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The simple answer might be that Jesus died because he was a preacher of radical ideas, who disturbed the religious and political leaders of his time, exposed their hypocrisy, aroused their jealousy and hatred and so was condemned to death on a cross.
That of course is by no means the whole story. It ignores the fact that Jesus willingly laid down his own life, that no-one took it from him. He died so that we might live. He became sin so that we might be freed from sin.
As the Bible says: Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18). We all know that forgiveness can be costly and it was costly for God to forgive us. It cost God his own Son.
In the womb of Mary his mother Jesus took upon himself our nature. On the cross of Calvary Jesus took upon himself our sins. He was first made flesh (John 1:14). He was then ‘made sin’. ( 2 Corinthians 5:21). In the silence, the agony and the darkness of those terrible hours upon the cross, the sins of the whole world, of every place and of every generation, were laid upon him.
As we begin to understand what that means, we also become aware of the love which God has for us and for all of his creation.
Read more about The Crucifixion
or The Great Exchange
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