Was Jesus Sent to be Crucified ?

Question

One of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity relates that Jesus died and allowed for the shedding of his blood for the sake of granting forgiveness to people. In other words Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Let us investigate this topic from the Bible, and find out whether Jesus was sent to be crucified and whether he was crucified at all.
Willingness of Jesus Christ to die for our sins

Peter and the two sons of Zebedee were with Jesus Christ before the elders of the people and the chief priests came to take him to be crucified. Jesus at this point talked to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee as in Matthew 26:38 "Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." Then Jesus went a little further away from them and prayed to God as in Matthew 26:39 "And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

It is very clear from the above verse in Matthew 26:39 that Jesus had no intention of dying. In this verse it is shown that Jesus was praying strongly (Matthew mentions Jesus repeating this prayer three times) to have this death removed from him. Had Jesus Christ been sent to be crucified, he would not have hesitated to be killed at all.

When I raise this point in front of my Christian brothers, they tell me that this hesitation came from the flesh side of him (in other words he was tempted), and that his soul which is godly did not have this hesitation at all. When we look at Matthew 26:38 we see that Jesus was contradicting this idea by saying, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." (Matthew 26:38). He himself said that it’s really his soul that was hesitating and not his body. These were Jesus’ own words.

God answered the prayers of Jesus Christ

After Jesus made the above mentioned prayer he was answered by God according to Hebrews 5:7 "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared." These words clearly show when Jesus was praying strongly to God, God granted him his request. The words "heard in that he feared" (Hebrews 5:7) mean that God granted him what he requested. So the above verse shows when Jesus asked of God to "let this cup pass from" (Matthew 26:39) him, God responded to his prayer and saved him from death or crucifixion.

The post crucifixion prophesied events never happened

When people were asking Jesus Christ if he was going to show them a sign, he replied by saying that the only sign they should expect is the sign of Jonas. Jesus also made sure to specify what exactly this sign was. The details are shown in the following verses:

Matthew 12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

Matthew 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus here emphasized what will happen to him by specifically saying that he will be like Jonas in terms of the number of days and nights he will be in the heart of the earth, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matthew 12:40). Now let us see if this prophecy came to pass.

Jesus was crucified on Friday, this is certainly known among all Christians, and it’s the reason for calling that Friday by "Good Friday." Jesus was buried on Friday night. Now let us start counting:

Friday night Jesus was buried. This is night #1.
Saturday day Jesus was still in the grave. This is day #1.
Saturday night Jesus was still in the grave. This is night #2.
Mary Magdalene, very early in the morning before sun rise and after the Sabbath (Saturday), went to see Jesus, and found that he was not there. The following verses describe this event:
Mark 16:1 And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

Mark 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Mark 16:4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

Mark 16:5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.

Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

The number of days and nights Jesus spent in the heart of the earth is 1 day and 2 nights. This challenges what Jesus had prophesied.

When I tell this to my Christian brothers, some of them responded by saying that what Jesus wanted to really say was that he will be gone for a while, and not that he will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. This is clearly not the case. Had Jesus meant that, he would have said it, but it is clear that he wanted people to know this was a sign (miracle) and it will be like Jonas’ sign, and he will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. These were his own words.

Another argument is that the Jews used a different system for the day and night which makes the prophecy come true. The idea says that Jews used to consider a day shorter than we consider it now. If you would ask a Jewish person about their calendar you would find that this is not the case, and a day does not become shorter at all. The difference between a Jewish day and a regular day is the time when the day starts and ends. Jewish people considered the day over when the sun went down, whereas now we consider midnight to be the end of a day. There is no difference in the length of the day, and accepting the Jewish day would only make things worse as far as the prophecy goes.

Why would Jesus have to die on the cross?

According to the Christian doctrine, Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Every human is born with sins, or all humans will eventually sin, and therefore it was necessary that someone as pure as Jesus would be crucified to nullify these sins. The question is; why does anyone have to die for our sins when God, the all merciful, could as easily grant us forgiveness if we asked for it? Why does He have to make someone suffer for our sins or for someone else’s sins? Isn’t that unjust of Him? According to the Bible the way to redemption could be obtained without the need for sacrifice. The Bible says:

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Clearly the soul that sins shall die. Clearly, no one shall bear the iniquity (sins) of others. So Jesus cannot bear the sins of others either. If one is righteous then it shall be upon him, and if one commits a sin then it shall be upon him, and not on Jesus. Finally, the way to repentance and forgiveness is by turning from all sins, doing what is right, and keeping the commandments.

