ON THE 11TH OF APRIL, A.D. 32, the greatest murder in history took place — the death of Christ! There was never a death like His! Death has a claim on all men by virtue of sin, but death had no claim on Him for He was sinless. Death was not a physical necessity to the Lord; it was a moral necessity in order to fulfil the Scripture and procure eternal salvation for you and me. Peter charges Israel, “Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain . . . Ye killed the Prince of life . . . Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” (Acts 2:23; 3:15; 5:30). Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, laid a similar charge to Israel; “The Just One (Jesus); of whom ye have been now the be-trayers and murderers” (Acts 7:52). Since Christ did not fit into their plans, they cried, “Away with this Man” (Luke 23:18), “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:25). As a result of calling this judgment upon them-selves, Israel has suffered ever since.

VOLUNTARY

Even though Israel is charged with the murder of God’s Son, He died voluntarily at the hands of God. Death holds the first mortgage on every life, and often forecloses its accounts without respect to age. But death held no such mortgage on Christ! In fact, He manifested His authority over death by raising the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5), a widow’s son (Luke 7), and Lazarus (John 11) from the dead. He alone could say, “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17,18). The Lord was never a dying man. He died, but with Him, it was an act and not a gradual process. He dismissed His spirit into the Father’s hands by divine power (Luke 23:46). He died voluntarily!

NATURE’S REACTION

God showed through the elements of nature that Christ’s death was incomparable to any other death. The sun was darkened (Luke 23:45). “The earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened” (Matthew 27:51,52).

PROPHECIES FULFILLED

Christ’s death was unique! It was no accident, but rather prearranged by God. Scripture says that as a sacrifice, Christ “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (I Peter 1:20). Old Testament prophets foretold “the sufferings of Christ” (I Peter 1:11).

* Judas betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver, exactly as Zechariah prophesied 500 years previously. Com-pare Zechariah 11:12 with Matthew 27:9.

* Isaiah, 740 years earlier, wrote, “I gave my backto the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). This Scripture was fulfilled in Christ. Read Matthew 26:67.

* David told how they would put Him to death by writing, “They pierced my hands and my feet” (Psalm 22:16). He also spoke in Psalm 69:21, of the gall and the vinegar which would be given Christ to drink. Roman soldiers did this very thing at Calvary. Christ refused the offered opiate which was intended to numb his senses. Later, He re-ceived just the vinegar (John 19:30) to fulfill the last half of David’s prophecy uttered 1,000 years previously!

* Isaiah foretold that Christ would be “numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). Knowing nothing of Isaiah’s prophecy, Roman soldiers did that very thing when they nailed Christ on a cross between two thieves. Thus a 740-year-old prophecy came to pass!

* David wrote, “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture” (Psalm 22:18). Oh, yes, it happened exactly as it was written! Soldiers did this very thing at the foot of the Cross (John 19: 23, 24).

* “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken” (Psalm 34:20). Over 1,000 years later at Calvary, un-godly soldiers broke the legs of the two who were crucified with Him. “But when they came to Jesus . . . they brake not His legs” (John 19:33). All these facts are amazing, but absolutely true!

* Then the last act against His blessed body occurred when “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side” (John 19:34), fulfilling a 500-year-old prophecy found in Zechariah 12:10.
In the light of all these amazing Scriptures, who would dare claim that the death of Christ was not unique, in-comparable, and planned by God?

THE OBJECT OF HIS DEATH

Why did Christ die? Let Scripture answer! “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). Not only did He die to deliver us from an evil world system, but “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (I Peter 3:18). How wonderful to know that He gave Himself for me (Galatians 2: 20)! He bore my sins in His own body on the tree (I Peter 2:24), delivering me from a life of sin. How blessed to know that He has been raised from the dead and He is now in Heaven where I shall be with Him in that eternal home! Thank God, I know Christ as my Saviour! I’ll never suffer for my sins in hell, for He suffered for them on the Cross! Do you have the same assurance? If not, read John’s Gos-pel chapter 3, and believe!

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT JOHN 3:16