Necessity of Christ's Specific Death

We often say or sing that Christ died for us. Do we realize how important was how he died for us?

My wife and I love to watch mystery and crime shows, to solve before the protagonists that old question, “Whodunnit?” One common scene is when the coroner issues his all-important professional opinion about time and cause and means of death.

I’ve heard quite a lot of preaching and teaching about the time of death, how Jesus’ death came at the precise right time. Language like the “fullness of time” refers to biblical themes about how God was sovereignly orchestrating salvation exactly according to his timetable, and how the Gospels record Jesus making his move toward his death in Jerusalem when – and only when – it was time (Lk 4:28-30; Jn 7:6-8; 8:59;10:31; Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10).

And there is quite a lot of teaching about the means of death, that Jesus was crucified by the Roman government at the demands of the Jewish Council. We speak often of how Jesus died for us, realizing our personal responsibility for his death for sin.

But I’m not sure how deeply we realize the implications of the specific way Jesus had to die. And this is why the OT is so important, for it teaches us much about the richness of NT doctrine.

We understand Christ’s death was a sacrifice. The ceremonial law required the sinner to acknowledge personal responsibility for the death of the sacrifice for his sins (Lv 4:33). Jesus had to die from a deliberate act at the hands of a human. He could not drown in the storm on the sea, when he slept in his boat while his disciples panicked (Mt 8:23-27). He could not die from a fall, or an accident at work in all his years as a tradesman. He could not die from a sickness contracted from the many diseased people he touched (e.g., Mt 8:3,15; Mk 3:10; 6:56; Lk 6:19; 7:14). Death in these ways would not satisfy the wrath of God, nor would it fulfill the requirement of a substitution of the innocent for the guilty.

Jesus had to be killed by a man.

More than that, Jesus could not simply fall at the hands of one murderer. He had to be executed by command of man’s government, for God ordained human government as his representative to carry out justice, to do what for an individual acting alone was forbidden – to execute capital punishment. As the one dominant superpower of its day, Rome represented humanity as its government sentenced Jesus to death.

Of course, the OT prophets provided much more detail about the gruesome nature of this execution. And this is why the specific nature of Jesus’ death is so staggering.

Let us take the time to think deeply about all the implications of the specific nature of Christ’s death for us. It was carried out by whom it was decreed. It was both highly personal for each of us, and comprehensive for all of us. Each of us sinners had our hand on his head, bearing responsibility. And Rome and the Council acted on behalf of all of us. It happened exactly how and when it must, according to God’s decree.

There is not one thread of any of salvation’s themes that was not perfectly woven into fine linen Christ has provided for his Bride (Isa 61:10; Rv 19:8).