Why
did Jesus die on the cross?
The screenplay
for The Passion of the Christ was adapted by director/ producer
Mel Gibson and depicts the last twelve hours of Christ�s life on earth.
It was assembled from the four Biblical
gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The film presents a moving and factual
account of the last words ever spoken by
the One whom millions know as Savior.
The
most famous and important �last words� ever uttered were the final
statements of Jesus Christ, made as He hung on the cross.
Sometimes people
know they are giving their last words. Nathan Hale, American patriot,
was to be hanged for spying on the British for the U.S. His last words
were, �I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.�
Sometimes people
don�t know when they
will be giving their last words. The last words
JFK ever spoke were, �That�s obvious!� That
statement was given in response to the comment,
�Mr. President, you can�t say that Dallas doesn�t
love you.�
But what a difference
Jesus makes. He knew what lay ahead of Him and when His final words
would come.
"Again
he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen
to him. 'We
are going up to Jerusalem,' he said, 'and
the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and
teachers of the law. They will condemn him to
death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who
will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill
him. Three days later he will rise.' � (Mark 10:32-34)
On the cross,
with nails searing His hands and His feet, He was barely able to lift
Himself to breathe, much less to speak. Add to this the fact
that He had been brutally beaten by His accusers. How amazing,
then, that the first statement uttered by Jesus from His cross was
a prayer
of forgiveness for His enemies:
�Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.� (Luke
23:34)
Jesus� second
statement was an answer to someone else�s prayer. It was an answer
addressed to a single individual, an admitted thief hanging on
a cross next to Him. With his life ebbing away, this
man recognized who Jesus was. His last words,
�Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom,� were answered by the Lord as though that man were the
only person in the world.
�Today
you will be with me in paradise.�
(Luke 23:43)
Jesus� next statement was to His mother and to His close friend, the Apostle
John:
�When
Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved
standing nearby,
he said to his mother, �Dear woman, here
is your son,� and
to the disciple, �Here is your
mother.� � (John
19:26)
A few hours
after that, Jesus cried out to God:
�Eloi,
Eloi, lama sabachthani?� which
means,
�My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?� (Matthew
27:45-46)
When Jesus cried
out these words, they were not the delusions of a man in pain. His
faith was not
failing Him. As Christ hung there, He was bearing the sins of the world.
He was
dying as
a substitute for others. To Him was imputed the guilt of
their sins, and He was suffering the punishment for those sins on
their behalf.
The physical pains
of crucifixion, horrible as they were, were nothing compared
to the
wrath of the Father being poured out upon Him.
In short, Jesus
was dying on that
cross for your sins and mine. The Apostle Paul
said that Jesus �loved
me, and gave Himself for me� (Galatians 2:20). And Jesus
loves you too, and He gave Himself for you.
After this ordeal,
Jesus gave His fifth statement from the cross and the first
words of a personal nature:
�I
am thirsty!� (John 19:28)
Jesus
then uttered His famous last words:
"It
is finished!� (John
19:30)
The word �finished� is
translated many ways: �It
is made an end of.� �It is paid.� �It is
accomplished!�
But what was made an end of?�Our sins and guilt
that accompanied them. What was paid?�The
price of redemption! What was accomplished?�The
work the Father had given the Son to do.
Jesus� final
prayer to His Father was:
�Father,
into your hands I commit my Spirit.� (Luke
23:46)
Jesus had completed
the work He had come to do�to die for your sins so you could
be forgiven. Then after three days, Jesus Christ
rose from the dead, and He is alive and here right now
wanting to come into your life! If you
ever are tempted to doubt God�s love for you, just take a
long look at the cross that Christ hung
on for you.
�God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us�
(Romans 5:8).
During His physical
lifetime Jesus said, �I
am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through
me� (John 14:6).
If there had been any other way
to save you, He
would have found it. If living a good moral
life would save you, Jesus would
never had died. But
He did�because there was no other way for
you to be forgiven of your sin.
God sacrificed
His Son for you because He loves you. �For
God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not
perish but
have eternal life� (John
3:16).
So how do we
respond?
1. Admit our
sin. "All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
2. Realize Jesus
died on that cross for us. "While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
3. Repent of
our sin. "[God] commands all people
everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30)
4. Receive Jesus
Christ into our lives. "Yet to all who received
him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right
to
become children of
God." (John 1:12)
Maybe you�re reading this today and you�ve never committed
your life to Jesus Christ. You don�t know His forgiveness.
You don�t know that
you would go to heaven if you died right now. Why
don�t you
ask Jesus to come into your life and forgive you?
Take a moment right
now and say a prayer
like this one:
Lord
Jesus, I know that I
am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sin. I repent
of it and I turn to You
by faith right now. I thank You for dying on the cross for
me and paying the price
for all of my sins. I ask You to come into my life right now and
be my Savior, my Lord, and
my Friend. Fill me with Your
Holy
Spirit. Help me to be
Your disciple from this moment
forward. Thank You, Lord.
In Jesus� name I pray, Amen.
If you just prayed this prayer, or would like to pray it with
someone,
go to Christian.org/Jesus and chat with a prayer counselor now
If you have
just made the decision to place your faith in Jesus Christ and
would like some free information
about how to live as a Christian, please write: ATS, P.O. Box
462008, Garland, TX 75046, call
toll-free, 1-866-782-7927
Questions about Jesus Christ and Christianity, visit www.TryJesus.com
