KCU/03/SMAJ

Topic 10: Why did Jesus have to die?

Question: Based on what you know from the Bible & other sources (including the Theology Matters readings), why do you think Jesus had to die? (Be sure to do more research into the issue. If the group cannot come to a consensus, feel free to have different group members each express their own opinions.)

Jon Alexander's contribution:

	Jesus died for our sins.

The death of Christ has been believed to be the fundamental related to the moral possibilities of justification.

That he provided to give his Son so that he might righteously forgive.

From god’s point view, however, every sinner in principle- in his moral status- is forgiven from the beginning and the basis of the fact, which God in Christ from eternity himself became responsible for the foreknown sin of the man whom he was to create.

He became as it were sin itself, treat him as if he was sin and in our sin’s stead he died.

Expressed the passion of the divine heart engaged at suck measureless cost in saving man.

If God can love, or if he is holy, he can suffer.

Because he is infinitely holy and loving, and such is in sensitive relationship to his creature, he is the Supreme Sufferer in the Universe.

Jesus death was voluntary

Mildride Macena's contribution: Since the beginning, God has planned to save men. When Adam and Eve have sinned it was the lamb that paid for their sins. The lamb was a sacrifice to cover their sins. In order for sin to be forgiven blood has to be shed. The sacrifice should be perfect. The lamb that was killed for Adam’s sin knew nothing from right and wrong. He was blameless. The lamb was a substitute for Adam and Eve. Jesus was sinless and therefore He was the right sacrifice. He was also our substitute; he was the only one who could pay for our penalty. The punishment for sin is death. Romans 3:23said that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus was made perfect. Through him we are saved.

Stephanie Cherubin's contribution: Source:The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott

According to different people Jesus died for different reasons :

According to the Jewish leaders:

   - Jesus was a blasphemer
   -they killed him because they envied him
   - Jesus had a disrespectful attitude toward the law
   - Jesus made provocative claims
   -Jesus' teachings were dangerous and even subversive( having the ability to overthrow completely)
   -Jesus' teachings were against God
   

According to the Romans:

  -Jesus was proclaiming himself king of the Jews, thus challenging the authority of Caesar
  - His crime was sedition(conduct or language inciting rebellion against the state)
  - Jesus' crime was against Caesar
  - Jesus was a revolutionary thinker and a preacher and some even considered Him a revolutinary activist as well
  -Jesus disturbed the status quo- the existing state of affairs
  

Bassically to the groups above Jesus died as a law-breaker but in reality He died as the victim of small minds, and as a martyr to His own greatness.

Jesus went to the cross voluntarily According to the Octavius Winslow,God delivered Jesus up to die for love.

 - John 3:16- "For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Retrieved from "http://pg.ece.ncsu.edu/mediawiki/index.php/User:Stephanie"

Stephanie Cherubin SMAJ 1 Jonathan Alexander Arthur Harvey Mildride Macena

                          First Draft:   Why Did Jesus Have To Die
         

 Since the beginnig, God has planned to save men. When Adam and Eve sinned, God killed a lamb, took his skin, and covered Adam and Eve.This lamb's skin symbolized Jesus comming as a lamb to cover the sins of the world. In order for sin to be forgiven,blood has to be shed and it also has to be perfect blood.Who else was perfect enough to come and die on the cross for us? Jesus was our substitute; he was the only one who could pay for our penalty.According to Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." Somebody had to die and Jesus took the responsibility and died for our sins.But as many of us have often asked "Why?" Why did Jesus have to die? Our group searched and found some reasons Jesus why Jesus.We tend to say that He died for our sins, but it's much more complicated then that. According to different people ,Jesus died for different reasons. We will discuss the views of these groups of people: Jewish leaders, Romans, and Christians.
                    

According to The Cross of Christ by John R.W. Scott , Jewish leaders considered Jesus to be a blasphemer.They considered His attitude to be very disrespectful toward the law.They said that He made provacative claim and that His teachings were dangerous and even subversive.To make it more simple, they believed that Jesus' teachings were against God.For this reason they decided that the best thing to do was to put Him to death and get rid of Him. They felt like He was a manace to them.He was bringing all they lies out and they could not stand that.They were afraid that the people of Israel were going to find the truth and not believe their teachings anymore. They envied jesus because He was getting a lot of followers and He becoming very popular. They knew that Jesus was right and several times they tried to prove Him wrong but couldn't but they were too proud to admit it and therefore put Jesus to death thinking that would solve their problems.

