Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

I remember while I served on my mission in France having many conversations with good people who were Muslims. We agreed on many things—for example, like us the faithful of their religion do not smoke or drink—and I enjoyed coming to better understand their culture and beliefs. They were generally very gracious and kind. Where we differed in our beliefs was seen when I would testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Their response was consistent and emphatic: “Dieu n’a pas de fils!” (“God does not have a son!”) As Christians the fact that God did have a Son that He sent to the earth to atone for the sins of the world and overcome death is at the core of everything we believe. I always sought to give my witness of the Savior and His divine parentage, but they could never accept this and our conversations about religion usually ended there. I thought it was fitting that in the most recent general conference, it was someone who “worshipped with the Nation of Islam” in his youth that addressed the fundamental question of why we as Christians believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt told of a conversation he had with a woman from Asia on a bus as they discussed Jesus Christ. He recounted how he attempted to explain to this woman “the ‘why’ of Christianity to someone very unfamiliar with it and highly intelligent.” He sought to answer this question for her which he also invited us to consider for ourselves, “Why did Jesus have to die?” I’m not sure that I every successfully conveyed an answer to this question to my Muslim friends in France, but certainly it is worthy of our careful thought and study as we ponder the fundamental tenets of Christianity.

                I believe that Samuel the Lamanite gave one of the most direct answers to Elder Corbitt’s question. He testified to the Nephites about the Savior who would shortly come, “For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord. Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual. But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord” (Helaman 14:15-17). He died to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead; He died to redeem us from the fall of Adam; He died to overcome our spiritual death; He died to take us back to the presence of the Father. The Savior alluded to why there had to be death to bring life when He said this to His disciples shortly before He died: “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:23-24). Just as plants send forth their seeds to the ground—figuratively “dying” in so doing—so that new life can spring forth, so did the Son of Man fall to the ground as He gave up His life so that new life could be given to us all. This is surely not something we will every fully understand in mortality, but we trust that there was no other way for the Father to fulfill His plan to save His children than to send His Son as a sacrifice for all of us. The Savior witnessed to the Nephites, “I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father” (3 Nephi 27:13-14). Here He witnessed that His death was for us; He was lifted up on the cross in death so that we could be lifted up in life in the resurrection. His death and resurrection, by some divine law, enabled us to rise from the grave to live again with the Father of our spirits. As Elder Corbitt said, “I witness to you, that Jesus Christ is that Savior, that He had to suffer, die, and rise again—His infinite Atonement—to redeem all humanity from physical death and to give eternal life with God and our families to all who would follow Him.” We give thanks to the Father who “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).