If he knew he would rise from the grave, what makes Jesus' death a sacrifice?

Question

If you believe Jesus rose from the grave, and he knew he would do so because predicted his own resurrection, where's the sacrifice?

Your faith says he suffered through a tough couple of days, but then bounced back better than ever.

Every soldier and civilian killed in Iraq has made a bigger sacrifice than that. Every victim of pancreatic cancer has suffered longer and at least as much pain.

.

Does any Christian read the question? Some answer "no," which makes no grammatical sense. Some talk about the sin of the world, or the "second Adam." Is this such a hard question to answer directly? WHAT MAKES JESUS DEATH A SACRIFICE IF HE KNEW HE WAS RISING FROM THE DEAD?

Answer 1

But of course you're thinking is correct. It'd be pretty impossible for a God to sacrifice anything....

But really, why try to bring logic to mythology?

Answer 2

The sacrifice wasn't really just His death. That was a big part of it, but the first sacrifice was Him becoming man. The Creator became the creature. At His death, He took on every sin in the entire world, suffered for each individual one, then,He not only died, His Father abandoned His body because it had become sin, which is intolerable to God. That was the sacrifice, becoming sin and losing the love of everyone. He rose to show that we can conquer sin, as He did, and that if we are free from sin at death, we will rise again in glorified bodies that can walk through walls and on water and eat poison without being killed and all kind of stuff. He was showing us what was to come.

Answer 3

The difference between Jesus and the rest of the world was that He was/is perfect. He did not deserve to die. He never did anything wrong. I understand your question but I don't think your putting yourself in the position.

Let's suppose:
You're brought to trial and convicted of murdering your wife. In all actuality, you know that you are completely innocent. You've never even wished anything bad on her. The problem is that the courts have now sentenced you to the Death Penalty, but not the Death Penalty by injection but a painful death like hanging on a cross for hours until you eventually suffocate from the blood filling your lungs.

Even if you know that in 3 days you'll rise from your grave, did you not still make a sacrifice? Did you not die a extremely painful death due to others mistakes? Did you not sacrifice for someone else (i.e.=the actual murderer)?

Answer 4

Where is the sacrifice? Jesus took on the sins of the world so that we could have eternal life. Because God gave His son, personkind now has the chance to have a personal relationship with Christ and the hope of eternal life.

While on earth, Jesus suffered, not as the son of God, but as a common man, mentally, physically and spiritually. Not just for a few, or for a country, but for all the world.

Answer 5

The question is based on the premise that Jesus knew he would resurrect...but it is arguable that he knew that. If He had God's knowledge such as that, during his period of humanity, then was he truly human. Would His knowledge of resurrection be within 3 days, as it was, or such as mine, for an indefinite period of time?

"Descended into Hell" for a couple days...is a little more than "tough."

No soldier or civilian in Iraq has made a bigger sacrifice and no victims of cancer can imagine suffering such as Hell, unless they find themselves there after their death.

Answer 6

The sacrifice was separation. The suffering went beyond physical pain, it was a cup no mortal could be asked to endure. Yet it was voluntarily embraced by Jesus Christ for your soul. Just knowing what is predestined doesn't negate the agony of the now.

Answer 7

Sorry, but your line of reasoning only makes sense if you have a non-Biblical wordview. You assume that Jesus is a just a man like any other, lost in sin. The Bible states (and I think evidence shows) that all of us are lost in virtually constant sin - I know I am. Each one of us suffers, some to a lesser extent, some to a greater, because of our sin. The Buddha was almost right when he said that "all is suffering" - all in a sinful world, to sinful creatures, is suffering in some sense.

But Jesus had no sin because He was God in the flesh. Therefore, he was suffering despite the fact that he had never done anything wrong. That is the crucial difference.

Now, you can deny that Jesus was God incarnate, or you can deny that Jesus was sinless. That is certainly your right. But you asked your question on the basis of a Christian worldview. Under your worldview, I would agree with your "question"; but under the Christian worldview, no.

Answer 8

Jesus knew in faith, and since faith is not founded on solid evidence, it makes the sacrifice all the more meaningful.

Answer 9

Because his body was not raised. All that he was, was downloaded into a new, spirit body. His physical body had to be destroyed to fulfill the convenient of the sacrificial lamb, which was burned on the alter in the Temple, but only after its throat was slit to allow its soul or blood to drain out on the ground. He was the lamb of God.

After his death, he laid in the grave, unable to do anything, until he was raised by his father.

Answer 10

Jesus knew as God that He would rise again. But as the second-Adam, He didn't want to go through the suffering. But He did His Father's will and died for us. Every soldier and civilian killed in Iraq put together do not equal one toe of Christ.

Answer 11

He went to hell for three days after enduring the worst death a man could face on Earth because he loved us enough to save us from our own faults.

Jesus lead a pure and sinless life only to be slaughtered like a lamb. He was hung on a tree with everyone mocking him. Biblically speaking, to be hung on a tree is the ultimate punishment from God, or disownment.

Those soldiers are not saving us from our eternal damnation, they're saving us from death on Earth, slavery, etc.