The Jewish leaders weren't the only ones responsible for putting Jesus to death. As a matter of fact they inspired the act but did not physically do it. The murderers of Jesus were the Romans. It was their soldiers that hung Jesus up on the cross. Two of the Roman rulers in Israel condemed Jesus, but why? Well here are several reasons.Acccording to The Cross of Christ, Jesus ,in proclaiming Himself King of the Jews, was thus challenging the authority of Caesar. Ceasar was considered to be the only king and almost the only one worshipped. For anyone to proclaim them King or anything of that sort was considered to be insulting Caesar. It as even considered a crime against Caesar.To the Romans the crime that Jesus committed was sedition meaning that He incited rebellion agianst the state.They came to see Him as a revolutionary thinker, preacher,and even a revolutionary activist as well. Jesus was as a disturabance to the status quo- the existing state of affairs. Therefore when the Jewish leaders brought Jesus before them, they did not even consider Him to be even a little bit right; they just got rid of Him thinking that they were getting rid of a menace.

To Christians,Jesus died for a whole different reasons.Jesus died for our sins. He died to restore our relationship with God.According to How Does The Death Of Christ Save Us? by Henry C. Marbie,D.D., the death of Jesus has been believed to be the fundamental reason to the moral possibilities of justification. Without Jesus' death there was no way that we could have been justified.Jesus' death was the bridge that connected us God the father.

To different people, the death of Jesus means different things. Now that we've read what it meant to some people, we should go and think what the death of Christ means to us and how it affects our lives.

                          Second Draft:Why did jesus have die?

As i have researched, "Jesus is God in flesh and only God can choose the Law requirements of a perfect life and perfect sacrifice that cleanses us of our sins".  It is also said that God must punish all who are sinners if not then the law or justice, would be unjustice. The punishment for sin is death and since we are all stainded by sin, the only one who could do what we cannot is God himself. Enhancing the fact that Jesus is God in flesh.  He is both divine and human.  Therefore, his sacrifice to the father on our behalf is of infinite value and is sufficient to cleansing all people from their sins and undo the offense to God.  

The Scripture says, "for i delivered to you as of first importance what i also received: that 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".

Evidence affirms that the sinless Jesus bled and died on a cross. Most importantly, the bible explains why Jesus’ death and resurrection provides the only entrance to heaven. Jesus had to die because He is the only one who can pay the penalty for our sins.

According to Walter A. Elwell the death of Christ, was intended to secure salvation for a limited number of people. He said that redemption was only for a particular group of people.He used the Bible to prove his belief.He said that the Bible qualified those who will be saved. He used Acts 20:28, which says that the church will be saved, Romans 8:23-35, which says that only the elect will be saved, and Matthew 1:21, which said that Jesus died for his people. The question now is who are God's peopl? Didn't he create everyone on thiss earth? Matthew 1:21 says that Christ died for his people, which means everyone on this earth.Now it is up to us to take this free grace or not. Jesus died for everyone not only for a selected group of people.

God say's that the person who sins must die (be punished). the wages of sin is death. since the sinner cannot fulfill the law and satisfy God, it follows that only God can do this. Jesus is God in flesh and also a man under the Law. He became sin for us and bore our sins in his body on the cross, thus fulfilling the Law. therefore, salvation is by grace through faith since it was not by our keeping the Law, but by Jesus, God in flesh, who fulfilled the Law and died in our place.

Jesus said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He came to give his life, to die, and his death would purchase salvation for others. This was the primary reason he came to earth. His blood was poured out for others (Matthew 26:28).

Jesus warned his disciples that he would suffer and die, but they didn’t seem to believe it. “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’” (Matthew 16:21-22

We have all broken God's commandments and for that reason, mankind is lost spiritually. The Bible says that the "wages of sin is death". What is a wage? It is what you earn. We have all sinned and therefore we all have earned death. The Bible says in Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Man has broken God's commandments. Sin separates man from God. The Lord God is holy and cannot have sin in His presence. The Bible tells us that even if a person breaks just one commandment, it is like breaking them all. James 2:10 tells us: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." This means that even if you break one commandment, it is as if you broke them all for you stand guilty before the Holy God. That is God's Holy standard. None of us have kept every commandment. We have broken God's Law. We are all sinners. God’s justice requires that sin receive its full penalty. The suffering and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus upon the cross satisfied the requirements of God’s justice. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He suffered the penalty of the Law we had broken. Jesus suffered our punishment-- He took our place.