The human body of Jesus, the son of Man, passed (or would pass) through FIVE STAGES.
1. BIRTH.
2. DEATH.
3. RESURRECTION.
4. ASCENSION.
5. SECOND COMING.
Jesus said, in Matthew 16:21, that His suffering and death would be necessary. Luke 24: 26 and 46, “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory? He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.” It was so necessary for the Christ to suffer and die that Jesus scolded Peter sharply when he opposed the idea. Jesus identified Peter with Satan at that moment Matthew 16:23, « Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me: you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Matthew 26:52 and 54, “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” When Jesus was arrested, He could have asked His father to send His Angels to set Him free.
Matthew 27:39–43, “Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. “He saved others,” they said, “but He can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants him, for He said, “I am the Son of God.” When then people tempted Jesus by suggesting that He should save Himself from Death on the cross, He could have done it. Jesus did not ask for the help of the angels and He did not come down from the cross because it was necessary that He die.
Jesus lived in this world as the son of man and as the son of God. As the son of God, He had the divine nature. But, He was also the son of Man. It was necessary for Him to IDENTIFY HIMSELF with man in every way. Only then could He save us. As the son of man, Jesus was willing to experience in His body all that men normally experience and feel. Every man who is BORN into the world must also someday die.
DEATH is the greatest problem mankind faces. This is true for many reasons.
1. Because all men die.
2. Because it brings much sadness.
3. Because (apart from God’s word) nothing is known about what happens on the other side of death.
Hebrews 2:14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death: - that is, the devil.” This verse clearly states that Jesus, as the son of man, identified Himself with us, sharing our flesh, in verse 17 of Hebrews 2 the writer says “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way… “So then, if Christ was to IDENTIFY with mankind in all things, it was necessary that He die. So then, the first reason why it was NECESSARY for Christ to experience death is that it is NECESSARY for all of mankind to experience DEATH.
In order to discover the reason for this necessity, we must go back once again into the Old Testament. We discovered that God had promised a savior who would « crush » Satan’s “head” Genesis 2:15–17, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” The penalty for disobeying the command of God is death. Man did disobey God and he did eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Romans 5 : 12, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” So then, we see that the Bible teaches that men and women die because of sin. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The real root of man’s problem is the fact that he is a sinner. It is our sin which places the future of our soul in danger.
Christ lived in this world without sinning; nevertheless it was necessary that He die. 1st Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. » 1st Peter 2 : 24, “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness ; by His wounds you have been healed.”
Matthew 16 : 24 – 27, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in His father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.”
1st Peter 1:3–4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade: - kept in heaven for you.”
The believer of Christ should not fear death. Just as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, believers also have the hope of being raised from the dead. And, this hope is sure.
Have a blessed and wonderful Easter. And be thankful because Jesus gave us another chance to be what God planned for human. Celebrate Easter with a heart filled with love and peace.