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?.
Begin by reading
Go into the Word
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
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.
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,
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.
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.”
The result: God is just, and the justifier
On the cross, God set forth Christ as an atoning sacrifice: 'so that he might himself be righteous, and the righteousness 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.
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.”