Why Did Jesus Have to Suffer? - A Biblical Exploration

In this sermon, Reagan explores the profound question of why Jesus had to suffer, not just die, as part of his sacrifice. He begins by reading passages from Luke 9 and delves into various biblical texts to dissect the essential nature of Jesus's suffering. Reagan addresses common explanations and dismisses unsatisfactory answers, offering instead the perspective of Jesus's suffering as a pattern for believers in their own lives. The sermon highlights three main reasons for Christ's suffering: as a pattern for resisting temptation, demonstrating humility, and learning obedience. Reagan encourages listeners to find strength and inspiration in Jesus's example to endure their own trials and sufferings.

00:00 Introduction and Opening Prayer
00:44 The Question of Jesus' Suffering
03:10 Biblical Evidence of Christ's Necessary Suffering
07:26 Exploring Misconceptions About Jesus' Suffering
09:17 Christ's Suffering as a Pattern for Us
12:48 The Depth of Jesus' Temptation and Humility
26:41 The Purpose of Jesus' Obedience Through Suffering
31:16 Conclusion and Call to Faith

Transcript

Well, good afternoon. It's so good to see everybody here this evening. If you have your Bible with you, would you take it out and turn to Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter nine. We're gonna read a number of passages from Luke at the beginning of our lesson, and we'll start in Luke chapter nine in verse 22.

If you don't mind marking your spot there. We'll come back to Luke chapter nine here in just a second. But Luke chapter nine in verse 22 is the first passage that we'll read tonight. Everyone, I don't think that's too broad of a statement. Everyone, especially those with genuine faith, have questions that they struggle with pertaining to their faith.

And having questions is a good thing if we ask questions. Find answers because we love God. I have lots of questions none that make me doubt God or his word, or what Christ came and accomplished, but many questions for which I, I wish I had a better answer than the one that I have. And with that in mind, I wanna wrestle with a question tonight that I've long had kind of.

Marinating in the back of my mind, especially when thinking about the cross or partaking of the Lord's Supper. For many years I've, I've focused on what we're doing as we partake of the Lord's Supper, and I have this kind of nagging question in the back of my mind, which is, why did Jesus have to suffer?

Why did Jesus have to suffer? Now, please understand what it is that I'm asking tonight. I know why Christ had to die. He was a sacrifice for sins. Now, there's a lot more to it than that, and we won't talk about all of those more things tonight, but I feel confident saying, I've long known why Jesus had to die as a s.

But if you look at the Old Testament, God's sacrifices never suffered. In fact, God saw to it in the old law that they didn't suffer. It was a quick and relatively painless death for the bird or the lamb or the ox or whatever was being sacrificed. So why did Christ and his sacrifice have to suffer?

Dallas apparently has the same question. As he was doing his Lord Supper talk this morning. I was like, well. I guess I'm gonna have to figure out something else to preach on tonight. But I think, like me Dallas is working through this question. Why, why specifically did Jesus have to suffer? I've been working on this lesson since early April and the answers are.

Nuanced, unwieldy enough that it, it might in some ways be better suited for a series of classes where we could discuss it and talk about it and all those sorts of things. But the preacher's job, at least in part, is to be able to take a large amount of unwieldy material and distill it into something consumable.

And I wanna try and do that tonight. And to begin, I think the scriptures do make abundantly clear that Christ had to suffer, that this was something that was not incidental, not something that just happened. It was essential for Christ to accomplish his purposes, that Christ must suffer to use his own words.

And if you're there in Luke chapter nine and verse 22, notice some examples. This is just from the Gospel of Luke. There's this same concept in other gospels, same concept in the Book of Acts and the sermons that are found there. But for the sake of time, we'll just look at some examples from the Gospel of Luke.

So Luke chapter nine and verse 22. Jesus says, the son of man must suffer many things. And be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day that all of this, including the suffering aspect, was a requirement for Christ sacrifice. Now, if you go over a few chapters, we're skipping over actually some of the examples where Jesus talks about this.

But if you go on to Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 17 in verse 25.

Luke chapter 17 in verse 25 and speaking about his kingdom. Jesus says, but he. But first he that is the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And then after his resurrection in Luke chapter 24, 1 of my favorite passages where Jesus is interacting with people, he finds these disciples on the road to Emmaus.

