Bkmk
If you want to know the horrific penalty of sin as judged by the wrath of a Holy God, look at Christ’s passion.
I believe it had to be to emphasize the deadly nature of sin. Giving him a cyanide pill wouldn’t quite do it.
He cannot. That is a logical fallacy.
He cannot sin, He cannot contradict His nature, He cannot be less just.
And of course, He cannot make a rock so heavy He cannot lift it.
It had to be like this so future generations would notice.
If Herod had just cut his throat, there would be no New Testement.
1. That wasn’t special. It was Roman SOP.
2. Jesus died for Hitler and Caligula (if they had repented). Somehow, lethal injection does not seem adequate to that goal.
Well this should be an interesting thread.
Suffering is the unit by which we can measure love.
One book will give you a thorough and complete explanation - but it is deep and long. If you really want to know the answer, no book ever written I know of explains it better.
The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ. Fleming Rutledge
You want n know why? Because if God had made it easy o. His Son, then people would szy”Christ never had to suffer as I am, how could He possibly ly know what I am going through? Its unfair that I have to suffer and He didn’t have to face what I have to.
God came to earth to experience everything we,do so thaymwemcan identifymwithmHimmso,identify with Him so, KNOW what a tremendous sacrifice He made fot us because He truly loved us enough that He refused to shrink from the horrible task ahead of Him. Greater .I’ve hath no man than this, that he lay down His life for another. Had Christ not had to endure suffering, folks would say that He had no idea what suffering is, so of course it was easy for Him to be perfect. Which of course would be a false accusation.
No, Christ’s sa refined for us proves He loved us more tha He loved Himself, because he laid down His life even knowing how horrible that death would be. He a s obedient even in the face of horror, for our sakes He endured this great sacrifice for us
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Not sure I have anything to offer except what your already likely aware of.
He was sent as the Second Adam to redeem mankind from the penalty created by the first Adam, which impuned sin upon mankind.
Consider what that infected blood line created. Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc. Consider the horrific atrocities the first Adam set into gear. In order to redeem man from such horrible sin, it would almost seem to make sense that the penalty would be equally grevious.
When Jesus allowed His Life to be taken, He willingly laid down His Life for us. It was the only manner in which sinful man could be redeemed. He alone is worthy.
When the first Adam fell, satan believed he had God in checkmate. Afterall, how could man be redeemed when the bloodline was now cursed?
Galatians 3:13
King James Version
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Yet, God was not taken back and suddenly feeling defeated. He knows the ending from the beginning.
1’st Peter 1:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Jesus, being without sin, could have lived forever here on this Earth. But willingly He laid down His Life in such painful agony. Perhaps it had to be displayed in such a manner. Not only to fulfill Scripture, but to show the depths of His Love.
John 3:
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Just think, all He asks in return is our Faith.
We will spend eternity with God Who loved us this much.
He first arived as a Lamb to the slaughter. But when He returns He will return as Judge. And to make war.
He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Just think, we will rule and reign with Him.
Simply because we returned the very measure of Faith He gave to us.
So you are asking why was God so mean to God?
God did not cause it to happen but He knew what would happen. There is a difference. He decided that humanity was worth it.
Isaiah 53: (the suffering was forordained)
53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
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.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus was so terribly abused because He allowed Himself to be. His agony beforehand in the garden anticipated all the coming torture. He gave Himself completely into the hands of Satan, the Romans and the Jews, all of whom exacted all the price from Him that they could.
Jesus could not hold back anything from them and still have His sacrifice count for everyone. Every bit of his humanity had to be annihilated and burnt up.
For the gold standard of explanations of the true depth of Christ's suffering that day, see this 14-page essay by Dr. Alex Metherell, a physician/engineer.
Knowing the unimaginable pain He endured to redeem us from sin, He willingly paid our debt. A debt so impossible for us to repay.
Yet He was spit upon by the religious leaders and His back was ripped open and laid bare. The beard ripped from His face. Thorns driven into His skull. Nailed to the Cross and in agony struggling to breath.
Yet turning to face the guilty and said, surely this day we shall be together in Paradise.
And His last Words, “It is finished”
The deb t of sin had been paid in full.
This next part has always caused tears to well up in my eyes ever since I first heard it.
When He rturns as King and received as Messiah, He will turn to answer a question posed to Him. And these are the Words He will speak regarding those who torchered Him so greviously:
Zechariah 13:6
King James Version
6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Who is able to show such love and forgiveness?
God’s ways are higher than our ways. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We will never, this side of heaven, understand the answers to your questions. That gap has to be filled in with faith.
Ping
I think it had more to do with the hearts of the Jewish people. They showed their deep hatred for God. If the Magi knew and the Priests knew because they told Herod, then it was hate toward God. In just 70 years Gods judgment fell on those people and only 70 years ago did they go home. Still in unbelief but back to Israel.
The things you try to see were mans treatment of God. Gods treatment of His Son was done in total darkness. That was the real passion and no one saw it. It was too horrible to be witnessed. When Jesus took the sins of this world. Upon Himself and died for us we will never know how awful.
Read the words to the song “The. Ninety and nine”
“ There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.
Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”
And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”