Many of us know that our Lord Jesus Christ died in order to redeem us. But do you know why He had to die the death of the cross? Couldn't it have been a different kind of death? A less shameful and less painful death? Well, if you've ever posed these kinds of questions before, then this video is for you.
Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Why did our Lord Jesus Christ have to die on the cross? Why did He choose the death of crucifixion as the means by which He would redeem humanity? Could He not have chosen a different or a less agonizing means by which He could save us? Believe it or not, this very same question is one that many Christians of the very early Church would often ask themselves.
Our father among the saints, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, has exactly taken the time to answer this question in the most beautiful way. Let's take a look at some of the arguments that St. Athanasius puts forward so we can better understand the necessity of the cross for our salvation.
But just before we get into that, I want us to make one point very, very clear. If it were not for the death of the cross, all of humanity would still be under the sway of the evil one and death would continue to have its rule over us. It is in the Lord's sacrifice on the cross that all things in heaven and on earth have been reconciled through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is exactly what St Paul teaches us in his Epistle to the Colossians. Our salvation would not be complete if it were not for His loving sacrifice on the cross, because, as Scripture teaches us:
'' 7 In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.'' (Ephesians 1:7)
Now, as for why the cross was necessary, why He specifically chose that means of death in order to save us, let's take a look at it together and see what St. Athanasius of Alexandria has to say on the matter. It's important to begin by understanding that the Lord's coming in the flesh was not done by some sort of coercion. Rather, it was our broken state that cried out for His love and He responded. He responded by taking flesh. And according to St. Athanasius, it is for our salvation that He condescended and took on the form of humanity in order to save us. St. Athanasius states the following and I think he says it really beautifully:
''He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men.'' (St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, chapter 1)
He says this in On the Incarnation, in the very first chapter. With this in mind, we will also understand that every decision, even the choosing of the cross as the means of His sacrifice, all of it is done with us in mind. Everything is for us and for our salvation, as the Holy Creed clearly states.
Now, St. Athanasius explains simply that in order to defeat the enemy, which is death, the Lord needed to meet with death face to face. Like any great fight, the opposing sides must meet in battle and face off to determine who will be victorious. And in order to meet with death, simply, one must die. And in order to die, the Lord must take on mortal flesh. And so, He did just that. He became fully human, accepted the humiliation of embracing mortality for our sakes in order that He might die in the flesh and come face to face with our great enemy: death.
In so doing, and according to St. Athanasius, the Lord's means of death had to fulfill specific criteria, so that His death and His resurrection would not be diminished by foolish criticism. The death that He would allow Himself to suffer had to demonstrate that He is indeed the incarnate Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and He was both almighty and life Himself. Therefore, some of options of human death could not be tolerated.
For instance, He would never allow for Himself to die alone or of old age or of some sort of illness. A nice and simple passing away would have been unfitting. And to simply allow biology to take its course and to allow death to slowly creep in would have been to demonstrate weakness, which is not fitting for the Lord of all creation.
Also, He could not have chosen to be immortal or undying. As a human being, this would not have made sense. To be fully human would mean that He shares even in our death. Not to mention, as we stated before, He needed to die to face off against death, because death itself had to be destroyed when it met with Him who is life.
Finally, the Lord did not flee or hide from those who would execute Him, because His death had to be a public spectacle and it had to be well-known. In allowing for public execution, all would see and testify that He was indeed put to death, so that when He would rise again, His resurrection would also be celebrated and proclaimed by all. His victory over death would now also be public.
But why the cross? Why choose the most gruesome means of death that any human being could possibly endure? Why not choose a quick and honourable death, free from shame, free from humiliation. Athanasius would argue: because He wanted to let the enemy choose the weapon of choice. Athanasius says the following:
''Death came to His body, therefore, not from Himself but from enemy action, in order that the Saviour might utterly abolish death in whatever form [that] they offered it to Him.'' (St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, chapter 24)
Athanasius compares the Lord to a wrestler. He says that a noble and honest wrestler would not pick and choose weaker fighters to go up against in order to retain His title, but rather would say: Bring me the biggest and the baddest challenger that you've got, so that when I beat the best that you have, you will be forced to declare me the greatest champion.
And so, the Lord, in an attempt to shut the mouths of doubters and unbelievers, He let Himself go up against the most brutal and inhumane methods of torture and public execution the world had to offer. He went up against crucifixion. St. Athanasius explains this beautifully by saying the following in his book On the Incarnation:
''He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those others His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely terrible and by no means to be faced; and He did this in order that, by destroying even this death, He might Himself be believed to be the Life, and the power of death [would] be recognised as finally annulled.'' (St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, chapter 24)
In His resurrection, the Lord turns the cross from a means of torture to an instrument of salvation. His resurrection is His victory. And so, it changes everything. For this reason, the cross is not rejected by us as Christians. Rather, it's raised high and we are proud of it. Paul describes this and says the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. And again, St. Paul says:
'' 14 (...) God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.'' (Galatians 6:14)
The cross, therefore, is our hope, our chosen symbol, our pride, our joy. And for all of these reasons which we've mentioned, this is why He allowed for the cross. This is why it had to be public, dishonourable, cruel and so severe, so that in conquering death and rising from the tombs, you and I and all those who see would believe that our Lord is indeed Lord of all and life Himself, the only-begotten Word of the Father. He is God in the flesh.
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