They're all upset because. They fought Jesus was the Messiah, and yet he was crucified at the hands of the Romans. And now people are saying that he's risen again. And they're like, we don't know what to do with all of this information. And so Jesus, before he reveals himself to them, says in verse 25, then he said to them, oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe and all that the prophets have spoken.

Ought not the Christ who have suffered these things. To enter into his glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them and all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. I was talking to somebody, maybe it was Eric, maybe it was Jesse. I don't remember who exactly. I think it was Eric and I was saying that of all of the conversations that I wish I could be a fly on the wall for in all the history of the world, I wish I could have been here to hear what Jesus had to say to these two men on the road to Emmaus, because he told them in all the scriptures the things concerning.

Himself and if we drop down later in that same chapter to verse 44, down through verse 46, in speaking to his disciples now in Galilee, he said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me, all parts of the Old Testament all talking about me.

And he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Then he said to them, thus, it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. So Jesus himself, and, and those to whom he revealed these things all agree. The suffering aspect was required.

It was something that Jesus had to do. And all of these prophecies that are referred to in these verses Jesus is talking about here, they, they point to the, the same essential nature of his suffering, and especially those prophecies that we think about and read while partaking the Lord's supper, like Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22 and others.

So again, why? Why did Christ have to suffer? Dallas this morning, I think made a good point as a picture of sin. That's good. That's a, that's a good reason. But there are some less good explanations that I've heard through the years as to why Jesus had to suffer. Some people say Jesus had to suffer to satisfy the wrath of God.

We sing that sometimes, right? The wrath of God was satisfied, but I don't think so. It has never, from the time I was old enough to think about it and study spiritual things made any sense to me that Christ's crucifixion was an exercise of jumping through a hoop to appease the wrath of God, that God was paying himself back with himself and that God's wrath had to be satisfied by a gruesome death on a cross Jesus in our place.

That that never made sense to me, and I don't think it makes sense scripturally. Was Jesus, quote unquote, taking the punishment we deserve. Well, that's not really what's communicated by the biblical authors. There are things that we deserve that we don't receive because of Christ's sacrifice, but was he really literally taking our punishment in our place?

We all deserve death. That's the consequence of sin and punishment. But do we all deserve a physical crucifixion? Is that, is that the fate that Jesus was sparing us from? I, I think we're going down the wrong path with that kind of thinking. Now, just because something doesn't make sense to me, doesn't mean that it's not true.

There needs to be an alternative explanation. And so that's what I've been searching for and there are several, I think, really good explanations to consider as to why Christ had the sacrifice. But I want us to narrow our focus and think about this one explanation as at least a partial answer to the question, why did Jesus had to suffer you ready?

Christ had to suffer. As a pattern to us, Christ had to suffer as a pattern to us. Go back to Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter nine. That first passage that we read in verse 22 of Luke, chapter nine. The son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day, and what's the very next thing Jesus says in verse 23?

Then he said to them all. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Jesus says, I'm going to the cross and I must suffer these things and die and rise the third day. And if you're gonna come after me, if you're gonna follow after me, you have to take up your cross daily and follow after me.

Now, maybe that's reading between the lines just a little bit that Jesus suffered to show us how to suffer, but, but Peter makes this connection explicit when he says in first Peter chapter two. If you want to turn over there to the back of your Bible, first Peter, chapter two, verses 20 through 24, in a book that's all about suffering and Christian suffering and righteous suffering, Peter says in one Peter chapter two, beginning in verse 20.

For what credit is it? If when you are beat for your faults, you take it patiently, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you, Christians were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps.

Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, did not revile in return when he suffered, he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins and his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.

Jesus suffered for us, and he leaves us an example by that suffering that we should follow in his steps. Maybe think of it like his baptism. Why did Jesus have to be baptized? He didn't need his sins washed away. And what we see there in the gospel of John was that he was baptized to fulfill all righteousness.

How? Well, among other things, he fulfilled all righteousness as a picture of perfect submission and obedience as an example for us, that baptism is what you do to start a new life. And I think there is a similar answer for the crucifixion. It was for our sakes, not just in providing the sacrifice, but in providing the pattern.

