THE CRUCIFIXION SERIES

WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?

I wrote this a few days after Easter 2019. And I am compelled to write about the Crucifixion: Where was Jesus during those three days?; Prophecies about the coming Messiah in the OT; while he was on the cross:

And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.  (Luk 23:42 MKJV)
And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.  (Luk 23:43 MKJV)

I have a few prophecies about the coming Messiah promised. I took them from Isaiah. I always get the JW’s with this one:

Prophecy

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  (Isa 9:6 MKJV)

There is no end of the increase of His government and peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on, even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will do this.  (Isa 9:7 MKJV)

Fulfillment is in Luke : 1:32,33

Prophecy

And He said, Hear now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?  (Isa 7:13 MKJV)

So, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.  (Isa 7:14 MKJV)

Although the Jews knew Immanuel meant: “God with us,” interestingly enough they ignored the signs given to them by Isaiah. And , this is a big one, “a virgin will bring forth a son.” Have you ever heard of another immaculate conception.

Fulfillment is in Luke 1:26,27,30,31

The first prophecy is found in Gen. 3:15. God is speaking to Satan after the fall of man.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.  (Gen 3:15 MKJV)

The way this is worded is vague, however, the promise of a  child is still in play.the term “seed” can be translated as “offspring.” 

And Abram said, Behold, You have given no seed to me. And behold, one born in my house is my heir.  (Gen 15:3 MKJV)

And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be.  (Gen 15:5 MKJV)

The seed of the woman is the promised Messiah, whereas, the seed of Satan is an enemy of Jesus’ true followers. This is vague because it borders on the supernatural. Which “Seed” is capitalized? 

Prophecy

And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me!  (Isa 6:8 MKJV)

A precursor that Jesus , in His glorified body before He was on earth as a man.

And I saw a book on the right of Him sitting on the throne, written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.  (Rev 5:1 MKJV)
And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loosen its seals?  (Rev 5:2 MKJV)
And no one in Heaven, nor on the earth, nor under the earth, was able to open the book or to look at it.  (Rev 5:3 MKJV)
And I wept very much, because no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, nor to look at it.  (Rev 5:4 MKJV)
And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals of it.  (Rev 5:5 MKJV)
And I looked, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, amidst the elders, a Lamb stood, as if it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.  (Rev 5:6 MKJV)
And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him sitting on the throne.  (Rev 5:7 MKJV)
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having harps and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  (Rev 5:8 MKJV)
And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.  (Rev 5:9 MKJV)
And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.  (Rev 5:10 MKJV)

Jesus offered Himself as the Sacrificial Lamb, knowing full well what he was in for. This is what is called unconditional love.

And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.  (Mat 26:39 MKJV)

Did you ever think about this: Jesus had free will and he could have left the scene without fulfilling the prophecy, if He chose. Jesus, our Lord is awesome!

Before Adam and Eve, Jesus:

who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation.  (Col 1:15 MKJV)
For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him.  (Col 1:16 MKJV)
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.  (Col 1:17 MKJV)
And He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead, that He may be pre-eminent in all things.  (Col 1:18 MKJV)
For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell.  (Col 1:19 MKJV)
And through Him having made peace through the blood of His cross, it pleased the Father to reconcile all things to Himself through Him, whether the things on earth or the things in Heaven.  (Col 1:20 MKJV)
And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled  (Col 1:21 MKJV)
in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish, and without charge in His sight,  (Col 1:22 MKJV)

Why did Jesus need to come in the first place? In Gen. we hear God talking to someone:

And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth.  (Gen 1:26 MKJV)

It was Jesus , of course. The Bible tells us:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (Joh 1:1 MKJV)
He was in the beginning with God.  (Joh 1:2 MKJV)
All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.  (Joh 1:3 MKJV)

There was no one that could save the human race:

And so it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul,” the last Adam was a life-giving Spirit.  (1Co 15:45 MKJV)

He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not.  (Isa 53:3 MKJV)

Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  (Isa 53:4 MKJV)

But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.  (Isa 53:5 MKJV)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  (Isa 53:6 MKJV)

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.  (Isa 53:7 MKJV)

He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken.  (Isa 53:8 MKJV)

And He put His grave with the wicked, and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.  (Isa 53:9 MKJV)

We know these scriptures depict the events that took place before the crucifixion, Next, we will get into the Crucifixion itself and then some 

Believe it.