Also we see the same message given by Solomon. He says in the book of Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." This is the whole message, and this is the conclusion of messages. It is that one should fear God, keep His commandments, and nothing else.

Again in II Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." This clearly states that to seek forgiveness from God we have to humble ourselves, pray, seek God, and turn away from wickedness.

Finally the Bible says in I Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." This clearly states that obeying God is better than sacrifice whether this sacrifice is of objects, animals, or humans, or any other type. What God likes is for us to heed and obey Him, and if that is what God likes then it is not of Him to come later and change His mind and His ways. God says in the Holy Quran, "Verily God is All-Knowing, All-Wise" (Ch 9: Vr 28).

Now that we have seen this, Christians say that Jesus has changed some of these laws. Did Jesus come to change laws? Let’s look at what Jesus says. In Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Jesus clearly states that he was not sent to abolish the law, the law of which had already existed. What is mentioned above cannot be discounted. Then Jesus continues to say, in Matthew 5:18 and 19 "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus here asserts that not even as much as a tittle (dot) shall pass from the law. Every thing is kept the way it was. This is why the previous laws cannot be removed or discarded, and those who willfully change these laws "he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven."

Answer 1

You ask intelligent questions, you ponder this Word which is foreign to you. But it is closed to your mind. To understand the Word, you must open your mind to the inifinite possibility in God as a mystery that is beyond human comprehension. For if He had not revealed His Word to us, we should not even know of Him who created the Heavens and the Earth.

Your prayer which must eminate from your soul, must deeply request of God the guidance of His Spirit to see the deeper revelations of His Word in His Love.

Only in this way will you understand the deeper Love of Jesus Christ for the Father, and the Father for His Beloved Son, of whom He says in Scripture:

16. And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.

3:17. And behold a voice from heaven saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Lord we praise you in your Divine Son.

Added Comment to explain the Darkness encompassing the mind of constrained spirits:

The failure of many people to understand God and what is Truth in Theology as taught for more than 2000 years (and prior in Judaism), is due to the dualism of materialism and Manicheanism which is at the root of Islam.

St. Augustine began a fight against this dualism in the 4th century. He said that people become tricked by the human elements in the study of Jesus and lose sight of the divine elements in the study of Christology. Because they do not look deeply enough into the sacramental elements of the Lord's teachings they do not see Him as God.

Jesus had a unique nature:

Hypostatic Union - A theological term used with reference to the Incarnation to express the revealed truth that in Christ one person subsists in two natures, the Divine and the human

God is not understood by knowledge. Knowledge is limited to the universe in which we dwell. God does not dwell within the universe.
God can only be known by revealed Truth.

Manicheanism and Zoroastrianism, all basis for the formation of Islam, say that there must be an either/or relationship, a dualism; Light vs. Dark, good v. evil, knowledge v. myth, etc.

Dualism does not accept mystery, dimensional complexity or that which can not be contained within a known or confined realm. God is not confined to our realm of existence and is not dualistic, existing in a level of intellectual and spiritual comprehension far beyond that of any of his finite creatures.

People who are being drawn into the dualistic level are becoming mechanistically driven. In fact they are using only a binary base, and not observing complex variables, even within the known realm by moving into physics, light, and other abstract possibilities.

Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity. He is begotten by God before time. He is Light from Light, True God from True God. He dwells in uncreated Light, to which by an act of Creation, God made the sun and all the stars to form within our Universe. Jesus is the Word of God, dwelling in the bosom of the Father from eternity.
His name was called Jesus in the Incarnation, as pronounced by the angel Gabriel to his mother Mary. "Hail, full of Grace!" the angel greeted her.

1:30. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

1:31. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

1:32. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

1:33. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

1:34. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
Dixit autem Maria ad angelum quomodo fiet istud quoniam virum non cognosco

1:35. And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Holy Mary, Mother of God and Mother of Mercy, pray for us, sinners confined to an exile in a valley of tears. Amen.

The problem with the dualists:

They are not using their full capabilities in their souls or in their minds, as they do not challenge the various realms where they expand their consciousness through a reasoning of faith and knowledge, and through prayer encounter an actual dialogue with God.

A Triune Power with complete Unity as One God, is revealed testimony in the Law, the Prophets, and in the Sacred Tradition of the Church. This theology of God was revealed to the Apostles, and to the Teachers and Church Fathers, from earliest times.