The example for us to follow. The motivation to get through the difficulties caused by sin, death, and Satan. The reality is, brethren, we, we will suffer in this life, and Christ suffered as that pattern or example for us on the cross in three ways. Christ had to suffer because through suffering, he showed the depths of his temptation.

As a pattern for facing our own. I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter two if you would. Hebrews chapter two and notice just a few passages from the book of Hebrews. And if you like to mark your spot in Hebrews, we're gonna be camping out in giving our three ways in which Hebrew provides us the pattern from the book of Hebrews.

But we'll start Hebrews chapter two and verse nine. Jesus had to be made like us. Be tempted like us in order to be that perfect sinless sacrifice, and that could only be accomplished through suffering. Hebrews chapter two, beginning in verse nine, but we see Jesus who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone, for it was fitting for him.

For whom are all things and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. This completed Jesus's mission, this brought it all to ahead, and if you drop down there to verse 17 of the same chapter, Hebrews chapter two and verse 17.

Therefore, in all things he had to be made like his brethren. That he might be a merciful and fateful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation the, the paid price for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted. He is able to aid those who are tempted and Jesus's suffering through, through these terrible sufferings.

He, he experienced temptation. And it is through that he is able to help us who are tempted as well. And the Hebrew writer kind of concludes this argumentation in chapter four in verses 15 and 16. For we do not have chapter four and verse 15 for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.

But wasn't all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. We may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Christ suffered because we will suffer. Raise your hand if you've ever suffered in this life. I mean, to some degree or another. We've all suffered in this life and he had to be tempted in all points as we are yet without sin to provide his sacrifice, I would suggest he had to suffer.

Had to suffer in this kind of extreme way to be that pattern and example for us in suffering. Imagine for a moment, what if Jesus just lived an easy life? He just lived a, a life there in Nazareth as a carpenter and did his work and had no great hardships. No great pain, no great shame, no great conflicts, no great enemies.

Maybe he did some teaching here or there, and then at the end of that long and easy life, he, he just died. He, he passed away. That would be a life of much less temptation than many ordinary people who suffer great things in this life. Now, would he have lived that life, sinlessly? Of course he would have, and in that way he still would've been different than anyone who ever lived.

But the temptations that he faced would be less than the temptations that many other face and the devil sees to it that we will go through those temptations of suffering. And while God can use suffering for his purposes, suffering really is a tool of the devil, and it is a consequence of sin. And yet, Jesus conquered both.

He conquered Satan and he conquered sin. And in order to conquer those things, he had to conquer the suffering that went with them. He had to endure the temptation of suffering to overcome it. Think of all of those who suffered. Terrible things. Execution, who were thrown into the, into the pit with the lions and the beast in Rome, who were boiled alive, who were crucified, who were told either curse Christ or die.

Think about those people in the first couple of centuries after his death at the hands of the Romans. Think of those in the centuries to follow, who have suffered great things for his name. Jesus had just lived a relatively easy life and died. How much harder would it have been for them to face their suffering with hope and expectation as he did, and think of those who suffer.

Now, for some of you, that's not difficult because you're suffering now pain and untimely, untimely loss and betrayal and abandonment. Jesus faced it all Now, not literally that he's faced every single circumstance of suffering that's ever been in times past, but no one who is suffering, no matter how great can say, well, Jesus just doesn't understand my suffering.

He knows what you're suffering because suffered too, not just on the cross, but certainly including the cross. So when you suffer and you are attempted to lose heart or give up or give in to sin, remember Christ suffered too. And despite that suffering, he overcame temptation. Why for you and for me, Christ had to suffer as a pattern for us in regard to temptation.

Secondly, Christ had to suffer because through suffering, he showed the depth of his humility as a pattern for pursuing our own humility. Have you ever thought about how you would like to die? I mean, that's a little morbid. My. My grandmother on my mom's side is here. My grandmother on my other side, on my dad's side, she would always say talking about death and talking about, you know, going to the cemetery and seeing our dead loved ones and those sorts of things.

She'd say, I'm not being morbid. I'm not being morbid. Well, it's a little morbid to ask, how would you like to die? But I think if we sat and thought about that for a little while, we probably would have our preferences on how we would like to and how we would probably not like to, personally, I would like to have an easy death.

