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Why did Jesus have to... live?


Maybe this is a question that is not commonly asked, and I hope that will change in our generation. Books abound unpacking the death of Christ. What about the answer to the question - why did Jesus have to live?


If Jesus came only to die, then why do we have such carefully written and organized accounts of his three years of ministry with the handful of stories from his birth and youth? Why did he even engage in public ministry if he only came to die for our sins?


There are a multitude of reasons why. But here are twenty reasons why Jesus had to live using the Gospel of Matthew as our Guide:


1) To reenacting Israel's story and in a way, become the "new Israel" through whom we know God and are a part of his family (Matthew 1-4)


2) To become the new Moses, climbing the mountain to teach us the very heart and meaning of Torah (Matthew 5-7)


3) To show us how to flourish in our humanity, and what posture Jesus followers are to have to find flourishing (Matthew 5:1-7)


4) To give us hope for a future renewed humanity where sickness, disease and even deformities will forever be removed from our human story (Matthew 8:1-4)

5) To show us the Jesus-Kingdom power over demonic and evil spiritual forces (Matthew 8:28-34)

6) To show us what it means to make disciples, and who exactly needs to hear of the hope of Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:9-13)

7) To reveal to us the nature of faith, and how it must be aimed towards him and him alone (Matthew 9:18-26)

8) To warn his disciples of what could await them when they engage in Jesus-centered ministry (Matthew 10:16-42)

9) To show us that he is the final revelation of God to humanity, and that there is no other after him (Matthew 11:1-19) 10) To reveal the Law's focus on the heart and the need for inner transformation leading to outward transformation (12:33-37) 11) To be confronted with the person of Jesus, creating the need to respond to him and his works with either repentance leading to life, or rejection leading to judgment (Matthew 12:38-42)

12) To fulfill what the Scriptures spoke about him (Matthew 13:10-35)

13) To show us and tell us about the Kingdom, and how to live a "Kingdom life" (Matthew 13:44-52)

14) To reveal that the new people of God will not only contain Jews, but also non-Jews (Gentiles) (Matthew 15:21-28)

15) To reveal that he is the prophesied Messiah who was to come (Matthew 16:13-20)

16) To show us that Jesus followers should expect a life similar to his, and to expect to carry the same burdens he carried if they are to follow him (Matthew 16:24-28)

17) To reveal that the Messiah was to be both God and Man (Matthew 17:1-13)

18) To instruct us in proper participation in civil life and engagement (Matthew 17:24-27)

19) To show and tell us the upside values of his Kingdom - service, humility and sacrifice - and not power and strength (Matthew 20:20-28)


20) (knowing I could write much more, but I'll summarize here) - to lay before us the very patterns of living as a human being in a fallen world, a vision for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, and what it means to live in his Kingdom, and to wait for the fullness of the Kingdom to come.



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