A dialogue with the persons of the Trinity, as God, can only be initiated through appropriate teaching and doctrinal understanding. Otherwise the material world and its noise and confusion, the actual embracing of a solely human consciousness stream, crowds out the inspirations of that still small voice, known by Elijah the Prophet, to be Our God.

Read something about contemplative prayer.
See link.

The Prophet Isaiah says of Him: A People Living in Darkness Has Seen A Great Light! The prophet proclaimed that the Messiah would be born of a Virgin, many thousand years before it occurred. This is the way God revealed His Son.

Prayer:
Jesus, please you open up my mind to reasoning and my heart to intuitive understanding to the study of your life and the spiritual dimensions of prayer; I am as the prophet calls to you, a people seeking the Light of your face. Amen.

Answer 2

Enjoyed your book, I will try to make the answer shorter than the questsion.

Yes, He was sent into this world to be crucified.
That was His mission.
At the last moment, knowing what was about to happen, Jesus went to His Father one more time to make sure that this was His will that Jesus suffer this way.
I think you would have done the same thing.

As to the day Jesus was Crucified, the Bible does not state the day of the week, and we can not tell the day unless we know the year. We do not know that either.
I guarantee that the Catholic Church who started this Friday thing, has no idea what year Jesus was crucified even if they say they do. Jesus had to be born before 4 BC and lived 33 years.
He could have been born as early as 6 or 7 BC.
How could anybody know?
So Jesus could have spent 3 days and 3 nights in the center of the earth preaching to those who were lost in the flood.

grace2u

Answer 3

First off, Jesus came as a Propitatory sacrifice. That is, he died on Passover. Passover was the day on which Moses told the Israeli's to slaughter a "perfect lamb" and put the blood over the door to their house so their "first born" would be saved. Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God as said many, many times in the Bible, the Lamb that was slaughtered was "representative" of HIM. HE came to fulfill the part of the Lamb to be slaughtered for God's people, to bring them back to a place where they could be reconciled with God.

Example: Adam lost (notice, I say Adam, not Eve) our right to perfection. This is because in those days, it was considered by all that the life (the seed) came from the man and the form (during pregnancy) came from the woman. So, with Adam's sin, death and sin crept into our lives. What would it take to EQUAL what a PERFECT MAN lost? ANOTHER PERFECT MAN. Only this time, he would HAVE to stay perfect or ALL WORLD BE LOST FOREVER. This is why its paramount that Christ NEVER SIN! If he had, we could never have been saved. The first reference to Christ Jesus is Genesis 3:15 (so, this proves God had a "back up plan" just in case Adam & Eve did sin) where Christ is callled "the son of man, who will bruise you in the head." He is often called "the son of man."

So, there HAD TO BE AN EQUAL AND DEFINITIVE SACRIFICE EQUAL TO WHAT WAS LOST AND CHRIST JESUS WAS THAT SACRIFICE. He brought us back to a place where we could approach God ourselves and no longer need animal sacrifices or even preists (ministers or preachers). All we need to do is learn gods word and pray 'through' Christ Jesus and believe in his ransom.

Great question.

Answer 4

Here's the truth and the only truth:
Jesus was sent by His father, God, to be crucified on the cross for our sins. After cruel punishment, he hung on the cross for hours then said, "It is finished." He died and rose again 3 days afterward. He will then come back a day that no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, and it is known as the "judment day" between believers and non-believers. Satan will come before hand and will act like Jesus and trick people into beliving Jesus has come back again....but really, if you read in Revelation, when Jesus come back all Christians will know...and it will wonderful.

Answer 5

You question is TOO long. I only read the first chapter of it and I expect everyone else did too. Let me just say this: There are different ideas among Christian theologians about this issue. Personally I believe that the greatest thing was God becoming man in the person of Jesus and that this act alone is what reunited the fallen world of matter and the Godhead. Jesus would have lived and die like anyone else, except that because of the fallen nature of mankind, as you notice in an earlier question tonight, we have a tendency to kill our hero's. When this happened God in his great Love raised Jesus back to life. I am not saying that this version of salvation is the official teaching of the church, but at least one theologian who remained in the good graces of the RC church had this same idea. So in this view, God did not send Jesus to die, but he knew what the outcome of man's free will would be and was ready to redeem it. Jesus was a role model for us as to how we are to live our life in union with God and harmony with our fellow human beings and creation. Also in his torture and death he continued to show Love and not hate to those who condemned him and tortured him without proper reason. He was Love incarnate unto the very end. And in this way he also redeemed the fallen nature of mankind.

