21:8Death on a Cross
From the beginning of sin by Adam and Eve until the end of time and the Last Judgment, sin will be punished by death. For that reason, it is appropriate that the Savior should take on not only sin but death by himself dying on a cross so as to fully reconcile the human race with God.
Jesus Christ was well aware that he had been born to die for the sake of sinful human beings so that they may have forgiveness and reconciliation for their sins as well as victory over death, itself the decreed punishment for sin. He knew that he came to fulfill the prophecies about the suffering, dying, and rising Messiah, and he made known to his disciples that his mission required him to die and then be raised from the dead.
Stop here and read Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19, 20:28 in your own Bible.
Study
In John’s Gospel, while teaching that he is the Good Shepherd, Jesus makes known the necessity of laying down his life for his sheep (Jn 10:11-18). His understanding that he must die for his sheep flows from his knowledge that he is on a mission from his Father to redeem sinful human beings. His depth of understanding his mission from the Father is especially developed on the occasion of having healed a paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda and then ordering him to sin no more (Jn 5:1-16).
In these actions, Jesus gave a clear indication of his divinity through showing lordship of the Sabbath and by an explicit assertion of his mission. While his compassion for a suffering paralyzed man led him to heal and forgive the man, his opponents saw only sin and blasphemy. In response to their being scandalized by him, he set forth more information about his relationship to his Father and his mission to redeem humanity, which we do well to hear and learn.
Stop here and read John 5:19-24 in your own Bible.
Infinite Love
On one hand, the Son is completely dependent on the Father, and everything he does is itself a gift of the Father. On the other hand, the Father holds back nothing of his own infinity and gives all to the Son, who can receive it all only because he, too, is as infinite as the Father. The Father’s total and infinite self-gift corresponds to the Son’s total and infinite acceptance of all that the Father gives — such is the nature of the infinite love between them. In that context, the Son mentions the gifts that are specifically related to the salvation of human beings: the power to raise the dead and give life, and the authority to judge human hearts and souls for the final judgment based on whether a person has faith in the word of the Son and in the Father who sent him. In this way, Jesus accomplishes the Father’s will.
Stop here and read John 5:25-30 in your own Bible.
Jesus then makes it clear to his hearers that the purpose of his words is that they may be saved. In fact, the testimony of John the Baptist (“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” [Jn 1:29, 36]) is accepted by Jesus so that people may be saved by accepting that testimony.
Stop here and read John 5:31-38 in your own Bible.
Finally, the Scriptures, which at the time of Jesus’ public ministry included only the Old Testament, bear witness to him through the many Messianic prophecies that foretold his birth of a Virgin in Bethlehem; his death, burial, and resurrection; and his heavenly enthronement as the Son of Man. Ultimately, the key to accepting Jesus as the Savior sent by his Father is whether a person humbly loves God or not. Humble love allows a person to accept God’s Incarnate Word and Savior on God’s terms without demanding that God fit our expectations.
Consider
In summary, Jesus died so that all people in every place and at every epoch of time might be saved. Jesus Christ contended with sin and death and brought about a total victory by absorbing the full punishment for sin, even though he was a sinless victim who did not deserve it. Then he rose from the dead so as to defeat death, the very punishment itself. In that way, his resurrection empowers those sinners who believe in him to also have a saving hope that they will be raised from death as well.
Spreading the Message
After the Resurrection, the disciples understood the import of this message and made it the essence of their preaching wherever they went in the world. They spread the word from Jerusalem to Thessalonica, Caesarea, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi, Rome, and beyond. From these places, their message about the way God redeemed the world through his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, spread throughout the whole world and continues to spread. The next session will look at the ways human beings respond to this message.
The Sacrifice of the Lord
The following passages are some of the references in Scripture to the salvific action of Christ:
• Romans 6:10: “The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:14: “For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.”
• Hebrews 2:9: “But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one.”
• Hebrews 7:27: “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
• Hebrews 9:25-28: “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
• Hebrews 10:10: “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
• Hebrews 10:14: “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
• 1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
• 1 Peter
