Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

One of the terms used to describe sin is "original sin." This refers to Adam and Eve in the garden. They were told to not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would surely die. There was another tree - the tree of eternal life. When they ate of the tree of knowledge, God discovered they knew they were naked and had shame. He removed them from the garden before the ate of the tree of eternal life. For if they had, they would have lived eternally separated from God. God protected them and all of their heirs by removing them from the garden. This started the plan of redemption, to return man to His sinless state. This is a plan that took many centuries and culminated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Because they were the First humans, their sin was passed along to all future humans. It is called imputation of sin on all generations to follow. Everyone alive today can be traced to Adam and Eve through their third son Seth. When the flood came, only Noah (who was of Seth's lineage) was saved. He had three sons. It was Shem who propagated the blood line Jesus. All mankind is traced through the bloodline of Noah and hence Adam and Eve. This is why we are ALL sinners at birth. We have the DNA of Adam and Eve who violated God's command and sinned against God. That sin prevents us from being in direct fellowship with God. What was God's plan?

God came to Abram (later known as Abraham) and told him, if he obeyed, he would be the father of a great nation and through him ALL families of the world would be blessed (meaning saved from their sin). Abram was the father of the Jews and through the Jews, through Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David and Mary, the blood line to Jesus was preserved - Jesus, the lamb of God who came to reconcile man with God and take away the sins of the world.

As you read Genesis, you will discover God came to Isaac and Jacob, in dreams and made the same promise. They would be a blessing to all families and the fathers of many people. Jacob had 12 boys and these boys were the patriarchs to each of the 12 tribes of Israel. One of the boys, Joseph was sold into captivity by the others and through God's hand became second in line to the Pharaoh in Egypt. God used Joseph to save Israel from the great famine by storing up grain for 7 years, so there would be sufficient food during the famine. Joseph learned to do this through a vision God gave the Pharaoh. Israel eventually came to Egypt for food. It was then, they discovered their brother Joseph was in charge. They bowed down and gave praise to God.

Israel stayed in Egypt 400 years and eventually became slaves. God used Moses to remove them from the land. God caused 10 plagues to come down on Egypt to convince them to let Israel leave Egypt and go back to Israel. Each plague made the Pharaoh even more determined to keep them until the 10th plague which was the death of the eldest son throughout the land. An angel of death passed throughout the land and killed the first born including the Pharaoh's son. The Jews escaped because God had them put the blood of a one year old lamb on the doorposts. When the angel saw the blood, he passed over the house with the blood. This was a foreshadow of Jesus and His blood from the cross that covers the believers. The Bible shows it was the blood of the lamb that saved the people. This event became a festival called passover - the angel of death passing over the houses with the blood on the doorposts.

After the Pharaoh's son was killed, in his agony, he let the the people go. This then led to the story of the parting of the Red Sea. God provided an escape route by opening up the Red Sea so the Jews could cross and escape from the Egyptians. The Pharaoh and his men followed them into the sea and were trapped in the ocean and killed when God closed it up on them. But the Israelites made it to the other side unharmed. During the next three years, they learned the laws of God - the 10 commandments, the importance of the payment for sin and the rules and regulations by which they MUST live. What is clear is no one can keep the rules and regulations perfectly. Everyone will fail and needs to be forgiven. God provided the only way of forgiveness to the Israelites. He established the Tabernacle rituals to show them how they could be forgiven.

God had them build a tabernacle (a tent for worship) and taught them how to sacrifice animals as the payment for sin. The life was in the blood they were told. They had to sacrifice bulls, rams and goats. Sometimes birds and there were also flour and oil offerings. These were done twice a day in some instances. It was done for the people and by the people. These rituals were used to show the Jews they must keep a short list of sins and be forgiven every day. Several books in the Torah, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy all teach about these rituals and sacrifices. God even set aside one family - the Levites to be the ministers of these sacrifices. They would never own land and be totally dependent upon the tithes and offerings of the people. God taught the people of Israel that there would be a Messiah who would come and free them from sin. They longed for the Messiah but had no idea who He was or when He would come. God gave them 350 prophecies pointing to the Messiah and His identity. But the Jews missed them. One of the greatest is in the first few verses of Isaiah 53.

