This Holy Week we’re gearing up for the familiar story of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. We’re about to celebrate the foundational story of who we are as Christians. But why did Jesus die? People throughout the history of the church have asked.
One common way the question is asked and answered goes like this:
Question: Ever since Adam and Eve, people have sinned. We have been in a broken relationship with God. Therefore, we need a solution to be put in right relationship with God again. But how does that happen? If our bad actions broke the relationship, can we simply do all of the good things God wants, and that will restore the relationship?
Answer: No. God is the one who makes us right with God. It is not by our works.
Q: OK, so then how does God do it?
A: With the death of Jesus.
Q: But why did Jesus die? How does the death of one person make us right with God?
A: Because Jesus is the Son of God and he offered the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. Think back to the early days. When people disobeyed God, they had to offer an animal sacrifice to be made right with God again. This animal did nothing wrong, but it took the place of the person who deserved to die for their sins. Jesus is like that animal for us.
Q: But if God is a God of love, then couldn’t God have just said “I forgive you.”? Why did God demand bloodshed?
A: Because that’s not how God works. A sacrifice must be made. We couldn’t make the sacrifice ourselves, so Jesus did it for us. A sacrifice must be pure and spotless, and, since Jesus was without sin, he was the perfect sacrifice. He loved you enough to take your place and die for you.
Q: But if that’s the case, if Jesus died because God demanded a bloody sacrifice, then doesn’t that imply that Jesus protects us from God? It sounds like Jesus is the divine Secret Service agent who jumps in front of the bullet for us. The problem is that God is the one who fired it at us. If that’s your image of God—a vengeful, bloodthirsty tyrant who demands death—then I don’t want anything to do with that God.
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That’s one common conversation around why Jesus had to die: to protect us from God. However, consider a much more appropriate answer:
Question: Ever since Adam and Eve, people have sinned. We have been in a broken relationship with God. Therefore, we need a solution to be put in right relationship with God again. But how does that happen? If our bad actions broke the relationship, can we simply do all of the good things God wants, and that will restore the relationship?
Answer: No. God is the one who makes us right with God. It is not by our works.
Q: OK, so then how does God do it?
A: With the death of Jesus.
Q: But why did Jesus die? How does the death of one person make us right with God?
A: Because Jesus is God incarnate. He is God in our very midst. God came to us in the person of Jesus to show us how much God loves us. Our human condition is a broken and messed-up one. However, God loves us so much that God entered as deeply as possible into this human condition, even to the point of death. When Jesus died, it wasn’t to appease some bloodthirsty God who wanted to kill you. Instead, God was there on the cross—saying that, even in this broken life, God loves us even unto death. But that’s not all. With the empty tomb and the promise of resurrection, God says that not even death can stop God’s love for us. God loves you so much that nothing—not your sin, not our broken human condition, not even death itself—can stop God’s love for you!
Q: That’s much more comforting than the other image. What about the need for a sacrifice, though?
A: There is still sacrifice. Jesus’ life—God’s life—is the sacrifice. God gave himself to you, to your messy human condition, to your death. However, God’s love is stronger than death. Jesus didn’t die as a sacrifice to make a vengeful God happy. No, Jesus died as a sacrifice to show you how far God was willing to go to love you. In other words, the sacrifice wasn’t given for God; it was given for you. God holds nothing back—not even God’s own life—in loving you. Then God gives you the promise of the empty tomb to show you that God’s love for you always wins. God has brought you back into a right relationship—and has done that by dying for you on the cross and by bringing you to new resurrected life. That’s why Jesus died!
