.”What will believers be rewarded for, if salvation is by grace alone?→“each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.”What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?→“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”For whom did Christ die?→“I am the good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”What does the title 'Christ' mean?→“The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,”Does the Bible teach there are other gods?→“It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.”Who are the 'gods' (elohim) of Psalm 82?→“God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.”If Jesus is the 'firstborn of all creation,' was He created?→“who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.”Do I need a priest to reach God?→“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”What does Scripture show us about Mary?→“Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,”Does it matter which Jesus I believe in?→“But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you any “good news” other than that which we preached to you, let him be cursed.”Which modern portraits of Jesus preach another Jesus?→“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?””How does Jesus becoming man show us the Father's love?→“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”What does it mean that Jesus is the Lion of Judah?→“One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.” I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”