Why Did Jesus Think He Had To Die? Part 1
The Empty Cross of Christ No. 2
Why Did Jesus Think He Had To Die?
Part I--Preached: Morganton Church of Christ, Morganton, NC 2/22/2009 AM
I. Introduction.
A. At first blush, this seems like a foolish question.
1. If Jesus was human, then of course He had to die.
2. But there is something rather unusual about the emphasis on His death in the gospels.
a. In any ordinary biography of a famous man, the account of his last days and his death would take up no more than a short chapter of the book.
b. But with Jesus, the account of His last days before His death and His death occupies much more of the story. In fact, the Gospel of John itself is comprised of twenty-one chapters. Yet, the night of Jesus’ betrayal is recounted in chapter 13. Almost fully half of the gospel of John centers on the Passion of Christ!
B. What accounts for this? In order to arrive at an answer to this vital question, I propose first that we go to the gospels and ask what Jesus HIMSELF regarded as the causes of His death. Why did Jesus think He had to die?
C. As you might imagine, the gospels give a lot of attention to what Jesus teaches regarding this. It is unusual to find anyone who teaches or taught about their own death. But it was a central theme of Jesus’ own teaching!
D. Such a subject requires little introduction, so let us get right to the point. Why did Jesus think He had to die? First, He taught that:
II. Body.
A. His Death was INEVITABLE.
1. Jesus began teaching this very early in His ministry, though He spoke of it in a parable, rather than plainly:
Mark 2:18-20 And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they *came and *said to Him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" (19) And Jesus said to them, "While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom do not fast, do they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. (20) "But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
2. Not long after this, according to Mark’s gospel, there is the irony of Jesus’ words about healing on the Sabbath in the synagogue, in light of the reaction to it, that forebodes of bad things to come:
Mark 3:1-6 And He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there with a withered hand. (2) And they were watch-ing Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they might accuse Him. (3) And He *said to the man with the withered hand, "Rise and come forward!" (4) And He *said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. (5) And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (6) And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
3. But it became clear that Jesus as declaring the inevitability of His death right after the confession of Peter:
a. Mark places this right after the confession:
Mark 8:29-32 And He continued by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter *answered and *said to Him, "Thou art the Christ." (30) And He warned them to tell no one about Him. (31) And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mark adds . . .
(32a) And He was stating the matter plainly. . .
b. In Matthew’s account, the timing of this clarity about foretelling His death is underscored:
Matt. 16:21 From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
c. So by either account, by both accounts, this was the time that Jesus began plainly stating the inevitability of His death at the hands of the Jewish leaders.
4. That Jesus, in response to Peter’s confession that “Thou art the Christ” (in Mark 8:29), answers by teaching that the SON OF MAN must suffer, also is remarkable for identifying Himself as the Son of Man of Daniel 7:13-14 who would ascend to the throne at the right hand of God, and in mentioning suffering, also identifying Himself with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.
[Why did Jesus think He had to die? First, because His death was inevitable. Why? This leads us to the next logical reason He had to die:]
B. His Death was THE FULFILLMENT OF SCRIPTURE.
1. Luke relates a specific post-resurrection conversation of Jesus with two disciples on the road to Emmaus explaining this very point:
Luke 24:25-26
And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26“Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
That passage briefly, but comprehensively, states the case.
2. But early on into His ministry, Jesus’ words show that He understood that His death was the fulfillment of Scripture.
a. Mark 9:12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
b. As the passion drew nearer, we find Jesus saying,
Lk 22:37 “For I tell you, that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”
3. When one reads John’s gospel, Jesus’ death as the fulfillment of OT Scripture is pre-imminent, especially in the closing chapters leading to Jesus’ death.
Jn 13:18 “that the Scripture may be fulfilled” (regarding the betrayal by Judas).
Jn 17:12 “that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (regarding the loss of Judas).
Jn 19:28 “in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (the thirst of Jesus).
Jn 19:37And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”
4. John goes on to tell us that Jesus’ robe was not torn and His clothes were parceled out among His executioners, that His legs were not broken like the other two men crucified, and His side was pierced—all in fulfillment of the Scriptures.
5. It would be hard to exaggerate the importance of this sense of necessity for Jesus to die as seen by the gospel writers as they quoted OT Scriptures in proof of that fact.
