Matthew 27

“If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (v40).  This was a logical, though mocking, challenge to the Messiah.  Jesus could have proved Himself invincible by simply staying alive.  But His purpose wasn’t just to display power or to defeat the visible structures of corrupt government and manipulative religion.  He wanted to free us from spiritual bondage and remove our curse.  For this, He had to die. 

Jesus absorbed the consequences of human sin (past, present, and future) in His own body, suffering our punishment, dying our death, giving us in exchange His own purity and freedom and eternal life.