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Writer's pictureChristian A. Meister

Did Jesus Have to Die by Crucifixion?

Updated: Feb 23




There are really two questions here: (1) Did Jesus have to accept the road that led to His death; and (2) was crucifixion the only means of atoning for all sin?


How one answers the first question will depend on one’s view of free will and foreordination. If one takes a strong Calvinistic viewpoint, then one will be prone to respond in the affirmative—that God determined the salvific plan for humanity, culminated in Christ’s death and resurrection. Though I am not convinced this is the best possible response.


Instead, it seems more likely that Christ chose the will of His Father, and they both knew this path would ultimately lead to His death.


"The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father" (Jn 10:17-18).


Although Jesus does describe it as a command from God, it seems it was within His power to have rejected this road. We know, however, that Jesus obeys His Father! This act of obedience should not be conflated with determinism. Hypothetically, it was within Jesus’s power to command angels to rescue Him from the cross or something like that. Nevertheless, Christ voluntarily came down from His heavenly place to be incarnate, live the perfect life, suffer and die, and be raised from the dead.


Now on to the second question: Could Christ have paid for all sin if He had died by other means?


The crucifixion provided the perfect means of paying the penalty for sin. It involved humiliation, torture, and death. This is very unlike the kind of execution that occurs under modern capital punishment. The Romans specifically designed crucifixion to maximize their victims suffering. With that being said, there does not appear to be anything in the Old Testament prophecies that necessitates death by crucifixion. There are many ways to suffer and die via punishment.


Even in a hypothetical context it is odd to ask whether Jesus could have paid the price for sin by dying from an electric chair or by hanging. Beheading might complicate things for the burial and resurrection. All in all it seems fair to say that other means of punishment could have atoned for sin, though God knew that crucifixion would to be the most efficient option.

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