Jesus Died, and Rose Again!
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (Matthew 28:5–6)
Why did Jesus die on the cross?
“Jesus died on the cross to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
“But why did He die on the cross? Could He not have saved you in any other way?”
“No other way could save me. So in the end, Jesus had to die so that He may save me.”
“Save from what?”
“Save from sin, without which it is not possible to save from the just punishment of sin.”
This is a question that arises in the minds of many. Why did Jesus have to die on a cross? The answer is, “To save us.” But the next question is, ”Could God not have devised something easier and simpler to save us? Why to die?” The answer is, “Yes, God could have definitely tried some other methods. And He did try them, but they could not save us!” If we are to be saved from the just punishment of sin, we must be saved from sin. But everything else that God could do was not able to save us from sin.
We are created in the image of God, and even though it should be natural for us to do good, but our nature can not save us from sin. Our conscience and reason that exhort us to choose good and reject evil can not restrain us. Even the punishment of sin, which always follows it and poisons every pleasure and joy that we get out of sin, can not free us from its bondage.
Moreover, all the moral instructions that we receive from parents, society, and teachers cannot strengthen us to stand firm in the time of temptations and choose good. The law that is written in our hearts, which we use to judge others, we freely break and excuse ourselves. Moral laws and instructions only tell us what is good and what is evil and accuse us after we have fallen into sin, but they provide no help in lifting us out of our corruptions. No philosophies, resolutions, rituals, and meditations can save us from sin.
God’s perfect law also could not save Israelites from sin and ruin. Even with perfect knowledge of the law, they rebelled against it. God sent messengers, judges, kings, and prophets to turn the Israelites back to Him, but none could save them. All the sacrifices according to the law could not cleanse their conscience from sin and dead works, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins (Hebrews 10:4).
Sin, which begins with an intention and an act, engulfs and corrupts our whole nature and makes it hopelessly irredeemable. Though sin waits for our permission, in the beginning, it soon becomes a principle and rules over us. It permeates every corner of our soul and becomes our unchangeable character. Its effects on our lives are universally pernicious. Once permitted, there are no good desires that it does not corrupt, no pleasures that it does not diminish and poison, no affections that it does not pervert. Sin on its own can make our souls miserable in perfect circumstances; though we are full, it makes us feel empty, and it sucks the meaning of our existence and makes our lives a vast wilderness. Though we begin as masters of sin, we soon become slaves, and the slavery is cruel and complete.
When sin pulls us into such a hopeless and miserable condition, what would God do?
Would He leave us to reap what we have sowed? Would He abandon us, for we have willingly broken down all the barricades and sinned presumptuously? Would He let us perish, for we have rejected all the remedies of sin? Would He abandon us, for we have ignored all His calls to turn back to Him? Would He accept our enmity against Him as our final choice and throw us down the cliff into everlasting fire?
The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. To let us live in sin is unbearable for God, for it will definitely lead us all into everlasting fire. The misery of sin, which we feel all around us and deep inside us, will be immeasurably multiplied in hell, and it is not the will of God that any should perish. Even though we live as His enemies, God still desires to give us life; ‘As I live’, says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die? ‘ (Ezekiel 33:11)
Jesus’ death on the cross is God’s greatest attempt to reconcile sinners to Himself.
When nothing else could save us, when we ourselves could not save us, when all the other efforts failed, God decided to save us Himself. But God decided to save us not by force of the law or by fear of punishment, for it would be futile. Neither did God save us by subjecting us to His might, for though we would submit, it would not be a willing submission. God decided to save by love, that we willingly and wholeheartedly turn towards Him and love Him because He loved us first.
If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus’ fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him. ( — A W Tozer)
God sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross is His last and greatest effort to deliver us from sin and eternal punishment. Less than that cannot save us; more than that cannot be done!
“How did the death of Jesus on the cross save you from sin?”
“In the death of Jesus, I died to sin. I am no longer the man I was, that man is dead. Death in Jesus, has freed me from my dark shadow, from my sinful past. I am free!”
What about Jesus’ resurrection?
The salvation of God begins in the death of Christ and is perfected in His resurrection. A man that dies to sin, by faith in the crucified Saviour, is quickened and made alive to righteousness as he receives new life by faith in the resurrected Lord. Jesus came not only to save us from perishing but also to give us eternal life.
When Jesus was crucified, all His disciples were dejected and scattered. They forsook their all for Him and followed Him for more than three years. He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, He healed the sick, made the lepers clean, gave sight to the blind, commanded the dead to rise again, and cast out evil spirits. His disciples saw it all and heard it all. But in the end, they saw Him crucified, and all their hopes were ruined.
They heard the scribes and priests mock Him, “He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have Him: for he said, I am the Son of God (Matthew 27:42–43). And soon, instead of miraculously saving Himself, Jesus died on the cross. They had hoped to sit on His right hand and on His left in paradise, but they saw His body being carried to the grave.
Jesus had told them, “Because I live, ye shall live also (John 14:19). But now they mourned His death and also their own; for if their Saviour died how could they live? Their hope of salvation was lost, if the cross was the end of Christ? No soul can be saved if its Saviour himself is dead!
However, God raised Him up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be held by it (Acts 2:24). Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, but He rose on the third day to give us life, a new life, eternal life.
When the disciples went to the grave, it was empty. They were shocked and amazed at what had happened. Some of the women came and told them that they had seen the Lord, but they did not believe them. However, they believed when Jesus appeared to them in the room where they were gathered for the fear of the Jews. He said unto them, “Peace be unto you” (John 20:19). He was seen by them for many days and then He ascended unto the heavens.
“How do you know that Jesus rose from the dead?”
“I know, for Jesus came and said to my troubled soul, ‘Peace be unto you, your sins are forgiven you!’ ”
“But Where is Jesus now?”
“Jesus reigns in heaven, but He lives in my heart as well. Though I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me”
Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection is made both the Saviour and the Lord. If you trust in Him, He will save you, for He died not just for me but for the sins of the whole world. Whoever comes to Him, He will not cast him out, but save him forever. What excuse does a man have after God has done all that He could do to save him. Will you reject the mercy of God that He has bought for you by His own blood and be guiltless? Come, you who are heavy laden with the burden of sin. Come to the Lord, He bids you to come!
