The Necessity of the Cross

As we move through Holy Week and look towards Good Friday and Easter, it is an appropriate time to stop and reflect on Jesus, His death and the necessity of the cross. In theological circles, today, the debate is being waged regarding the necessity of Jesus' death on the cross. Among more liberal theologians Jesus' death is seen as nothing more than a good moral example. In extreme views, His death on the cross is viewed as "Divine child abuse!" Increasingly we are hearing we don't need the cross. Instead we should concentrate on teaching about how God is a God of love! To this I respond, the cross is the greatest example of forgiveness and love we have. Allow me to use an illustration from Timothy Keller in his book, "The Reason for God" to help show why I make such a statement.

Suppose you are walking along the rivers edge with a friend and this friend turns to you and says, "I love you!" and then as a demonstration of his love, he throws himself into the river! To what end? That is not an example of love. Rather it is probably more indicative of your friends mental state! Suppose, though, that as you are walking along the river, you slip and fall in. Unable to swim you are in danger of drowning. Your friend, in an act of love and sacrifice, dives into the water and pushes you to shore. Unfortunately, spent from the exertion, he is swept away by the current and himself drowns. That is not just an example of love, it is a heroic sacrifice that saved you from your own immanent peril. You would look upon this sacrifice and say, "Oh, how he loved me!" If there is no peril to save us from - if we're not lost and apart from the sacrifice of Jesus, doomed to death - then the model of Jesus on the cross is not moving, life-changing, or sacrificial at all... it's crazy! Unless Jesus died as our substitute, He can't die as a moving example of sacrificial love.

Jesus did die as our substitute. Rather than inflict pain on someone else, God, on the cross, absorbed the pain, violence, and evil of the world into Himself. The God of the Bible is not like some primitive deity who demands our blood so that their wrath is appeased. Rather, God became human and offers His own blood in order to honor moral justice and merciful love so that evil can be destroyed without destroying us!

The necessity of the cross!