[Jesus thought He had to die—knew He had to die—because His death was inevitable, it would bring the fulfillment of Old Testament prophetical Scripture. We shouldn’t go any further without noting also, that:]
C. His Death was ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY.
1. Jesus said:
Jn 10:17b-18 “…I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
2. This is why “…He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). He chose His death.
3. In John’s Gospel, there is expressed the teaching that no one could lay hands on Jesus because His “hour had not yet come.” But when it DID come, He was headed right to Jerusalem to meet it head on.
4. Many have misunderstood Jesus’ ministry and purpose. One liberal scholar’s view of Jesus on the cross was of a Messiah who failed to rally the people to His cause and died, “pinned and helpless on the gears of time.”
5. Quite to the contrary, Jesus’ death, and the circumstances surrounding and leading up to it, were always under HIS control.
a. It was no accident, no unplanned setback.
b. Earlier in His ministry, plenty of people who WANTED to end His life:
Jn 5:18 For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Lk 4:28-30 And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.
Jn 7:30They were seeking therefore to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Jn 8:20These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Jn 12:23And Jesus *answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Jn 13:1Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
Jn 17:1These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,
6. But He said, “The Son of Man came to give His life” (Mk. 10:45), and that is what He did.
7. It is a difficult concept to grasp. More difficult than you may think.
a. If His death was voluntary, was it suicide? That is a reasonable conclusion one might draw if we were considering any ordinary human being who chose to die.
b. But even that is not fair because losing one’s life willingly by stepping in front of the bullet that would have killed someone else is not considered suicidal, but heroic.
c. And that is in essence what Jesus did for us, willingly taking the punishment that was headed toward us for our sins.
d. Okay, but if He willingly died and was in control every step of the way, does that not excuse those who killed Him? Are they to be held accountable for His death if HE was in control of it?
1) Peter says in the first Gospel sermon, speaking to those responsible for crying out for Jesus’ crucifixion:
Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
2) So they were held accountable. THEY didn’t know Jesus really had the power to come off the cross. Their desire for His condemnation was just as genuine as it would have been if He couldn’t have come off the cross, so why wouldn’t they be just as genuinely guilty?
3) But notice that they were guilty of His death even though it was accomplished through someone else’s hands. Since Jesus died “once for all” (Rom. 6:10; Heb. 10:10) the same principle applies today. You or I were not directly guilty for demanding Jesus’ death, but when we have rejected Him, we too become guilty of putting Him to death through the hands of godless men.
[Jesus had to die because it was inevitable. He had to die because it was the fulfillment of Scripture. But in spite of the fact that He had to die, He CHOSE to die for us. Note also that:]
D. His Death was THE FATHER’S WILL.
1. In His own words:
Jn 10:17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.”
2. The most sublime words in all the gospel accounts makes this plain:
Jn 3:16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
3. When the sunshine of those words changes to the night of Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane, it is the same message that comes through.
Mk 14:36And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt.”
a. Jesus deliberately chose Calvary.
b. He “resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:51). He talked about freely laying down His life.
c. But His human emotions revolted from the idea. It was such a heavy burden to bear the sins of the world, sins of others, since He had none of His own. For the first time in eternity, He felt the weight and the horror of those sins and sensed the limits imposed by His flesh as He faced that horrible and cruel death.
4. But it was the Father’s will that He die IN OUR PLACE, …but He would be obedient to the Father’s will.
Heb 5:7-9 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. (8) Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. (9) And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
5. He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Further, and because of that, He is the source of eternal salvation to all those “who obey Him.”
a. That means that He is NOT going to save you if you hear Him say, “He that has believed and has been baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), and say, “I’m NOT going to do that. I don’t need to. I’m a good person without that.” Because that kind of response to that command is DISobedience!
b. But it also means, even if you have repented of your sins at one point in your life, and been baptized into Him, that if you’ve cooled your relationship with Him, if you are not living right, not acting right, not talking right . . . It means if you are not OBEYING Him in being the Christian He calls you to be in your home, in your marriage, with your kids, or with your parents, that if you are not being a Christian at work and with your friends, THAT YOU ARE IN DISOBEDIENCE TO HIM.
c. Now get this: He died in obedience to God’s command even when the horror of it shocked His very soul in order for you to even have a chance at salvation. What does it cost YOU to obey Him? He is the source of salvation to all who obey Him. Are you ready to be saved?