There is much more to this story. Israel refused to go into the land they were promised. So God punished them by keeping them out of the land until the generation who refused had all died. Forty years later, they again were given the chance to enter the land. They did and divided up the region by family. Eventually, they wanted a king. The first king was Saul. Saul became a bad king and was replaced by David. David was a good king, a man after God's own heart. But he did some bad things though, including committing adultery and murdering the woman's husband. She eventually became David's wife and they had a son, Solomon. He was the next King and built the temple. When he died, the tribes fought over who would be the king. They split into two groups - the North and the South. Ten tribes became the northern kingdom and two tribes - Judah and Benjamin became the southern kingdom and controlled the Temple Solomon built in Jerusalem.

Remember, Jesus is of the bloodline of Judah. There were many kings and wars between the north and the south. Eventually, Assyria became the enemy of the North and captured them and removed them from the land, permanently. Judah however, remained, but continued to disobey God, until God raised up Babylon to capture them and destroy the Temple. Judah remained in captivity for 70 years but were miraculously restored to the land after Cyrus captured Babylon and commanded the temple and Jerusalem be rebuilt. This is the time of Daniel and the lions' den. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon during this time until eventually the Medes and Persians (Cyrus) captured the land. This is also the time of the prophets who warned both the North and the South of their impending destruction. Five hundred years later, and Jesus was born to Mary, a virgin who was to marry Joseph.

This was the way of the Jews until Jesus. They held four festivals a year to celebrate what God had done. Only the Jews celebrated the festivals. The great secret was that salvation was also for the gentiles, but this had not yet been revealed. It was NOT revealed until Jesus came, even though Abram (renamed Abraham) and his subsequent sons were all told he would be a blessing to ALL families of the world.

When Jesus was born, the Jews were under the thumb of the Roman Empire. The Romans had spread their control throughout the known world. They allowed the Jews to continue to remain a unique people group, but the Jews were mindful any social unrest could cause the Romans to change their mind and bring the law down upon them. It was a time of tension and turmoil.

Jesus' birth was the fulfillment of scripture. He was the Messiah. Born in a manger, in the city of Bethlehem, He was the fulfillment of the many prophecies in the Old Testament. Eventually, as an adult, it was time for Him to appear and show He was, in fact, the Messiah. His ministry started slowly. He demonstrated His powers. He healed the blind, the sick, the lame, the lepers. He even raised a few from the dead. He cast out demons. He fed the five thousand, twice. He walked on water, stopped storms and preached the good news of the Bible to all who would listen. His following grew and scared the religious leaders. They were fearful they would lose their control of the people and that Rome would see the turmoil and react.

As a result, the religious rulers were very frightened of Him. They did not know how to stop Him and His popularity rose. He was a force to reckon with and they eventually decided the only way to stop Him, was to kill Him. Inspired by satan, one of Jesus' disciples, Judas, came to the Pharisees and told them that for thirty pieces of silver he would betray Jesus and deliver Him to them. They agreed. Of course Jesus knew all of this, it had be prophesied in the Old Testament and was predestined from the foundation of the world. On exactly the right date, Jesus entered Jerusalem and made His grand entrance into the city. This was the beginning of the end. In the next week He would hang on the cross, all as predicted.

As the Passover festival approached, Jesus made arrangements for His last supper, the passover meal with his disciples. After dinner, they went to the garden of Gethsemane and prayed. It was soon thereafter, Judas arrived with the soldiers. Judas made good on his betrayal and Jesus was captured and taken to the high priest for a trial. The Jews had no authority to kill Jesus. So after the trial, he was sent to Pontius Pilate who in turn sent Him to Herod. Neither wanted anything to do with the matter and tried to avoid the whole issue. Pilate tried to let Jesus go using a Passover ritual of releasing a criminal after his beating. But the crowds, stirred by the Pharisees would not allow it. So Pilate was forced to pronounce judgment and death by crucifixion.

Jesus' death was swift, but not before He was beaten and ridiculed by the Roman soldiers. He was forced to carry His cross to the hill of Golgotha and there He hung between two criminals. His last words, "It is finished" signified the completion of His mission - to pay the price for sin - once for all.

