The Cross and Resurrection
Jesus’s death and resurrection stand at the centre of Christianity. Christians believe he willingly bore the judgement that human sin deserves, making forgiveness and restored relationship with God possible, and then rose bodily from the dead, showing that sin and death had not defeated him.
Christians believe that Jesus paid the price for human sin by bearing its punishment on the cross, so that those who turn to God and trust in him can be forgiven and restored to a relationship with God.
Jesus’s resurrection reveals that sin and death do not have the final word, and that God will raise those who belong to him to eternal life.
Why Jesus was crucified historically
Jesus attracted followers and announced that the kingdom of God was near. He also challenged religious hypocrisy, injustice and the misuse of power.
His actions in Jerusalem brought him into open conflict with leaders who regarded him as dangerous. He was betrayed, arrested and handed over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
Jesus was then executed by crucifixion. Rome used crucifixion as a brutal public punishment for people considered threatening, rebellious or disgraced.
At the human level, Jesus was killed through betrayal, fear, political calculation and violence.
What Jesus accomplished on the cross
Human sin brings guilt, judgement and separation from God. Christians believe Jesus was without sin, yet willingly gave himself on the cross in unity with the Father’s purpose. He acted in our place, bearing the judgement and punishment that human sin deserves, so that those who turn to God and trust in him can be forgiven rather than face final condemnation.
Christians describe what Jesus achieved through several connected images. He offered himself as a sacrifice, dealt with the debt and guilt of sin, defeated the powers of evil and reconciled humanity to God. These images all express the central belief that Jesus did for humanity what people could not do for themselves.
Forgiveness is more than escaping punishment. Sin had broken the relationship between humanity and God, but through Jesus that relationship can be restored. Christians therefore speak of being reconciled to God, adopted into his family and united with Christ.
This does not mean that every earthly consequence of wrongdoing disappears, or that people no longer need to accept responsibility, seek justice or make amends where possible.
Jesus truly died and rose bodily
Jesus’s death was real. His body was placed in a tomb, and his followers were devastated and afraid. The man they believed to be God’s promised king appeared to have been defeated.
The first Christians proclaimed that on the third day the tomb was empty and Jesus appeared alive to his followers.
They did not mean merely that Jesus continued in their memories, that his teaching lived on, or that his soul survived while his body remained dead. They believed that God had raised him bodily into a transformed life beyond the power of death.
The resurrection was not a return to ordinary mortal life, as though Jesus would eventually die again. Christians believe he entered a new and everlasting form of embodied life.
What the resurrection means
Christians believe the resurrection confirmed Jesus’s identity and showed that he was not defeated by death.
His resurrection revealed that sin, evil and death do not have the final word. Jesus had borne the judgement for sin and emerged victorious over the grave.
Jesus’s risen life is also the pattern and promise of Christian eternal life. Christians believe they will not merely survive as memories or disembodied spirits. God will raise them and give them life with him in a renewed creation.
Eternal life therefore begins now through restored relationship with God and will be completed beyond death through resurrection.
The cross and resurrection belong together
The cross and resurrection are not two unrelated events. Together they form the heart of the Christian message.
On the cross, Jesus bore the punishment for human sin and made forgiveness and reconciliation possible. In the resurrection, he defeated death and revealed the eternal life promised to those who belong to him.
Christians therefore proclaim that Jesus died for our sins, rose bodily from the dead and now offers forgiveness, restored relationship with God and eternal life.
Next: Grace, Faith and Forgiveness
Jesus has accomplished the rescue. The next part explains why forgiveness and salvation cannot be earned through good deeds, religious effort or recompense, and how God’s gift is received through repentance and faith.