Was Jesus’ Death Enough?

As a young believer, I had many deep questions about my faith in Christ.  It wasn’t so much that I had doubts, although to be honest, I certainly had those times, too.  But there were for me various unanswered issues that I had accepted by faith but had an earnest desire to understand and to be able to explain to others, especially to those who were skeptical of the truth.

One of the earliest books I read in my quest of understanding, beside the Bible, was Know Why You Believe by Paul Little.  In this book, written for the college campus environment, Little tackled some of the classic questions that are often thrown out by the skeptics, such as, If God is good, why does He permit evil?  I found that there were reasonable answers to such questions that a careful study of the Bible would reveal.  This strengthened my confidence in the Word of God to accept those parts that I could not understand, knowing the limitations were with me and not the Word.

There was one issue in particular that I wrestled with for a long time and I never heard a sermon about it.  My question was, How does Jesus’ death on the cross pay the penalty for my sins (taking the punishment that I deserved) when I am going to die anyway?  There’s even a theological term for the concept:  substitutionary atonement.  But are we just to believe without understanding?  Maybe, but I believe the Bible gives important clues to help us, and my experience with the “parallel reality” has given me a bit of new insight.

True, I probably will not die in any way that remotely resembles His agony although there are some people who do suffer long and greatly and even endure horrible torture in their death.  Yes, He was sinless and worthy to be my substitute but if he only suffered a physical death, horrific as it was, how was that a substitute for my eternal punishment in Hell?

A careful study of the crucifixion reveals seven sayings of Jesus while He suffered on the cross. (See Matthew 27:45-48, Luke  23:33-46 and John 19:26-30.)  The first three were concerned with the welfare of others: his enemies (their forgiveness), the thief on the cross (his salvation) and his mother (her future care).  Then there was a three-hour period of darkness followed by the last four sayings, which concerned Him:  His cry to the Father, His thirst, His victory, and committal of His spirit to the Father.

We are not told specifically what happened during those three dark hours, but we know that the Scriptures tell us that Jesus actually became sin personified on our behalf and that the Father who is holy cannot look on sin and, therefore, had no choice but to forsake His own Son at that time.  Imagine this:  Eternal Father and Eternal Son, one God – separated.  Eternity was split!  Jesus suffered eternal separation from the Father and was left alone in the domain of darkness.

There is no way we humans can begin to fathom the depths of this mystery.  From my little Parallel Journey I can only imagine how as He hovered near death from his torture and loss of blood, Jesus in His spirit might have been subjected to all the forces of darkness and evil that Hell could deliver and with no access to the power or comfort of the Father.  He was eternally abandoned for our good.

No wonder at the end of three earth-hours, but an eternity for Jesus, He would cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  In so doing, He was also quoting the first line of Psalm 22, which foretold the circumstances surrounding His death.  It would seem that He was then reunited with the Father (for all eternity) and His thoughts turned to His thirst.  Psalm 22:14 says His tongue was so dry that it cleaved to the roof of His mouth.  After receiving the vinegar on the sponge, He was then able to clearly shout out His victory proclamation, “It is finished!” and then to commend His spirit into the Father’s hands.  At that point the price for all of humanity’s sins had been paid in full and His mission on earth accomplished.

This mystery is truly profound, but if we have received Him as Lord and Savior, we can be assured that we will be included in the resurrection to life and redeemed from the resurrection to judgment, which is the second death (John 5:28, 29; Revelation 20:6, 14, 15).

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?” – John 11:25, 26