Lesson 14: Why Did Jesus Have to Die Such a Terrible Death? (part 2)

Read: Romans 3:1-31 - www.bible.com/bible/59/rom.3.esv

Let me remind you of a little story we find in Acts 5. The new Christians in Jerusalem have been helping each other out in difficult times. Those who have plenty are sharing with those who have nothing. Those who can, do for those who cannot. So here come Ananias and Sapphira. They sell a piece of property they have and they decide between themselves they want the glory or recognition for having given all their money from the sale to the church. But they want to keep a little back for themselves, so they decide to tell a little white lie. Ananias goes in first, places the money at the feet of Peter, and says, "This is what we got for our property, and we want to give it to God." Peter looks at him and says, "You’re a liar, and for that you're dead." Ananias gasps and dies. A few of the men standing there pick him up and carry him off to the graveyard. Meanwhile, back in town, Sapphira comes in and Peter motions her to the front and asks, "Is this the amount of money you got from the sale of your property?" She answers, "Yes it is," and smiles prettily. Peter shakes his head (and I'm sure a tear started snaking its way down his cheek) and said, "The men who just buried your husband are coming in to bury you." Sapphira gasped and fell down dead.

The point of this story is God killed these two people for telling a "little white lie." And if you think I'm exaggerating this statement, look at the reaction of the people who witnessed this incident. The people in the church were genuinely scared, and the people outside the church were terrified of what God had done. God is very serious about sin, even sins we think won’t hurt anyone.


God had implemented a system of sacrifices for the people of Israel in the Old Testament. God demanded the best was to be sacrificed to Him. The very best animals were to be killed (kind of puts a kink in evolutionary thought, doesn't it?) for the sake of their sin. The people of Israel, in fact, soon came up with a painless way of killing these animals because they could not bear the thought of the animals suffering. By the way, it was probably this painless way of killing animals the people used on the top of Masada when the Romans came crashing through the last barriers – just because they were expected to make sacrifices didn't mean they were accustomed and hardened to the suffering of the animals or people.

God, however, did not take the easy way out when it came time to make this sacrifice for the sins of the people of the world. Then He put on display all of the violence necessary to demonstrate His complete and utter hatred of sin. Jesus was so severely beaten before His crucifixion it was only by the strength of God He not die before He was placed on the cross. Even the soldiers recognized the severity of His beatings, so when He fell under the load of the cross they got someone else to carry it for Him.