Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

While we are grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice and all He did for us and taught us, it’s common for us to wonder to ourselves, “Why did Jesus have to die?”

Because of our deep and sincere love for Christ, we wish there was a different way to accomplish what He did for us, rather than Him having to endure such pain.

In doing so though, we must be careful not to question God’s plan. Everything God does is perfect and we must trust in that truth.

Together, we are going to explore God’s plan as it played out and why it had to be done that way. Let this deep-dive into Jesus' sacrificial work on the cross serve to bolster your faith and trust in God.

The Punishment for Sin is Death

When God created the world and everything in it, He declared that it was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). But then, sin entered the world and tainted human hearts and creation itself, sending the world into a spiral. Sin is a very serious matter with a very serious punishment: death.

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death.”

Why does it have to be this way? Because overlooking sin would make God unjust, and God is a God of perfect justice.

Because of the entrance of sin into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, every single person is born into sin. Sin has become a part of human nature in such a way that there’s nothing we can do on our own power to separate ourselves from it.

This poses a grave problem. God is holy, perfect, and just. He cannot be in the presence of sin and He must bring judgment to it. That means that humanity’s relationship with God was broken and sin caused them to be separated from Him as long as their sin remained.

God’s Solution to the Problem

Through the Scriptures, God promised a coming Messiah, one that would take on the sin of humanity and bring reconciliation with God. God determined that He would send Jesus to live the perfect human life that we could never live, bear the weight of humanity’s sins on the cross, and take the punishment everyone else deserved.

In doing so, Christ broke the power of sin and death over humanity, allowing people to walk in a beautiful and life-giving relationship with God once again.

2 Corinthians 5:21 speaks to this when it says, “God made Him (Christ), who knew no sin, to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus died so that God’s perfect justice could be satisfied without us being judged and condemned. Jesus took that punishment instead, so we could walk in freedom, hope, grace, and love.

Isaiah 53:5 reads, “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by His wounds we are healed.”

A good, biblical analogy of Christ’s sacrifice is to liken it to the Passover Lamb. In the Bible, we see that same imagery understood by many.

In John 1:29, John the Baptist says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

This imagery hearkens back to the book of Exodus, when the Israelites were attaining their freedom from Egypt. God sent the angel of death to strike down the firstborn of every Egyptian family, but the houses of the Israelites would be passed up because of the blood of the sacrificial lamb that took their place. In the same way, Jesus is the final sacrificial lamb that saves us from sin and death for all of time. That is why He had to die and rise again.

1 Peter 3:8 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

Conclusion

God cannot let sin go unpunished. If we all had to bear our own sins, we would all be doomed to the eternal judgment of hell. But God is merciful and sent Jesus to bear our sins and take the punishment destined for all of us.

Jesus had to die because He is the only one who could pay the penalty for our sins because He’s the only one who ever lived a perfect life.

While it’s hard to think of our beloved Savior suffering so greatly and being hung on a cross to die, we must remember that He rose again and is seated at the right hand of God as we speak. We can rejoice in our Lord and be grateful for all He has done for us.

Related: How Do I Get Into Heaven?