THE DEATH OF CHRIST

THE DEATH OF CHRIST

INTRODUCTION

The death of Christ is spoken of in the Bible under a large number of terms such as: "Death", "Die", "Blood", "Cross", "Slain", "Baptism", "Cup", "Delivered up", "Offered up", "Gave Himself up", etc.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST

The Death of Christ is the Central Theme of Scripture

These articles deal with over 100 passages in the New Testament alone

In Old Testament Prophecy (Best known texts only)

Gen. 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Psa. 22:1-31
Psa. 69:1-21
Isa. 52:13 - 53:12
Dan. 9:24-26 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined."
Zech. 12:10; 13:1,7 "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."

John the Baptist
John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

In the Baptism of Christ

Matt. 3:13-17 cf. Isa. 42:1 -- Suffering Servant "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles."

In the Teaching of Christ Himself

Some say Christ had little to say about death.
The answer is that Christ came, not so much to preach the Gospel of His Own death, but in order that there might be such a Gospel to preach! But our Lord did speak of His death:

Matt. 16:21 - note "began" "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
John 3:14-15 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
John 6:51-56 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him."

In the Epistles

Very Numerous References, Especially in Paul's Letters

Romans               Colossians

1 Cor.               Hebrews

Galatians            1 Peter

Ephesians            1 John

In Old  Testament Sacrificial System

An immense field. Recall that the early preachers had only the Old Testament. Cf. Heb. 9:1-10:10