Why did Jesus have to die?

Answer

Jesus died on the cross to bear the punishment for sin on behalf of believers. Despite historical evidence, many individuals have questioned the death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. Muslims have raised the query, “Why would Allah require His prophet Isa to undergo death?”

The Scriptures clarify that Jesus Christ died for our sins: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3b-4).

The Scriptures affirm that the sinless Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross to atone for the sins of believers. Let’s delve into the Scriptures, the Bible, to understand why the death and resurrection of Jesus are the sole means for sinners to enter paradise.

The consequence of sin is death

The Bible recounts how the holy God created the earth and humanity flawlessly. However, Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptation and disobeyed God. Since Adam’s transgression, sin has permeated the human race. Every individual stands guilty: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” «for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; », (Romans 3:23).

Sin encompasses not only grave offenses like murder or blasphemy but also includes falsehood, lust, and theft. Even the love of money or harboring hatred towards enemies constitutes sin, as per the Bible. Good deeds cannot compensate for transgressions against the holy God. In comparison to His holiness, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” «But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. », (Isaiah 64:6b).

Having sinned against God, w

We deserve His punishment. A judge who pardons lawbreakers isn’t a good judge. Likewise, God will not overlook sin. He pours out His righteous wrath against sinners (Romans 2:1-11). Unbelieving sinners pay for their sin by suffering eternal death in hell: “For the wages of sin is death” «For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.», (Romans 6:23a).

The promise required an innocent death

Although God banished Adam and Eve from the garden and the tree of life, He gave them hope of salvation and paradise. He promised to send the woman’s offspring—Jesus—Who would conquer Satan «and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. », (Genesis 3:15). Until then, men would sacrifice innocent lambs as a substitute for the punishment they deserved. Sacrificing an animal showed men’s humble acknowledgment that their sin required death and showed their faith in the future offspring and sacrifice from God—Jesus—Who would bear the believer’s penalty once and for all.

The prophets foretold Jesus’ death

From Adam to Jesus, God sent prophets to mankind, warning them of sin’s punishment and foretelling the coming Savior. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah described Him:

“Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was.”

As despised, we did not esteem him. Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:1-12).

The prophet likened the future Savior to a lamb, sacrificed for the sins of others.

Centuries later, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. Although Jesus is eternally one with God, God the Father sent His Son to earth «For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever belie

Every person who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). Jesus is the promised descendant of the woman “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” , (Genesis 3:15), born in human form to the virgin Mary. God declared that Jesus is His beloved Son “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!'” , (Matthew 17:5). Upon seeing Jesus, the prophet John the Baptist exclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'” , (John 1:29).

Bearing the sin of the world as the sacrificial Lamb of God is the reason Jesus had to die. He came to bear the penalty for sin—death.

Jesus foretold His own death multiple times: “Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.'” (Luke 18:31-33).

God sacrificed Jesus for sin

During Jesus’ life, crowds gathered around Him for healing and teaching, while the religious leaders rejected Him. They arrested Him and accused Him of blasphemy for professing to be the Son of God.«Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. », (Luke 22:70). The crowd cried out, “Crucify Him!” Soldiers beat, mocked, and crucified Him.

On the cross, Jesus bore the punishment of sin. At His death, He cried out, “It is finished” «When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. », (John 19:30b). Jesus completed paying the penalty for sin as the perfect Lamb of God.

As Isaiah prophesied, Jesus was crucified between two criminals and was buried in a rich man’s tomb. But Jesus did not remain in the grave. As He foretold, Jesus rose from the dead, demonstrating His victory over sin and death.

Why did Jesus have to die?

Jesus died for believing sinners. We cannot enter paradise based on our own merit. Remember, the holy God will not overlook sin. If we carried our own sins, we would face judgment in the fires of hell. However, God offered Jesus as the believer’s perfect Substitute.

The Scripture says, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified [made righteous/good] by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation [restored relationship].

“Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the

World, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned… So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:6-12;18-21).

Jesus died to provide the only way to eternal life. If God is showing you your sin and the need for Jesus, repent, turning from your sin and your own way of trying to please God. You cannot fix yourself. Believe the Bible’s truth about who Jesus is and what He did, trust in Jesus as your Savior from sin, and follow Him as the Lord of your life. He will lead and strengthen you through His Word, the Bible.

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