Everyone who has read the Holy Gospel knows that Jesus Christ, being the only begotten son of God, was incarnated as a man from the Holy Spirit, who descended on the Virgin Mary.
His life and ministry are described in sufficient detail by the evangelists. But his death and subsequent Resurrection is what was predicted in the Old Testament. Why did this have to happen? How did all the cause and effect come together so that all the predictions about Jesus Christ came true?
These are very difficult questions. To answer them, you need to turn to the only truthful source - the Holy Gospel.
The reason why Jesus Christ was crucified
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The Gospel of Matthew says:
At that time they had a famous prisoner called Barabbas;
So, when they had gathered, Pilate said to them: whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?
for he knew that they had betrayed Him out of envy.
While he was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent him to say: Do not do anything to the Righteous One, because now in a dream I have suffered a lot for Him.
But the chief priests and elders stirred up the people to ask Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 27:15–26)
That is, the reason is clearly indicated to us: out of envy.
The people who listened to Christ's sermons when he taught him in the temple accepted his teaching with their hearts. It was so true that people were willing to go any distance to hear His preaching. They followed Jesus, listening to Him and accepting him as the Messiah. In addition, all those miracles that he showed people, healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding thousands of people with five loaves, indicated that he was not just another preacher, but exactly who he calls himself - the Son of God.
Because of his activities, the scribes and Pharisees lost their influence before our eyes, and, therefore, their income. The opportunity to increase their storehouses, decorate their robes, recline at feasts and sit in synagogues floated away from them. Now it was not them, but Jesus Christ who were greeted by the people's assemblies. He was called the Teacher, not the scribes and Pharisees. This was precisely the reason that envy and anger strangled the former authorities for the people.
And since the scribes and Pharisees lived among the people for many years, knew their weaknesses and vices, which they themselves instilled in the people, it was not difficult for them to press on the right strings.
The Lord saw everything in advance, he knew about his fate, but gave the Jews the right to choose between good and evil. And they chose a cross for him, shouting in unison “Crucify, crucify.”
Envy and malice are the reasons indicated in the Gospel itself that led Jesus Christ to Calvary.
Herod the Great - the king who feared Christ
...The ruler of Judea received eastern guests in his luxurious palace.
- Tell me, great Herod, how can we see the King who was born in your lands? - asked the sages. “We saw His star in the east and came to worship Him.
Herod couldn't believe his ears. He turned pale, then turned purple, clenched his fists, clenched his teeth... What were these people talking about?! He himself is a king, and no baby has been born to him recently! Herod tried his best not to show the guests how scared and angry he was, but the rage began to boil inside him more and more...
And why? What did the Magi ask that was so terrible for Herod the Great?
The whole point is that this king did not love people, but only loved power. And it would be worth adding one more epithet to his name - Herod the Great Villain.
This king really wanted everyone to love him. To do this, he built palaces and fortresses, theaters and circuses in Judea, erected entire new cities, spent a lot of money on remodeling the Jerusalem Temple - he rebuilt it huge and luxurious. Herod won wars, organized noisy holidays, but the people of Judea still hated him. Why? Because Herod was a villain.
He took the royal throne illegally. Before him, all the kings of Judea were Jews. Herod came from another people - the Edomites. How did he manage to become king? Rome helped Herod. The rulers of the huge Roman state wanted all the countries around them to obey them. And Judea too. King Herod suited Rome very well - obedient, cunning, resourceful. To remain in power, Herod, without ceremony, killed everyone who could shake his throne. He executed the wisest people of Judea so that they would not plot against him. He killed the richest in order to take away their property and jewelry and replenish the empty treasury, which he himself squandered on luxurious feasts and grandiose palaces. He even killed his closest relatives, suspecting them of treason. He killed the father and brother of his beloved wife, executed the wife herself and three sons...
In the domain of this terrible king, in a small cave near the small town of Bethlehem, little Jesus was born.
But Herod did not know about this!
...Hearing the alarming news from the Magi, the king immediately called his wise men - scribes and high priests:
- Find me immediately where some new king should be born? They remembered the ancient prophecies and leafed through the books:
- In Bethlehem of Judea, sir!
“Yeah! - Herod thought to himself. - So he got caught! Let the Magi find this impostor for me!”
- Dear! - he said to the wise men. - Go to Bethlehem, explore everything there and, when you find this Baby, notify me! I also want to worship Him...
Well, yes, well, “bow”... Destroy! Kill! To get rid of an unexpected contender for his throne—that’s what Herod the Great wanted!
Probably, this would have happened if the wise men had listened to the king’s instructions, returned to him and told him about the nativity scene, about the Royal Infant, to whom they brought gifts... But God’s Providence intervened: the wise men received a revelation in a dream not to go to Jerusalem, not to tell Herod anything , and return to your country by another route. So they did.
But Herod had no idea about this. He was informed that the magicians had outwitted the king, who considered himself the most cunning in the world. Herod became furious: “The unknown, prophesied Child will grow up and take away my power? This won’t happen!”
“I command that a detachment of soldiers be sent to Bethlehem!” - he shouted. - Kill all babies under two years of age in the city and its environs!..
Like the Magi, Joseph, Mary’s husband, also received a Divine revelation to immediately take the Child and Wife and flee to Egypt, because King Herod wants to destroy little Jesus. Christ escaped the massacre carried out by the cruel king in Bethlehem and was saved.
It so happened that Jesus did not even meet the first king during His earthly life, but this ruler was so afraid of Christ that he was ready to flood the whole city with blood just to kill Him!
