50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die
John Piper, "The Passion of Jesus Christ: 50 Reasons Why He Came to Die."
(All paragraphs in quotes are from the book)
In the fourth chapter of Acts, Peter and John were headed up to the temple to pray when they encountered a man, lame from birth, begging to everyone who passed by. Peter heals the man by the authority given him through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The people were astonished so Peter and John testified to those in the crowd about Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Then the priests, the captain of the guard, and the Sadducees had Peter and John thrown into prison overnight. The next day they questioned them and let them go. When Peter and John returned to their friends, they prayed this prayer to God.
Act 4:24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
Act 4:25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
Act 4:26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'--
Act 4:27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
Act 4:28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Act 4:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
Act 4:30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
“The most profound thing we can say about suffering and evil is that, in Jesus Christ, God entered into it and turned it for good.”
John Piper, “The Passion of Jesus Christ: 50 Reasons…”
The origin of evil is covered in biblical mystery. The bible does not explain to us as much as we would like to know about the subject; Lucifer’s rebellion, the fall of the angels, the creation of death, the creation of hell, etc. The scriptures are not a documentary on the origins of evil but are a demonstration of how God enters into evil and turns it into good. All throughout the Old Testament, there are many different texts that foreshadow this as the destiny of the Messiah to come.
Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold into slavery by his brothers in Egypt. For seventeen years Joseph seemed abandoned to his fate. God was in Joseph’s life, guiding him and equipping him to be the leader he would need to be. God established Joseph and made him ruler in Egypt. By God’s plan, Joseph was able to save his family from a great famine that swept the land. Joseph saved the very ones that sold him into slavery, preserving God’s promise to Abraham. Joseph summed it up in Genesis 50:20 by saying:
“A foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, forsaken in order to save…”
This same type of foreshadowing was seen in Jesus ancestry. God was the only King in Israel, but the people rebelled and asked the prophet Samuel to appoint a human king, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8:5). When Samuel tried to speak wisdom to them, they demanded it, "No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles" (1 Samuel 8:19).
Israel eventually confessed their sin, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king” (1 Samuel 12:19).
In order to defeat evil and suffering, he used evil and suffering. Every act of sin, evil, and brutality against Christ, was used by God for good. For God so loved the world, He slaughtered Jesus
Act 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know--
Act 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
“The lash on his back, the thorns on his head, the spit on his cheek, the bruises on his face, the nails in his hands, the spear in his side, the scorn of rulers, the betrayal of his friend, the desertion by his disciples—these were all the result of sin, and all designed by God to destroy the power of sin.”
Act 4:27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
Act 4:28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Act 4:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
“There is no greater sin than to hate and kill the Son of God. There was no greater suffering nor any greater innocence than the suffering and innocence of Christ. Yet God was in it all.”
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
“Is not then the passion of Jesus Christ meant by God to show the world that there is no sin and no evil too great that God, in Christ, cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy? The very suffering that we caused became the hope of our salvation.”
Luk 23:34 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
In suffering, in pain, in death, in sickness, in frustration, destruction, do you trust God? Do you believe that he is in it? Do you believe that he has a plan for your life? Do you trust him to turn evil into good?
God has displayed to us, in the most dramatic display of love, He turns what men mean for evil into what He means for good. The Cross is the proof.
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