Why did Jesus have to Suffer and Die?

Some years a radio commentator confidently stated that she had made a thorough examination of Christianity and could report with absolute certainty that Christianity was a hoax. She couldn’t worship any god that demanded a bloody sacrifice in the form of Jesus’ crucifixion. It was simply too barbaric and made no sense. Christianity was obviously a fiction and merely an extension of earlier pagan religions.

Some alternatives

We’ve all wondered why Jesus had to suffer and die the way he did. After all, God is God and can do whatever he wishes. Surely God could have redeemed us without ravaging his only begotten Son. After all, since God is omnipotent he was not under any compulsion. Not only that, but since Jesus is God he didn’t have to consent at Gethsemane. He could have terminated the proceedings then and there and declared a universal or selective salvation. Or, since all things are possible, he could have undergone the Passion painlessly. There are plenty of approaches that God could have taken. Another would be for each of us to be individually punished or suffer a horrible death so that we could expiate and redress our own sins. But that would still involve immense pain and individual horror. On the other hand, God could have merely chosen to appear in the sky every month or so and say, “You’re all forgiven for whatever you’ve done and for the times you turned your back on me. I’ll appear again next month and forgive you again – or better yet I’ll just rearrange things to let you do whatever you want. Whatever you do is ok as long as you think it’s ok”.

Let’s see if we make sense of this seemingly incomprehensible dilemma.

The certainty of Jesus’ death          

Calvary didn’t occur because God demanded a bloody sacrifice. Calvary occurred because we demanded it. How else could we believe in the eternal mercy and love of our Lord? Without it Jesus would have been just another philosopher and do-gooder whose mission would have dissipated with the passage of time. But Jesus was not just another teacher or prophet. To prove his Divinity for people throughout the ages the fact of his death would have to be unassailable. Quite simply there could be no certainty of resurrection unless there was first a certainty of death. And the events of that Good Friday would prove with absolute certainty that Jesus did indeed die. Whipping, scourging, beating, thorns pushed into his head, spikes driven into his hands and feet, hanging on a cross for hour upon hour, capped by a spear thrust into his side could only mean certain death.

God in his wisdom knows the frailties of men. We can never understand God and why he selected a certain course of action, but we can see the results. For example, the brutality of the crucifixion and its aftermath drives home the point that physical death does not snuff out life. If Jesus had merely appeared on the scene some 2,000 years ago and taught for a few years – or a lifetime – and then mysteriously disappeared into the sky, we would now be talking about the charming story of this fanciful guy that supposedly lived so long ago, affirmed some of the Jewish law, made other lovely but unprovable promises such as how God loved and the gift of eternal life, etc. But all of that would have been universally rejected as cult fodder.

Instead, Jesus affirmed his Godhood and love by teaching, suffering, dying and coming to life again, all in plain view of the Jews. This was no mere philosopher who would be remembered only because of what he said, but a historical figure who would be remembered for what he did and what he promised all humanity. There could be no doubt but that he died, was resurrected and told his disciples to tell the world about him, even unto death. Then and only then was Jesus lifted from the bottomless agony of his passion to the glory of his ascension. The Creator loved us so much and even with all our blemishes and weaknesses that he performed an act of atonement that would live and be remembered through the ages.

The sacrifice of love

Now, let us settle back for a second and consider the possibility that we are looking at the concept of ‘sacrifice’ incorrectly. This misunderstanding can lead us to misinterpret the meaning of Jesus’ death – of his sacrifice.

We are all accustomed to using the word ‘sacrifice’ to mean giving up something that we want or performing an act which we would prefer to avoid, and generally accompanied by discomfort or even outright pain. That is not the intended meaning. In the Old Testament God said he desired the sacrifice of prayer and love, and not the death and blood of animals. That’s because sacrifice really means any act that brings us closer to God. Prayer and love should more effectively accomplish this objective than blood or pain. As the Old Testament tells us, however, it appeared that we were not ready for the sacrifice of love and prayer but had to resort to animal sacrifice to underscore the brutality of sin and draw closer to God.

At Calvary we have the ultimate Sacrifice, which combines love, death, pain, joy, in the person of Jesus in crippling agony stumbling to the cross, there to have his hands and feet pierced by big blunt nails. This is the meaning of sacrifice. This is pure love. If the Passion doesn’t draw you closer to God, then nothing will. It was said of Brother Lawrence, “While meditating on . . .  the passion of Jesus Christ (about which he never thought without being inwardly moved) he was changed into another man. The humility of the Cross seemed more beautiful to him than all the glory of the world.” (Helms, page 26)

What higher purpose could there be for us than to search for God, and to realize that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. God loves us with a love so infinite it cannot be measured or even described. The closest we can come is to recall what he did for us, and the intensity of his passion and death enables us to do precisely that. This was the ultimate sacrifice; it was an act intended to bring us ever closer to God’s redeeming love.

Remembering Jesus

What could God have done for us that he has not done? When we knowingly ignore the cross, we ignore the crucial element of why Jesus walked the earth and we make God a liar and a useless dilettante. God does not pursue actions which are meaningless. His demonstrated love is available to all who desire it.

The radio commentator I referred to at the beginning of this chapter was wrong – dead wrong. We (that includes you) sent Jesus to the cross.  The steep price Jesus paid to reconcile us with God demonstrates with unparalleled certainty how evil disobedience to God is and how much he loves us. If we don’t cringe whenever we visualize or even think about those two days in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Jerusalem and on Calvary, it’s because we don’t understand the magnificent love that took place to set us free. We don’t understand the pain and torment which the Lord suffered for us. We don’t understand this sacrifice of love.

God’s love

This is God’s love. Once one fully considers what Jesus has done, and relate it to the empirical evidence God has given us of his existence and love, how is it possible to reject Jesus?

Jesus was fully human, fully the Messiah, and fully God. His life, teaching, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension prove the point. Because Jesus suffered and died in such a dramatic and gruesome fashion his death can be affirmed even now — 2,000  years following the event. Jesus was born to die, and the manner of his death should erase any doubt that this in fact occurred. When someone understands the brutality of the Passion and still argues that Jesus really didn’t die, but merely “swooned,” you may be sure that an agenda other than uncovering the truth is in play.

God’s plan of salvation

The sacrifice on the cross gives us a clear opportunity to accept God’s invitation to live in his presence. Was there no other way for God to reconcile us to him other than the Cross? The answer is that the question is irrelevant. The Cross is God’s plan and that is all that matters. By it he demonstrated a love which is quite beyond our comprehension. To accept, reject, or ignore is our choice. If you decided to ignore or reject you may wish to reconsider after you have read Hell: A Loving God and Eternal Punishment?

Some websites and references

• A God of Love
• The Practice of the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence is available online from several sources. See Resources.

Last modified July 29, 2019