Why Jesus Died

 •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 9
 
WHEN Mary was at a boarding school a special time was given to the girls each morning for reading their Bibles and for prayer. A bell rang at 6:30, the waking bell, and then at seven o'clock the silence bell told the school that now they could read for fifteen minutes quietly, until the next bell. Fifteen minutes was not very long, certainly, but it is surprising how much you can think about in so short a time.
Mary tried to make the most of those few moments in order to get a little heavenly food to carry her through the day. Sometimes she looked up subjects, such as faith, love, joy, and righteousness, and traced them through Scripture as well as she could, and at other times she would go through one of the sixty-six books given to us by God as His word. She used to read through the book she had chosen, to get its general teaching and scope, and then go through it again to get more detail.
One day she looked up some of the reasons given for the death of Jesus. Mary knew that Jesus had died to put away sin, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Yes, she knew that she had been brought to God by Jesus, but there were other reasons.
She read in Rom. 14:99For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. (Romans 14:9) that "to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.”
She had never thought of this as one of the reasons for the death of Jesus, that He might be her Lord, not only her Savior from sin, but her Lord. She, then, was to be one of the faithful subjects of His kingdom not seen by this world, but every member loved and known by the Lord Himself. As Mary read this verse, it impressed her very much, so that she prayed that she might ever be a faithful and obedient subject to the One whom she now realized was her Lord.
As she searched on, she found another reason given for the death of Jesus. In Gal. 1 she read, "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world." From this verse Mary saw clearly that the death of Jesus, His giving Himself, cut her off from the world.
No one quite knows whether a bat is a bird or an animal, for it has wings and can fly like a bird, but most of its habits are those of smaller animals. There are people like this, no one can be sure whether they are really Christians or not, for they are in some ways like those who love the Lord Jesus, and in other ways like those who have no desire to know and follow Him.
Mary saw that Jesus had died that she might be marked off from the world and its ways, its dress, its amusements, to be entirely for the Lord Jesus, who gave Himself to deliver her from it, "this present evil world." She prayed that she might seek from henceforth to be wholly for Him: snot half and half, partly for the Lord and partly for the world, for Jesus Himself had said, No man can serve two masters.”
Then there was another important reason why Jesus died. “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." (2 Cor. 5:1515And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:15).)
The Lord Jesus said when down here, "I do always those things that please him [God],” and the Apostle Paul could say of Him, that "even Christ pleased not himself." So this was to be Mary's aim, to be for Him, for her Lord, the One who had given Himself for her, to keep her from this evil world, and give her an object to live for, even Himself.
You would be well advised to read one of these verses each day, meditate on it and pray about it, and you will get great good and be able to tell others, too, some of the reasons why Jesus died.