Predestination
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But, as already said, the death of Christ was predetermined from the beginning; he had to die in order to cheat death. It was a way to cure humanity of original sin. The Lord knew what he had to endure in order to atone for the sins of mankind. That’s why he calls himself the son of man, emphasizing that he will suffer like a man, but having died, he will be resurrected.
And thus, to every person consisting of flesh and blood, God gave hope that resurrection awaits him, but at the same time, the main thing is to preserve his immortal soul from sin. That is why believers do not lose heart when reading the description of the terrible torment of the Lord. They just have to prevent them from happening again. But every time people sin, they again send Jesus Christ to the cross, making his atoning sacrifice meaningless.
Birth of John the Baptist.
It happened as Angel Gabriel predicted. Less than a year had passed since Zechariah and Elizabeth had a son. They were very happy, and their relatives rejoiced with them. In those ancient times, families usually had more children than today. If someone did not have children, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, it was considered a great misfortune. Children were given the names of their parents and relatives. “When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day according to the law of Israel, they wanted to name him by the name of his father, Zechariah. To this his mother said: “No, but call him John.” And they said to her: “There is no one in your family who is called by this name.” And they asked his father by signs what he would like to call him. He demanded a tablet and wrote: John is his name. And everyone was surprised. And immediately his lips loosened, and he began to speak, blessing God. And there was fear on all those living around them; and they told about all this throughout the entire hill country of Judea. Everyone who heard it laid it on their hearts and said: “What will happen to this child?” And the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zechariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that he hath visited his people, and wrought deliverance unto them, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he hath declared by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been of old. ... And you, a baby, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will come before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to make His people understand salvation in the forgiveness of their sins, for by the gracious mercy of our God, by whom the East is from above, to enlighten those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide their feet ours on the path of peace." Very little has been written about the life of the young man John. In the Gospel of Luke one can only read: “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his appearing to Israel” LUKE 1:57-80
The people did not wait for the Messiah
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Why did those people who followed the Lord in crowds, saw the miracles that He performed for them, suddenly turn away from him so easily? Why didn’t they shout down the crowd that was sending Him to death?
Perhaps, and this is one of the versions, He did not live up to their expectations. The Jews believed that He was the Messiah who would become a leader, free Israel from the power of the pagans, make it great and the whole world would respect their state. But instead of taking power from King Herod by force and expelling the Romans who enslaved the Israelites, Christ called the Jews to repentance and prayer. He preached humility and mercy, not war and violence.
As a result: those who a few days ago at the entrance to Jerusalem shouted “Hosanna to the son of David”, a few days later shouted “Crucify, crucify Him!” at the palace of the governor Pontius Pilate.
Zechariah and the angel in the temple.
When the events described in the New Testament began, that is, almost two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were in a difficult situation. It has not had its own king for hundreds of years. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks...and finally the Roman conquerors owned it. God stopped speaking to the people through prophets, as in ancient times. The last of them, Malachi, lived in the fifth century before the birth of Jesus. So, the people, in their difficult situation, awaited the coming of the promised Messiah, who would deliver them from the foreign yoke and turn the hearts of people to God. But before the Messiah, Jesus Christ, appeared, God began to prepare the people for His coming through the young man John. John's birth was unusual. His father, Zechariah, was a priest. He lived with his wife Elizabeth in the Judean mountains. The couple were righteous and lived according to all the commandments and statutes of God. They were already elderly, but they had no children. One day, when Zechariah was in the temple in Jerusalem, and many people were praying outside the temple, the Angel of the Lord, Gabriel, appeared to him during incense. Zechariah was very scared. The angel said to him: “Do not be afraid of Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord; He will not drink wine or strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb; and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” But Zechariah doubted the Angel’s words and answered: “How do I know this? For I am old, and my wife is advanced in years.” The angel reproached the priest Zechariah for his unbelief and said: “... and behold, you will remain silent and will not be able to speak until the day this comes true, because you did not believe my words in due time, which will come true in their time. » Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to leave the temple and were surprised that he was delaying. LUKE 1:5-25
Epistle of Peter
The Apostle Peter also speaks about the death of Jesus Christ in his letter. He provides evidence that Christ also suffered for the sins of people, being a righteous man, in order to bring unrighteous people to God.
Have a good conscience, so that those for whom you are slandered as evildoers may be put to shame by those who reproach your good life in Christ.
For, if the will of God pleases, it is better to suffer for good deeds than for evil ones;
because Christ, in order to lead us to God, once suffered for our sins, the righteous for the unjust, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit,
to whom He and the spirits in prison, having descended, preached
1 Peter 3 verse 18
Jesus Christ was crucified because He equated Himself with God
Jesus told them, “My Father is always working, so I must also work.” And the Jews began to look even more persistently for an opportunity to kill Jesus, for He not only violated the Sabbath law, but also called God His Father, thereby equating Himself with God. (John 5:17-18)
Why were the Jews looking for an opportunity to kill Jesus Christ? In the Bible passage above, we see that they were very upset that Jesus equated Himself with God. No one, according to the Jews, could consider himself God. But they missed one thing - Jesus did not equate Himself with God, He was God and proved it with His entire life. God descended to earth, taking on the form of a man, to explain in human language what He wants from all mankind. To show through the life of Jesus Christ what kind of life anyone who wants to do the truth and be with God should lead. This touched the Jews very much. It was so touching that they crucified the Son of God with their own hands. By the way, Jews around the world still do not recognize Jesus Christ as the messiah and are still awaiting the coming of the messiah.
