Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

This incredibly important question
involves a matter central to
Christianity, yet effectively answering it
is often difficult for Christians. We
will take a careful look at the
question and lay out the answers
offered in Scripture.

However, before we answer the
question, "Why did Jesus have to die?"
it's also important to understand that
Jesus clearly understood his mission
on earth, and that it involved laying
down his life as a sacrifice.

In other words, Jesus knew it was his Father's
will for him to die.
He proves his foreknowledge and
understanding of his death in these
passages from Scripture:
Mark 8:31

Then Jesus began to tell them that he, the Son of Man, would suffer many terrible things and be
rejected by the leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, and three days later he would rise again. (NLT) (Also see Mark 9:31) Mark 10:32-34

Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more
began to describe everything that was about to
happen to him in Jerusalem. "When we get to
Jerusalem," he told them, "the Son of Man will be
betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of
religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand
him over to the Romans. They will mock him, spit on
him, beat him with their whips, and kill him, but after
three days he will rise again." (NLT)
Mark 10: 38

But Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are
asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of
sorrow I am about to drink? Are you able to be
baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be
baptized with?" (NLT)
Mark 10:43-45
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be
your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be
the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came
here not to be served but to serve others, and to give
my life as a ransom for many." (NLT)
Mark 14:22-25
As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and
asked God's blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces
and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take it, for this
is my body." And he took a cup of wine and gave
thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all
drank from it. And he said to them, "This is my
blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant
between God and his people. I solemnly declare that I
will not drink wine again until that day when I drink
it new in the Kingdom of God." (NLT)
John 10:17-18
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down
My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from
Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it again. This
command I have received from My Father." (NKJV)
This last verse also explains why it is
pointless to blame the Jews or the
Romans—or anyone else for that
matter, for "killing" Jesus. Jesus,
having the power to "lay it down" or
"take it again," freely gave up his life.
It truly doesn't matter who "killed"
Jesus. The ones who nailed the nails
only helped carry out the destiny he
came to fulfill by laying down his life
on the cross.
God is Holy
Although God is all merciful, all
powerful and all forgiving, God is also
holy, righteous and just.
Isaiah 5:16
But the LORD Almighty is exalted by his justice. The
holiness of God is displayed by his righteousness.
(NLT)
Sin and Holiness are Incompatible
Sin entered the world through one
man's disobedience - Adam , and now all
of us are born into this "sin nature."
Romans 5:12
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human
race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to
everyone, for everyone sinned.
(NLT)
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious
standard. (NLT)
Sin Separates Us from God
Isaiah 35:8
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way
of Holiness . The unclean will not journey on it; it will
be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will
not go about on it. (NIV)
Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your
God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that
he will not hear. (NIV)
Sin's Punishment is Eternal Death
God's holiness and justice demand that
sin and rebellion be punished.
See Also: Why Marriage Matters in the
Christian Life
The only penalty or payment for sin is
eternal death.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)
Romans 5:21
So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them
to death, now God's wonderful kindness rules instead,
giving us right standing with God and resulting in
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NLT)
Atoning Sacrifice
Our death is not sufficient to atone
for sin because atonement requires a
perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in
just the right way.

Jesus, the one perfect God-man, came
to offer the pure, complete and
everlasting sacrifice to remove, atone,
and make eternal payment for our sin.
1 Peter 1:18-19
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you
from the empty life you inherited from your
ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere
gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious
lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
(NLT)
Hebrews 2:14-17
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too
shared in their humanity so that by his death he
might destroy him who holds the power of death—that
is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were
held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is
not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For
this reason he had to be made like his brothers in
every way, in order that he might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he
might make atonement for the sins of the people.
(NIV)
Only Through Jesus Christ
Only through Jesus Christ can our sins
be forgiven, thus restoring our
relationship with God and removing the
separation caused by sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of
God. (NIV)
1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who
has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption . (NIV)
The Messiah - Savior
The suffering and the glory of the
coming Messiah was foretold in Isaiah
chapters 52 and 53. God's people in the
Old Testament looked forward to the
Messiah that would save them from
their sin. Although he did not come in
the form they expected, still, their
faith, which looked forward to his
salvation, saved them. Our faith, which
looks backward to his act of salvation ,
saves us. When we accept Jesus'
payment for our sin, his perfect
sacrifice washes away our sin and
restores our right standing with God.
God's mercy and grace provided a way
for our salvation.
Romans 5:10
For since we were restored to friendship with God by
the death of his Son while we were still his enemies,
we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment
by his life. (NLT)

In Summary, when we are "in Christ
Jesus" we are covered by his blood
through his sacrificial death, our sins
are paid for, and we no longer have to
die an eternal death . We receive
eternal life though Jesus Christ. And
this is why Jesus had to die.