For centuries men have questioned the death of Jesus, the means of his death, its necessity, the reason, the logic and every other aspect with which the finite mind struggles. Recently I read that some even consider Christ’s death as “cosmic child abuse” by God the Father.
The essence is that Jesus was born to die. From the outset of his incarnation, his mission was to give his life as a sacrifice for sin. The road of his life pointed one way—to the Cross. His purpose was to fulfill the will of his Father which was for Jesus to be an offering and to provide an atonement for the sins of mankind.
Jesus death was significant because of who he was. If Jesus had simply been another martyr dying for a cause, his act of dying may have gone down in history books, but it would have been no more than a recorded event. It was because he was the Son of God that his death was so extraordinary. One only has to look at the events and circumstances on the day to recognize that; the darkness, the earthquake, the fear among the people.
At that moment Christ became the supreme sacrifice to cover all the sin of mankind—past, present and future. Through his declaration on the Cross, “It is finished,” he indicated that his earthly mission had been completed; achieved because he was divine. His deity was beyond question.
The death of Jesus may have appeared to be a defeat but it was far from a defeat; it was a victory—a spiritual victory. It was a victory over sin, over the power of Satan, and over death itself. This was confirmed three days later by the resurrection!
For the Christian it is the pinnacle of our faith and in that, we rejoice.
