Over the years, I have I heard others say this, and I have said it too: “Jesus didn’t have to die.” That is a partially true statement, in that Christ was fully blameless, innocent, and untainted by sin. It was “right” for Him not to die. Yet that obscures part of the message of Scripture. The truth is, He had to die.
He did not have to die because of His own sin or His own failure or the plan of Satan that overwhelmed His own plan, or the power of men that overcame His own desires.
He had to die because this was the will, purpose, plan, and decree of God. And to die, He had to be rejected. It was necessary, therefore, for Him to be rejected.
The disciples did not understand that; perhaps we do not understand it either.
We see the imperative of Christ’s death numerous times:
- Luke 17:25 “But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
- Luke 22:37 “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”
- Matt. 26:51-54 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
- Luke 24:7 [the angel was] saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
- Luke 24:26 [Jesus to two disciples:] “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
It was a divine necessity for Christ to die. God decreed it. God willed it. God made it necessary. Christ left heaven, put on the clothing of manhood, went to the Temple as a 12-year-old, called the disciples as a 30-year-old, preached the Sermon on the Mount, healed some sick people, raised Lazarus from the dead, and entered Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday, knowing the entire time that it was a necessity for Him to be rejected and to die.
It not only would not be escaped, it could not be escaped.
Mark 8:31 says it so plainly:
“And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
Remember the context in which Christ said this; it came immediately after Peter’s confession about His Messiahship — “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In response to that statement, Christ not only said that would be the foundation of His church, but He made this statement — “the Son of Man must suffer many things…”
Notice the four things that Jesus said were a divine necessity:
- It was necessary for Christ to suffer many things (ultimately this was fulfilled in His scourging prior to being crucified).
- It was necessary for Christ to be rejected by the [religious leaders].
- It was necessary for Christ to die.
- It was necessary for Christ to be resurrected.
Why was this all a necessity? Because it was the Father’s will (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 8:32), it was His own promise (Ps. 40:7), it was a fulfillment of prophecy (Is. 53, and God cannot violate His own Word), and it was the demand of the Law (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12-21; 2 Cor. 5:21). Moreover, it was His desire and joy to do this (Jn. 10:11; 2 Cor. 8:9; Gal. 2:20).
We might summarize it this way: If there was no rejection, there was no suffering and if there was no suffering, there was no death and if there was no death, there was no resurrection and if there was no resurrection, there was no victory over sin and Satan and if there was no victory over sin and Satan, there was and is no hope for us.
It was necessary for Christ to die. It was necessary for Christ to be rejected.
I like the way Barnhouse summarized it:
“This great must ruled His life. This must was a cable of two strands: obedience to the Father and love for humankind. Jesus said, ‘I do that which is well pleasing to the Father, thus I must die and pay the price of sin. I love the world, thus I must die, for there is no other way.’ This is the cord that drew Him: obedience to God and love for you and me. It was this harness that He took on, and which drew Him to Jerusalem, to the cross. It was this that fastened Him to the cross, not nails. It was love that drew Him there.…we see the divine imperative. If Jesus was the Messiah, out of love for man and out of obedience to the Father’s will He must die. [And] the unbelief that despised His claim to be the Messiah would be the instrument of His death.…If you believe that He is the promised Messiah, you cannot go on to argue, as Peter did, that the crucifixion is unnecessary. For the Messiah, it is inevitable.” [Mark, pp. 78-9; emphasis mine.]
What do you do with this? When you read the accounts of the rejection of Christ, there should be two responses: 1) the horror that those who heard the clear declaration of Christ about the glory of God and what Christ had seen in heaven rejected Him outright. What a tragedy! But a second response also is this: 2) what grace, that God decreed and used the disobedience of men to provide the very means by which some would come to salvation. “While we were still enemies, Christ died for us.” He had to die for us; and to die for us He had to be rejected.
This is what God’s love has done for us.
Words of Grace 