Was the Crucifixion necessary or was it sort of bad luck? I don’t believe luck had anything to do with it, because the text seems to show that Jesus could have avoided the whole event, had he chosen to do so. So, perhaps the better question is: who decided Jesus had to die and when? Did God decide to have his Son killed, and, if so, wasn’t this malicious? Certainly, some skeptics, who wish to show the text is a malicious story, would like us to believe that the God of the Bible is a malicious, evil entity. [1]
First of all, I don’t believe the crucifixion is malicious. How could it be so, if Jesus, himself, could have avoided it if he so wished? Many believe he was afraid of the crucifixion and sought to avoid it in the Garden of Gethsemane, but this is a total misunderstanding of the text, as I show in another study. Did Jesus Pray to Avoid the Crucifixion? So, however else the crucifixion could be described, it wasn’t malicious. Think of it this way, if a nation is engaged in a just war against an evil foe who desires to force his will upon a peaceful nation, a father, understanding the evil consequences of an overthrow, allows/sends his son to battle the evil foe, where victory is achieved through the death of the father’s son, how could that father’s intentions be malicious?
Some may conclude that the whole idea of good and evil: sin, death, sacrifice, redemption etc. is wrong. Why set it up like this in the first place, if God is the Creator of all that exists? Let’s look at the text:
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26-28)
Notice that God gave man dominion over the works of God’s hands, and the texts says, “The gifts and call of God are irrevocable!” (Romans 11:29 NET). Therefore, if God placed Adam in authority over everything and everyone that God created, that’s a gift, and God can’t simply take it away, simply because matters changed that were not to his liking. Of course, Adam’s authority would be delegated to others after his death, but authority over all creation and self-governance was something the Lord could simply remove. It was a gift, vis-à-vis it was no longer God’s to take away. The question, then, becomes, “How would it be possible for God to participate in his own creation, if those he placed in authority over his works no longer cooperated with him?”
God could destroy man and begin again with another “human” race, but if God did this, he would have to admit, if to no one else but himself, that he isn’t really almighty. He would have to admit that man’s freewill, ultimately, trumps God’s plan. Nevertheless, instead of destroying rebellious mankind, God promised he would save the human race from the rebellious choice it chose to make (Genesis 3:15).
According to later studies of mine, I showed that man was created first as a living soul/person, breath/spirit and soul, but he didn’t receive a physical body (cp. Genesis 3:7; 2Corinthians 5:1-3), until after the rebellion (Genesis 3:21). In other words, death entered the human race (Romans 5:12) with God giving the man a physical body. Thus, had man chosen to eat of the Tree of Life, his body would have been different, because it would have been such that would have accommodated eternal life, instead of death. So, salvation, would have to include the gift of a body that wasn’t physical and would allow eternal life.
Paul says that by man came the judgment of death, so all die because all mankind are descendants of Adam, but in Christ all will be made alive (1Corinthians 15:21-22). Later, Paul says the first Adam was a “living soul/person,” but the last Adam/Christ became a life-giving spirit (1Corinthians 15:45). In other words, God’s will for mankind is accomplished in the coming of Christ, which offers man a place in the new creation (2Corinthians 5:17). Thus, the coming of Christ brings mankind back to the Garden, wherein man retains his freewill and authority, and is given the choice by entering the Kingdom of God/Garden of Eden, where the Lord’s original purpose is reinstated and fulfilled.
“In the beginning… God!” Using this phrase means the Creator is taking authority over, or responsibility for what he is about to do. The term “God” means authority (Psalm 82; cp. John 10:34-36). It’s not a name. What Jesus’ death accomplishes is, it brings an end to mankind’s rebellion. All sin and wickedness end in death. Jesus’ resurrection offers a new beginning and that with the promise of eternal life. His death/resurrection transports us from one kingdom to another Kingdom (Colossians 1:13) and from Adam’s race to Christ’s race (1Corinthains 15:42-49). So, to answer the original question, “Did Jesus have to die?” Yes, he did, and this is redemption from death, vis-à-vis eternal life!
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[1] This study is a rewrite of the original, much of the data has been retained, but I thought the theme could be stated more clearly. The rewrite was done in December of 2024.
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