When He died, there was darkness over the land, earthquakes and the curtain in the Temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the people was torn in two, from the bottom to the top, signifying the hand of God. Jesus was taken from the cross and buried in a new tomb. They had to hurry as it was almost the sabbath and the Jews were forbidden to do any work on the sabbath. His body was not prepared properly for burial. So the women returned after the Sabbath, on Sunday, early in the morning to prepare His body for a proper burial. But He was not there. The tomb was empty. And true to His promise, He had risen, showing that He had conquered sin and death. This frightened the women and the raced back to tell the others.

Jesus appeared to the disciples several times in His new body, including a group of over 500 witnesses. On the 40th day, after His death, He rose into the Heavens, to be seated at the right hand of the Father. On the 50th day, the festival of the harvest, the Holy Spirit came into the bodies of all believers, signifying the appearance of God who would live in the hearts of all believers from that day forth.

There was now no need for the Temple, no need for the rituals and no need for the priests. Jesus had become King of the Heavenly Kingdom, He was now prophet, priest and King. He was a fulfillment of all that God had taught the people of Israel since the time of Abraham. Jesus was the fulfillment of all the prophecies and had taken His rightful place on throne as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and as our intercessor.

Jesus is the lamb of God and His death and subsequent victory over death was the fulfillment of God's promised Messiah. He had indeed taken away the sins of the world. He had paid the price, once for all who believed that Jesus is Lord.

After His ascension, angels appeared to Peter and told him to take this good news to the gentiles. This was unheard of because the Jews and the gentiles were at enmity with each other. But Peter obeyed and did what he was told by going to Cornelius and bringing the good news. In another instance, Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus and asked him why he was persecuting the Christians? Jesus blinded Saul, changed his name to Paul and sent him to Damascus where he was cared for by the Christians in that town. Paul became a great evangelist and wrote many of the books in the New Testament, communicating God's message of love, purity and fellowship.

The book of Acts details the spread of Christianity throughout the world. Jesus' last command to the disciples was to go and make disciples of all nations. They were to teach the gospel and show the people how to live, fulfilled Christian lives. The remaining books in the New Testament tell the stories of this transition and communicates the teachings of Jesus. He is the alpha and the omega, the First and the Last. In Revelation, Jesus appears to John the author and reveals what will happen at the end of the age. There is much symbolism in the writings. But one thing is for sure, satan was defeated at the cross and while he may still have some impact on this world, when Jesus comes back for the church and His people, he will be ultimately defeated. All will be judged by Jesus. Those who know Him as their Lord and Savior and are covered by the blood, will be ushered into heaven. Their works will be judged and they will given responsibilities in Heaven based on how they lived their life on earth.

Those who don't know Jesus as Lord will be judged on their works too. But their works will be found wanting. Their ultimate destination is the lake of fire and eternal separation from God. Their fate was sealed because they refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Lord and Savior. Instead, the held themselves in high esteemed and lived a life worshiping their idols - money, sex, power, business - and those idols were found wanting. They failed to acknowledge Jesus as the one true God. All knees will bow and all men will ultimately confess Jesus as Lord. To some, it will be a foregone conclusion. To others it will be a surprise. And to those, for whom it is a surprise, they will pay the ultimate price, eternal life away from God.

Why did Jesus have to die? To pay the final price for sins - our sins. The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All means all. None is righteous, no not one. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life - no one gets to the Father but through me. Jesus is the WAY, the only WAY. He lived a perfect life, died a death He did not deserve, to pay the ultimate price for sin - death. His death on the cross was a substitute for our death. He paid it instead of us having to pay it. Our body will die, but our soul will live in eternity with Him. There is NO OTHER was to have fellowship with a Holy and pure God than to be pure and Holy ourselves. And since we are sinners from birth, because of Adam, it is impossible for us to live a perfect life. But Jesus, He died for us. The wages of sin is death. He paid for our sins by dying on the cross, once for all. He is our priest. He offered Himself up to God as the perfect, final sacrifice. He is the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.