THE DEATH OF CHRIST

Although the world as a whole is not thankful for the death of Christ it should be! We who are Christians should thank God and His Son, Jesus Christ, daily that our Lord and Savior did indeed die on a rugged cross on our behalf.

Why did this occur? One reason is certainly because it had been prophesied; the prophet Isaiah had foretold long before the actual crucifixion of Jesus that this would happen: Isa. 53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” The evil people of Jesus’ generation denied Him a fair trial; after suffering greatly He was taken out and died one of the cruelest death known to mankind. Jesus knew very well what He was facing as He prayed in the Garden. But He also knew His Father’s will; [Isaiah 53:10; Acts 2:23] therefore, to complete the work that had been assigned to Him by God He submitted Himself to die on the cross and thus He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.

When Jesus died on the cross He was an acceptable sacrifice to God; and in doing so He purchased the church: Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” What a terrible price Jesus paid so that you and I might have deliverance from our sins! How often do you take the time to be thankful for the suffering of Jesus; suffering that He did not deserve, suffering that you and I deserve because we are sinful and He was not. Let us never forget that Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice to God on our behalf: Eph. 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

Jesus died on the cross voluntarily; He could have prayed to His Father and He would have been spared that terrible death: Matt. 26:53 “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” I have no doubt that God would have heard and answered Jesus prayer; however, Jesus was always an obedient Son so He chose to do God’s will and not His own will. Jesus actually declared that no one took His life from Him: John 10:18 “No man taketh 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 commandment have I received of my Father.” We might want to ask, “Why did Jesus do this if He had the power to prevent it?” The answer is very simple; He had been commanded by His Father to lay down His life. We can certainly take a lesson from Jesus regarding obedience. If we go back only one verse we will see Jesus’ reward: John 10:17 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” His reward was that God “loved” Him! Like Jesus if we want God to love us we too must keep the commandments of God!

Perhaps you are wondering if Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him [I.e. did He know what kind of death He would die]? He certainly did as He even foretold his disciples what was going to happen: Matt 20:18 - 19 “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, ¹⁹And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” He foreknew of the mock trial, the ridicule, the shame, His condemnation, the beatings and the type of death He was to endure. When we consider His foreknowledge of what was to come it is even more amazing that He did not pray to His Father to send the help of angels to deliver Him from all that was facing Him. But then again, it was Jesus’ way of life to always do His Father’s will and to be obedient to God’s every command! Friends, brothers and sisters in Christ this also had to grieve God terribly, therefore let us always be thankful and obedient children!