Why the Cross?

It wasn’t so clear to most people in Jerusalem around 33AD that the Jewish Messiah (aka, Christ) would suffer before He would take a throne. They knew He was foretold to be a conquering hero, but they did not understand all that He would be conquering. They assumed that it was all about eliminating their physical oppressors, which in that day happened to be the Romans.

Enter Jesus, born of a virgin just where the prophets said He would be born (Bethlehem) and grew up to do many mighty signs and wonders. He taught the people, showing by example the real nature of God the Father (which few seemed to understand, and the “religious” didn’t always appreciate). Though he fulfilled to perfection everything written millennia before, they did not recognize Him as anything more than a great “prophet” or teacher. And just like all the rest of the prophets before Him, they treated Him very badly and sought His demise.

Knowing how man and demon would respond to the perfect Son of God in their midst, God foretold by His prophets that their rejection of Christ would actually save all mankind, not just Jewish people. This was God’s “checkmate,” the culmination of a strategy designed to legally rescue all of God’s children from the hands of the “god of this world” (Satan). Both Jew and Gentile (non-Jew) were involved in His death, making Jesus the sacrifice that would atone for everyone’s sin. Satan did not see this coming until it was too late to stop it.

Because He laid down His life for us all, He earned the right to be Lord of All. When the Jews finally return to their Messiah at the end of the age, Jesus will return and establish His kingdom right here on this earth, finally eliminating all enemies including death itself.
(Luke 24:25-27, Acts 3:17-19, John 1:11-12, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, Isaiah 11:9-10, John 3:11-17, John 12:32-34,1 Corinthians 2:7-9, Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Corinthians 15:25-26)