Lesson 13: Why Did Jesus Have to Die Such a Terrible Death? (part 1)

Read: Mark 15:16-41 - www.bible.com/bible/59/mar.15.esv

Most of us have seen the movie made a few years ago called "The Passion of the Christ." It portrayed in graphic detail the sufferings Christ endured as He was beaten by an angry crowd and then murdered. It was difficult to watch as He was beaten and abused. Personally, I could not sit still during this three-hour movie, and there were times I closed my eyes. As I did so, however, I was reminded how something I could not endure watching for three hours had actually taken place over about nine hours of Jesus' life.

Our culture called this movie excessively violent, but they can tolerate much more blood and gore when it's for entertainment. They railed against depicting this actual event. Why was it necessary for Jesus to die such an incredibly violent death? Could His sacrifice not have been accomplished in a more civilized manner? This is the subject of our study for the next few lessons.

When we study the prophecies of the crucifixion in the Old Testament, we discover this method of execution was not even invented at the time God began drawing the pictures of this death. In Psalm 22 we see an extremely detailed painting of what a death by crucifixion would look like. And yet David, as he wrote this song, had no idea what he was truly describing.


Was the violent death necessary? Yes, it was. It was necessary because it reminds us of the extreme evilness of sin. If Jesus had been executed by quiet and painless "lethal injection" we would not have seen or been reminded of this fact. In Psalm 5:5 we read, "The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity." Again, in Proverbs 6:16-19 we read, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers." God hates sin! I’ll say it again: God hates sin! This is not a hate like I hate liver and onions, this is a hatred born out of absolute purity, righteousness, justice, and holiness. To paint a mental picture, you enter a dark room and turn on the light. The light “hates” and destroys the darkness – not from an emotion, but simply by the nature of the light.

We will continue this in our next lesson.

*Thought question – what does Jesus’ death tell you about your sin?