Why was Jesus, the Messiah, born to die?

The prophet Isaiah wrote about the coming Messiah seven hundred years before Jesus was born. Most of the people of Israel had come to believe their Messiah would free them from Roman tyranny. They expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who would help them become the leading nation of the world, like King David and his son, King Solomon, had done during their reigns. Isaiah had told them about Jesus, but most people in Israel wanted someone different.

Jesus didn’t come to save our earthly lives or to promise prosperity on earth. He came for the sake of our eternal lives, knowing that humankind was unable to escape their sins without his sacrifice.

People often choose to live for themselves instead of living for God. When we break God’s commandments, we transgress. We have iniquities because we act immorally and treat people unfairly. Those are sins in our lives because we know to do better and sin anyway. For that, Jesus allowed his hands and feet to be pierced by nails. He allowed his bones to be crushed in sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). We deserved to be separated from God, but Jesus bore our chastisement so that we could have his peace.

Our lives have been healed, eternally. We should have been pierced, crushed, and separated from God’s blessings, but Jesus paid our debt so we could receive all we needed to be saved. Jesus gave everything so that we could live eternally with God.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. How should we sacrifice our lives so others can gain eternal life? Pray for the wisdom and devotion to live the life Jesus modeled for each of us.