Answer 6

Strange that as a Muslim who claims the Bible to be corrupted you now use it. Your Christian brothers spoke of Jesus Deity not His human soul and God did hear and grant His prayer "thy will be done". His prayer was not to avoid death but if any way He could avoid the separation needed while He bore sin. Yes Jesus was true man and as a man had the limitations of a man yet without sin. As God He was perfect. This is why He is the perfect mediator because as a man He could take the punishment of sin that man needed because it was man that sinned. This is how we know our sin is forgiven by a just God because a perfect man paid the price. What will you use to justify yourself before the judgment seat of God?

Answer 7

Your question seems to be a detailed lecture on the scripture. If I were interested I would rather ignore all these ifs and buts of history and story and start following some of his preaching which are wonderful. I am a born Hindu who respect all prophets.Our scripture says that God appears in human form as "Avatar" when ever there is a need. Jesus was an "Avatar" in human form. I would rather enjoy the taste of the sweet than spending my time on who has prepared it.

Answer 8

At Matthew 12:38-41, Jesus told the religious leaders that the only sign that would be given them was “the sign of Jonah.” After three days and three nights in “the belly of Sheol,” Jonah went and preached to Nineveh, thereby becoming a “sign” to the Ninevites. (Jonah 1:17; 2:2; 3:1-4) Similarly, Jesus spent parts of three days in the grave and was resurrected. When his disciples proclaimed the evidence of that event, Jesus became a sign to that generation. According to the Jewish method of measuring time and the facts in fulfillment of Jesus’ case, this period of “three days and three nights” allows for less than three full days.

When scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus Christ for a sign, he said: “A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.” Jesus added: “For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” (Matthew 12:38-40) Jewish days began at sundown. Christ died on Friday afternoon, Nisan 14, 33 C.E. His body was placed in a tomb before sunset of that day. Nisan 15 began that evening and ran until sundown of Saturday, the seventh and last day of the week. At that time Nisan 16 began and ran its course until sunset of what we call Sunday. Consequently, Jesus was dead and in the tomb for at least a period of time on Nisan 14, was entombed throughout the entire day of Nisan 15, and spent the nighttime hours of Nisan 16 in the tomb. When certain women came to the tomb on Sunday morning, he had already been resurrected.—Matthew 27:57-61; 28:1-7.

Answer 9

The answer to your question is that Jesus came to do the will of God, "Lo, I come to do thy will O God" He.10:9

Jesus was obedient to the Father even to His death on the cross. On the cross He carried the sins of the world and at that moment was separated from His Father ... the only time in eternity that has ever happened. I believe it was this spiritual burden and separation that Jesus prayed could be removed from Him when He prayed in Gethsemane. Nevertheless, even then, the Master's prayer was, "not my will, but Thine be done." Lk.22:42 Since it was God's will that He yield Himself to the agony of Calvary, that is what He did.

Answer 10

Jesus was not sent. He was born, just like the rest of us and had to grow up and fend for himself. He went through a terrible crucifixion trauma and was thought dead. Jesus rose from that dead. How? Even today, people come back from the dead unexpectedly. Back then, ordinary people could not distinguish a coma from a trance or being actually dead. They called all of that dead. That was the dead Jesus rose from.

Was Jesus actually dead? People do survive those kinds of trauma. Some speculate that Jesus was a Houdini, a yogi or monk who could control his physical processes. Who can know? According to modern physics, he could have actually been dead by even our standards and came back. That is highly improbable, but highly improbably things happen all the time in nature. It really does not matter how Jesus managed to do what God wanted Him to do, just like it does not matter how we manage to do what God wants us to do.

So what does this tell us about what God wants us to do? First of all, God wants us to stop trading blood for blessings. Jesus, was and is the perfect sacrifice, and the end of all "sacrifice for blessings." From here on, we serve God by doing the hard work to make a better life for ourselves and our neighbors, not by praying on our knees or by sacrificing ourselves needlessly to please some religious leader or politician.

Jesus gave us a celebration with bread and wine, to insure we remember that. And yes we will suffer and die, but that's only because we have reveled in ritual, hate and nonsense rather than doing the hard work to eliminate disease, aging and suffering and given that incredibly better life to ourselves and our neighbors.

Answer 11

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.