Q. 31. Why did Christ suffer and die on the cross?

• 39 Articles of Religion, Article 2; Article 31
• Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 27
• Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8.4–5
• Heidelberg Catechism, Question 40
• Belgic Confession, Articles 20–21

Endured. The time from Christ’s agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44) until his excruciating death on the cross is commonly called his passion (from the Latin passio for suffering). The crucifixion of Christ is recorded in John 19:1–42.

Cursed. A person who was killed and hung on a tree was considered cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:22–23). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). “[Christ] hung upon the tree to take our curse upon himself; and by this we are absolved from it” (Calvin, Geneva Catechism). “He came Himself to bear the curse laid upon us. How else could He have ‘become a curse,’ unless He received the death set for a curse? and that is the Cross” (Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word 24). Christ was crucified, “rectifying the disobedience which had occurred by reason of a tree, through that obedience which was [wrought out] upon the tree [of the cross]” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.16.3). “The transgression which occurred through the tree was undone by the obedience of the tree” (Irenaeus, Demonstration 33).

Shameful. Adam and Eve’s sin brought shame (Genesis 2:25; 3:7, 10). To set us free from sin and shame, Christ “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). He willingly embraced the lowest form of humiliation: “Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Death. The Son of God “died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3) in the human nature which he assumed (Q. 30). As man, he died; as God, he conquered death. “Although the divinity does not suffer, yet the person which is God suffers in His humanity” (Luther, Formula of Concord). “The Person is eternal and infinite, and even one little drop of His blood would have been enough to save the entire world” (Luther, Commentary on Isaiah 53:5). “A few drops of Blood recreate the whole world” (Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 45.29).

Fully pay. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Christ died for our sins in our place. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Unlike the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, which were offered constantly and could not take away sin, Christ made a once-for-all sacrifice that is capable of taking away sin forever (Hebrews 10:12–14).

My sins. While Christ died “for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2), we must come to see the cross as something deeply personal: “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). “Justifying faith implies, not only a Divine evidence or conviction that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, but a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that He loved me and gave Himself for me” (Wesley). “For neither in heaven nor among the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than Jesus Christ does” (Belgic Confession 26).

Reconcile. “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). “We find all comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever” (Belgic Confession 21).

Devil. The Son of God shared in flesh and blood “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). On the cross, Christ dealt a death blow to the serpent’s head, in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. The cross was a cosmic victory against invisible forces of evil. “[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [Christ]” (Colossians 2:15). Satan now knows that his time is short (Revelation 12:12). God will soon crush the serpent’s head under the feet of Christ’s body, the Church (Romans 16:20).

Redemption. Christ “redeemed” or “bought us back” from sin and death, not with gold and silver, but with the price of his own blood (1 Peter 1:18–19). “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Propitiation. Christ’s death was a propitiation (from prope, “near”), bringing us near to God when we were his enemies, alienated from him by sin, and liable to his wrath. “God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25). We have been “brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

Satisfaction. By making a full payment for our sins, Christ satisfied God’s righteousness and just anger against sin.

No other atonement. Only the blood of Christ covers and removes sin, reconciling sinners to God. The word “atonement” is used in Christian theology as a comprehensive term for everything that Christ did to repair and reconcile the relationship between God and sinful humanity, especially by his sacrificial death on the cross.