A pleasant death, a quick death, an an honorable death. But there was no honor in the death that Jesus died. This was not an honorable death. It was a shameful, painful death for the worst kind of criminal. You're still there in Hebrews turn over a few chapters. The Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12. In verses one through three, after all of these accolades for these people who did these things by faith and, and how they overcome, overcame all of these, these things that they had to face.

Notice what the Hebrew writer says in verse one of chapter 12. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses laid us, lay aside every weight and the sin, which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the originator and perfecter of our faith.

Maybe your translation says, he is our pattern. We look to him for faith. Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Jesus endured the cross. Despising The what? Pain Despising. The dread despising the spiritual suffering. No. Despising the shame. Christ sacrificed himself for us. Endured the shame of the cross. And he, what does that mean, that he despised the shame? He looked down on the shame. He said, yeah, I can go through the shame of this death.

That is, that is not a big deal to me in comparison to what is going to be received. The, the hope that was set before him, not just for him himself, but also for us. The good that it did for us was worth it to him to go through the shame. And if we see that shame, the glory and triumph of the resurrection becomes that much more beautiful, powerful, and vindicating in comparison.

If we see the shame Jesus went through, we can see the the hope and exaltation that he received on the other side of it. And that should inspire us. It should revive us again. Jesus's humility. And willingness to serve others. Where is it most clearly seen? You know, for a long time, I thought that was most clearly seen on the night of his betrayal when he took that towel and he took that bucket and he went and he washed the feet of his disciples.

But I think his humility was most clearly seen now as he hung upon the cross, the son of God. Nakedly put to an open shame and all who walked by GedEd him, and he was willing to despise that shame. Look down on that. Yeah, I'll do that. Because of what it meant to us. That's humility. I don't think I'm a very prideful person.

Is that a prideful thing to say? Until I'm disrespected. Until I'm dishonored. And then all of this pride I didn't even know was in there. It just comes welling up. How dare you speak to me like that? How dare you disrespect me like that? And yet here we find the son of God, God in the flesh, dying the most disrespectful death there was to die because he was willing to sacrifice.

For the good of others. You know, we kill selfishness with this kind of humility and sacrifice. As spouses, no one is happy if we're both pursuing our own happiness, independent of the needs of others. And, and I hear statements sometimes like, I need to do this for me. Well, what, what do I get married for if all I want to do is do things for myself?

I made a vow to love, honor, and cherish my spouse, not for myself. And the funny thing is, if we become sacrificial servants to our spouses, we're, we're gonna become happier too, if we're willing to suffer a little bit for the good of our spouse. That shows our humility in that relationship. What about for our kids?

We sacrifice so that they can become all that they could be in all of these different events and activities to go to a good school to be successful in life. But do we truly sacrifice those things that exalt and, and put them up on a pedestal? And we have amazing kids who, who deserve to be put on pedestals.

Are we willing to sacrifice some of those things for the humility of their spiritual good? Because the reality is they could end up being a star in every sport and go to MIT and have a business that makes Donald Trump jealous. But if they lose their soul because they never learn to sacrifice for God and others, we have done them a terrible disservice.

And so Jesus had to suffer to show us what humility looked like. Are you willing to give up everything for the good of somebody else? Even your pride, even Your Honor? Well, God values humility, and there is no greater image of humility than the cross. So when you suffer for the benefit and wellbeing of others and have to humble yourself to do so.

Remember Christ suffered too on the cross. Now much of the answer to this question is seen in the Roman purpose of crucifixion. The cross was a suffering death. We talked about that, right? It's painful, there's suffering involved in it. The cross was a shameful death. I think in many ways that was the, the primary thing that was, that was being communicated on the cross.

Here's the shame of someone who goes against the Roman Empire. But that idea of going against the Roman Empire is the third real purpose of crucifixion. It was a subjugating death. It was intended to show everyone that Rome was in charge and that you had to submit and obey, or you're gonna end up on a cross too if you don't submit and obey to the will of Rome.

But Jesus's suffering on the cross was an indeed about submission, but not to Rome or any physical worldly empire. It was in obedience to his father's will. That he went and suffered and died on the cross. Why did Jesus have to suffer? Well, Christ had to suffer because through sh suffering, he showed his learned obedience.

And that obedience that he learned is a pattern for our own. Now, the truest test of obedience is when you choose to do something you don't want to do because you were told to do it. Did you hear that? The truest test of obedience is when you're told to do something that you don't want to do and you do it anyway.

