Most people in the western world today know that Jesus died on a cross. The question is, why did he die? Most Christians would respond to that question with a theological answer. That is, they would say that Jesus died in order to take away the sin of the world (John 1:9). The fundamental belief of the church is that human sin invokes the wrath of a good God. In theological terms, Jesus died to appease the wrath of God by taking away the sin-guilt of believers.
Most people understand this to be the only reason that Jesus died, when, in fact, this is only one of several reasons that Jesus died. Jesus also died for historical reasons. That is, Jesus died because Pilate, first century Roman governor, sentence him to death as a penalty for blasphemy at the request of the Jews. In other words, because Jesus claimed to be equal with God, he suffered the death penalty (John 5:18).
We can take this even further. We can talk about political reasons for Jesus’ death. That is, Jesus died in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth once again. We can even talk about psychological reasons for Jesus’ death. Jesus died in order to take wipe away the human fear of death for believers. Lastly, we can talk about spiritual reasons for Jesus’ death. That is, Jesus died to overcome the powers of spiritual darkness that reigned over the creation until his resurrection (Romans 1:4).
There is one last reason that Jesus died, and it sums up all of these. Jesus ultimately died to manifest the faithfulness of God. That is, God made a promise to the world, and to the Jewish people (found in the Old Testament), and each and every one of those promises are fulfilled in Jesus. Certainly one could ask, “How can dying on a cross be the fulfillment of a promise?” Well, we can only answer that with the resurrection of Christ in view.
God, as the Creator, promised that he would make things right, that he would fix the problem of the world that is ultimately wrapped up in the problem of death. Have you ever noticed that no matter how common death is, it’s still the most traumatizing and unnatural thing in this life? No matter how often we live through the death of loved ones, we still hurt for the loss and fear the unknown that comes with death? Death wasn’t a part of God’s original design, and God promised to put things back to rights.
This is precisely what happens in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just go to the grave, but he defeats the grave by rising again after being dead for three days. In this resurrection, we have the promise of God fulfilled. We cannot miss, however, that he shares his resurrection with believers. Saving faith in the death and resurrection of Christ makes one a member of the Kingdom that is marked by new life, resurrection, and regeneration. This is God’s promises fulfilled in Jesus.
