Was Jesus' death necessary? If so, why?

[Justin108]

Was Jesus' death necessary? In what way did Jesus' death/sacrifice benefit humanity? Could God not achieve what he intended without Jesus dying?

[Monta]

Was Jesus' death necessary? In what way did Jesus' death/sacrifice benefit humanity? Could God not achieve what he intended without Jesus dying?

Yes.

No.

[Justin108]

Was Jesus' death necessary? In what way did Jesus' death/sacrifice benefit humanity? Could God not achieve what he intended without Jesus dying?

Yes.

No.

I count three questions but only two answers

[Elijah John]

Necessary for what? Not in order for God to forgive sins, as in the OT/Hebrew Bible God forgives based on repentance, not on the basis of sacrifice. (Hosea 6.6, Micah 6.6-6. and many other passages)

And in the NT Jesus himself taught that the Father forgives the repentant who are willing to forgive others. ( the Lord's Prayer, the Beattitudes, the Parables etc)

So whether Jesus HAD to die is an open and good question.

Maybe not, but like most martyrs, his death was not in vain. He died for what he believed in: i.e. his opposition to the Temple hierarchy in favor of direct and more universal access to the Father.

Jesus cousin John was martyred for calling out the King, Jesus for opposing the Temple system.

[postroad]

[Replying to post 4 by Elijah John] According to Paul Jesus had to die and be resurected in order for the dietary and sacrificial portions of the Law to be annulled. Then those of both Jew and Gentile nations could become heirs to the promised kingdom through their implied righteousness through Christ. Yes there where provisions for forgiveness without the Temple sacrificial system. As indeed it was necessary to ensure that people could turn to the Lord and be restored during times of exile when the Temple was destroyed. It gets complicated when the Temple is in existence as God through the Law is made to proclaim that worship and forgiveness are exclusively through the Jerusalem Temple system.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 5 by postroad]

According to Paul Jesus had to die and be resurected in order for the dietary and sacrificial portions of the Law to be annulled.

I've always found it strange how we humans are apparently more powerful than God. We can change laws without having to have someone die.

I have a question for theists, especially those who on this site have previously said that what God says, goes (or words to that effect).
Let's say that God just came out and annulled the law, or portions thereof. Just came out and said it, something like "Thou shalt no longer be restricted from eating pork" or "Thou no longer need to offer animal sacrifices".
Would you then be debating the issue, saying that God can't do this, that God just HAS to have a human sacrifice, that someone HAS to die and be resurrected before God can annul laws?
Or would you be like you are now, saying that whatever God says, goes (or words to that effect)?

[postroad]

[Replying to post 6 by rikuoamero] I am agnostic. Just going with what the book states.

Romans 7New International Version (NIV)

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a] the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

[JehovahsWitness]

Was Jesus' death necessary? In what way did Jesus' death/sacrifice benefit humanity? Could God not achieve what he intended without Jesus dying?

Yes, I believe that Jesus' death was absolutely necessary.

His death

- vindicated His father's sovereignty
- cleared his Father's name of the reproach heaped on it (Sanctification of Jehovah's Name)
- Opened the way for the forgiveness of Adamic sin and the resulting lifting of the oppressive weight of sin and death
- No, there was no way for this to be rightfully achieved without a life for life (blood) sacrifice.



JW

[YouTube][/youtube]

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 8 by JehovahsWitness]

His death

- vindicated His father's sovereignty

I have no idea what this phrase means. The individual words yes, but not the phrase.
I can understand vindicating the sovereignty of a nation, such as vindicating the sovereignty of the government of the Republic of China to the territory of the landmass typically called China...but an all powerful God?

- cleared his Father's name of the reproach heaped on it (Sanctification of Jehovah's Name)

Again, I don't know what this means.

- Opened the way for the forgiveness of Adamic sin and the resulting lifting of the oppressive weight of sin and death

I think that the word 'forgive' has a different meaning for you than it does for me. The way you and other theists use it makes it out almost to be like a magical spell, one that requires rituals, or special events. You make it out almost like forgiveness is a magical artifact locked away in a dungeon somewhere, that requires magical blood to access it.

- No, there was no way for this to be rightfully achieved without a life for life (blood) sacrifice.

And here's the biggest problem I have. Prove it. Give us evidence that 'no, there was no way for this to be rightfully achieved without a life for life sacrifice'.
It's yet another tall claim stacked on yet another tall claim and so on and so on. This particular tall claim requires that I ignore the other tall claim of God supposedly being all powerful. This tall claim requires that I accept a contradiction.

[1213]

Was Jesus' death necessary? In what way did Jesus' death/sacrifice benefit humanity? Could God not achieve what he intended without Jesus dying?

Before death and resurrection of Jesus, his disciples were afraid and didn’t have courage. After those, they didn’t fear death anymore, they got the courage to proclaim the message so that even I can now know it. And for me the message has been beneficial. But obviously, it may not be beneficial for all.