Was Jesus Sent To Die For Our Sins Or Crucified?

𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐫 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝?

Mohamad Mostafa Nassar
Twitter:@NassarMohamadMR

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.

(𝟏)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 God to “let this cup pass from” (Matthew 26:39) him, God responded to his prayer and saved him from death or crucifixion.

(𝟐) 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭- 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 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).

(𝟑) 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬.

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

1. Friday night Jesus was buried. This is night #1.
2. Saturday day Jesus was buried. This is night #1.
2. Saturday day Jesus was still supposed to be in the grave. This is day #1.
3. Saturday night Jesus was still supposed to be in the grave. This is night #2.

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞, 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡 (𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲), 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

(𝟒) 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 friends, 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 𝐍𝐎𝐓 be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬.

(𝟓) 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.

(𝟔) 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 in 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, 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 (𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬) 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐨 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐎𝐓 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 Ecclesiastic 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 the message. 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 or 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 which had already existed. What is mentioned above cannot be discounted.

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 title (dot) shall pass from the law.

Everything 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.

Source: Nairaland