Jesus died to free people from slavery. His death is similar to that of the pass over lamb and the goat. Also Christians believe that Jesus died in order to bring about a new agreement between god and his people. This new agreement was called a ‘covenant’. In the Old Testament covenants were sealed with the killing of a bird. The people would then walk in the middle of the bird that had been cut into two pieces. The Ten Commandments is an example of a covenant.
Christians believe that Jesus died in order to bring about a new agreement, which involved people acting in a loving way. The word for this is ‘agape’ which is Greek. This new covenant was not meant to be written on tablets of stone, but on the hearts of people.
Jesus’ death showed Christians that he was a man. This is because there were gentiles called docetics who believed that the body was evil and after death the soul could escape from the body and join with god. If the body was so bad, then how could god become a man? They thought it was impossible and thereby Jesus must have been a spirit. In Marks gospel he tells us that Jesus died a physical death on the cross. This means that he suffered very slow suffocation and had nails driven through he wrists and anklebones.
The Jews believed that God cursed any one who died on a tree. This is found in the book of Deuteronomy. When Jesus cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’, it is seen to be a cry for despair that God had really left him with out help. Some people believe that Jesus died a criminal’s death on the cross in order to unite God with his people again.
When Jesus died on the cross the curtain in the temple tore in two. This curtain separated God from ordinary people. Only the high priest was allowed access. Christians believe that the tearing of the curtain showed that God was there for everyone.
The Greek word for servant is ‘diakonoi’. Jesus dies as a servant of god. When Jesus dies the centurion says ‘This man was really the son of God’. These were the words of a gentile and as mark was writing for Gentile Christians, these words were important and showed that faith enabled a person to gain entry into the kingdom of God.
Jesus’ death was a ransom. Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world.
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