Why Jesus Died – (3) To Learn Obedience and (4) To Achieve His Own Resurrection

Today, we continue our series synthesizing John Piper’s book The Passion of Jesus Christ: 50 Reasons Why He Came to Die.

3. To learn obedience and be perfected (Heb 2:10; 5:8) – Christ was sinless and yet He was tempted just like us in every way (Heb 4:15). He loved to always please the Father. He didn’t have to put off sin, because He never sinned. Even His baptism wasn’t like ours; He didn’t get baptized because He was needing to make “a public profession of faith” and show He was no longer in bondage to sin. He was baptized to learn obedience (Matt 3:15). Piper writes, “If the Son of God had gone from incarnation to the cross without a life of temptation and pain to test his righteousness and his love, he would not be a suitable Savior for fallen man” (pg. 25).

4. To achieve His own resurrection from the dead (Heb 13:20-21) – Jesus’ death earned Him a resurrection. The resurrection becomes the reward for His suffering on the cross and the completed work of atonement for man. The resurrection is proof that the Father’s wrath was satisfied. The resurrection shows Jesus’ was enough to pay for sin.