I mean, it's no big deal to obey when it's something you want to do anyway. Like I said, my parents, my, my sister and brother-in-law, my, my, my grandmother and Jerry are here with us tonight, and I'm glad that they're all here. I didn't get sent to my room a lot as a kid. There were other forms of punishment that were more effective with me, I guess.

Now. I think part of the reason for that is I didn't mind going to my room. I had my little basketball goal in there, you know, that was up above the doorway. I had all my books in there. I, I mean, I could go to my room and that's fine. I'll figure out something to do for a long, long time. So being told, go to your room.

I can obey that. I kinda wanna do that anyway. No problem. But clean your room. Well that's a totally different story, right? And that's a small thing. But what about big things? Are there commands of God that really, that kinda like you, like you don't, I kind of enjoy this command. This is a good thing.

Husbands love your wives. There are days. But more often than not, I enjoy that command. That's, yeah, I wanna do that anyway. Love your enemies. Well, that's the true test of obedience, isn't it? Am I willing to do that? Saying that I don't want to do, because I know God has commanded me to do it. And through the suffering on the cross, Jesus showed his learned obedience.

And I put it in those terms because of that's the way Hebrews chapter five verses seven through nine puts it. If you turn back to Hebrews chapter five, when you have to suffer to obey, that's when real faithfulness, trust and submission are seen through that obedience. Hebrews chapter five, after being called a priest forever, according to the order of Melek that the Hebrew writer says of Jesus, who.

Verse seven of chapter five. In the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the author of Eternal Salvation to All who Obey him.

Jesus learned obedience by the things that he suffered. Now, I've told you before, suffered is a Greek word for experienced here, but that word is always used in an unpleasant sense. You experience something bad and that's how you learn it. And both ideas are certainly in play here. Experience and suffering.

He was God when he was in heaven. And of course he knew obedience, but then he experienced it by obeying his father himself as a man. And that was something new. And while experience is part of that, verse seven makes absolutely clear that suffering. As part of that experience, his suffering and going to the cross is ultimately where he learned what obedience was.

In that sense, Jesus learned to obey even when his feelings desired something else, there was a sense in which he didn't want to go to the cross. If it is possible, let this cut pass from me and we have to learn the same thing too. To obey even when our feelings desire something else. And we have Jesus's example on the cross.

So when you obey, even though you have to suffer to do so, remember Christ suffered too and he obeyed so that you can have hope of forgiveness and you can have hope of obedience. Having been perfected through learning this obedience, he became the author of Eternal Salvation to All Who Obey Him. If you are willing to obey him, even if you must suffer, you too can have the same reward.

Well, hopefully that helps. In answering the question, why did Christ have to suffer, not just die, but suffer, but what remains unanswered perhaps is are you willing to suffer for. And like him, because suffer you might suffer, you probably will as a Christian, but I am reminded of the words of Paul in Romans chapter eight and verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed.

Our very best times on earth, but also our very worst times are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be seen in eternity. As good as the best times are good, as bad as the worst times are bad, neither can be compared on the chart with the glory that will be revealed in us. As bad as Paul's sufferings were, which he laid out the, the guilt that he felt over the things that he had done the shipwrecks and the stonings and the surgings and his constant concern for all the churches.

He says those sufferings aren't worthy to be compared with the glory that would be revealed in us. And not just Paul's sufferings, no one's sufferings, not Jeremiah's, sufferings not job's. As we have been studying on Sunday morning, and I, I don't say this lightly. Christ's Christ's sufferings of the present time when he was on earth are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us because that's why he came, isn't it?

Knowing he was going to suffer and that he had to suffer in order to provide that sacrifice for sins, it was worth it to him, and it should be worth it to us to suffer. So that we can be there with him in glory. And if you're not yet a Christian this evening, yes, there is temptation. And yes, sometimes we fall to that temptation because it's difficult.

But if we are humble enough to subject ourselves to Jesus, to obey him, to submit to him, to put him on in baptism, salute me, we might rise to walk in newness of life, there is glory that will be revealed in us even through suffering. And if we can help you this evening to either come to Christ or to have the love and concern and prayers of your brothers and sisters in Christ to get through that suffering, please let us help this evening.

If you'll come now together we stand and while we sing the.