Why Did Jesus Die?
The world has provided many answers to this question. Jesus died because of politics—the strife between the hated Roman government and the religious leaders. Or Jesus died because he failed to win over the people. Or Jesus died as a revolutionary who tried to raise up the poor.
The Bible gives us several reasons why Jesus died. First, it was God’s will. St. Peter states that Jesus was “delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). God determined before the world was created that His Son sacrifice His life for all people (see 1 Peter 1:20). In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
The second answer to why Jesus died is the world’s opposition to the Gospel. The “good news” about the kingdom of God, forgiveness, and salvation was not what the world wanted to hear. St. John wrote, “He came to His own [people], and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). The religious leaders plotted to put Jesus to death. The people of Jerusalem demanded that Jesus be crucified.
The third, and most important reason, Jesus died is because of the sins of all people. St Paul put it this way: “By one man’s [Adam] disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s [Jesus] obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Since all people have sinned and “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20), and because “the redemption of their souls is costly” (Psalms 49:8); no one could keep the law or pay the just punishment of sin. Therefore, God sent His Son, “born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4). So “God made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus carried the sins of all people to the cross and paid the punishment of death for all sins for all people (see 1 John 2:2). Through faith in Jesus and His work of salvation, God forgives all sin, declares that believers are holy [righteous] in His sight, and gives them eternal life.
Fourth, Jesus died because of God’s love. He said, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God’s love is truly amazing. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God wants all people to know Jesus as their Savior from sin and death (1 Timothy 2:4). When Jesus said from the cross “It is finished,”
He declared that everything was completed to save all people. God’s holy requirements were fulfilled. Nothing more needed to be done.
This Good Friday, let us worship God and thank Jesus for laying down His life in order to win for us forgiveness of sins, freedom from death, and the gift of life in heaven.