As Jesus prayed in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion, his words reveal a profound truth: there was no other way to ransom humanity and restore our relationship with God except through his suffering and death on the cross. From before the foundation of the world, the cross was central to God’s plan to redeem us from slavery to sin.
While we may struggle to understand the necessity of the cross fully, Scripture illuminates at least three crucial reasons that demonstrate why Jesus had to die in this horrific yet glorious way. As you contemplate these truths, my hope is that they will radically transform your view of sin, fill you with awe at God’s glory, and overwhelm you with the incredible personal love that he has lavished on you.
1. The Cross Reveals the Severity of Our Sin
When we look at the shameful, agonizing death that Jesus suffered on our behalf, it should reveal something shocking about the true nature of our sin. Too often, we trivialize our rebellion, thinking of it as mere mistakes or lapses in judgment. But the cross strips away that facade and confronts us with this disturbing reality: our sin is so severe in God’s eyes that it made the death of his beloved Son necessary.
Consider these sobering truths:
- God is the very giver and sustainer of your life. As Job 12:10 declares, “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” If you woke up breathing today, it is only because his hand upheld you. None of us deserves another moment of existence.
- Every sinful action, thought, attitude, and choice is an act of outright rebellion against God. Colossians 1:21 describes us as “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” We spurn his rightful rule over us, essentially making ourselves his enemies.
The only just sentence for such cosmic treason against our Creator is death and eternal separation from him. That is what we deserve. Romans 6:23 makes this clear: “For the wages of sin is death.” And yet, here you are today, still receiving the very life that you’ve used to rebel against God. Why?
Look to the cross. The fact that God would crush and forsake his innocent Son in your place reveals how seriously he takes your sin. No amount of good works or religious observance can atone for it. Only the horror of the crucifixion is severe enough to show us the dire reality of our sinful condition.
As Jonathan Edwards vividly put it, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath toward you burns like fire.” The wrath of God against you burns like fire. And only his mercy and grace have spared you from your due punishment thus far. May the cross leave you with a sober estimation of your sin, which made such a brutal death necessary for your redemption.
2. The Cross Displays the Glory of God
As abhorrent as crucifixion was in Jesus’ day, God chose this repulsive means of execution to reveal his glory in the most unlikely way possible. Consider how counterintuitive this would have been:
- The Jews expected a militaristic messiah to free them from Roman oppression – not a suffering servant to die a criminal’s death. The disciples on the road to Emmaus expressed this confusion in Luke 24:20-21, saying, “Our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
- Crucifixion was seen as a curse and the ultimate humiliation. As Deuteronomy 21:22-23 states, “A hanged man is cursed by God.” How could the Anointed One endure such degradation?
- The very idea of a crucified king was ludicrous to Jew and Gentile alike. Cicero, the Roman statesman, declared, “Let the very name of the cross be far away not only from the body of a Roman citizen but even from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears.” It was the antithesis of power and glory.
And yet, against all natural expectations, this instrument of shame became the very means by which God revealed his glory. Why? Because a message as unlikely and repulsive as a crucified savior could never have spread through natural means alone.
As 1 Corinthians 1:23 explains, “But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Only divine power could take a symbol of death and make it the ultimate source of life. Only the wisdom of God could use foolishness to shame the wise and weakness to shame the strong. The cross stands as the greatest proof of Christianity precisely because of how counter-intuitive and glorious it is.
When Paul proclaimed Christ crucified, he knew it would be a stumbling block and folly to natural minds. But for those who are called, both Jew and Greek, the cross is the very power and wisdom of God on display. Your ability to look to the crucified Christ and be saved is a demonstration of God’s glory triumphing over human wisdom. It makes no sense apart from the power of God.
3. The Cross Demonstrates the Depths of God’s Love For You
Perhaps the most staggering truth the cross reveals is how deeply and undeservedly God loves you. Ponder this glorious mystery: the offended God has suffered in your place to spare you the just penalty for your cosmic treason against him.
God is not obligated to show mercy to anyone. As Romans 9:15 declares, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” If he gave us what our sins deserve, we would all perish eternally. And yet he chose, in love, to bear your punishment himself. Why? What could possibly compel him to endure such anguish for your sake?
As Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us, “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” God set his affection on you before the foundation of the world, not because of your worthiness, but because of his great love. Knowing full well the depths of your rebellion and the cost of your redemption, he chose you and predestined you for adoption.
It wasn’t ultimately wrath that held Jesus to the cross – it was love for you. As C.S. Lewis profoundly expressed in The Four Loves:
“In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give. God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath’s sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a ‘host’ who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and ‘take advantage of’ Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves.”
You see, the cross not only reveals the severity of your sin and the glory of your God, but also the depths of his personal love for you. God doesn’t simply tolerate you; he delights and sings over you as his treasured possession.
And now, because of Jesus’ finished work, you have the incredible opportunity to be reconciled to the God who has loved you at infinite cost to himself. As Jonathan Edwards entreated his listeners:
“And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.”
How can you resist such a demonstration of love? Why would you spurn the open arms of a Savior who was crushed in your place?
On this day, the door of mercy stands wide open, and Christ bids you to come and feast on his goodness. Don’t be left behind in your sin and misery while others run to him for rescue! Let the cross shatter your indifference, humble your pride, and bring you to your knees in repentance and faith.
Embracing the crucified Christ is the only fitting response to such an outpouring of love. May you run to him even now, trading your sin and shame for the joy of knowing and experiencing life in the One who died that you might live.
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