Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
See also: Why did Jesus have to die on a cross? Could God have saved us another way?
How you might answer: If we believe that God is all-powerful then, yes, God could have saved us another way. So if it didn't have to happen that way, why did Jesus die on the cross? The easy answer is showing the power of self-giving love. As Jesus puts it in the Gospel of John 15:13, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for his friends". Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to let the Romans put him to death so that the world could learn about him. It wasn't something that he wanted to do - the Gospel accounts of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane make that clear - but he was willing to do it for the sake of others. Ultimately, we believe that going to the cross was a choice that Jesus made to the depth of his love for us.
What might be behind their question: Even though we (rightly!) try to shield children from the realities of what crucifixion meant, most children are aware that something bad happened to Jesus on Good Friday. The obvious question, then, is why would God allow that to happen? There may be some level of fear -- if God let this happen to Jesus, what might happen to me? - but kids mostly want to understand why God wouldn't have intervened.
How you might answer: If we believe that God is all-powerful then, yes, God could have saved us another way. So if it didn't have to happen that way, why did Jesus die on the cross? The easy answer is showing the power of self-giving love. As Jesus puts it in the Gospel of John 15:13, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for his friends". Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to let the Romans put him to death so that the world could learn about him. It wasn't something that he wanted to do - the Gospel accounts of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane make that clear - but he was willing to do it for the sake of others. Ultimately, we believe that going to the cross was a choice that Jesus made to the depth of his love for us.
What might be behind their question: Even though we (rightly!) try to shield children from the realities of what crucifixion meant, most children are aware that something bad happened to Jesus on Good Friday. The obvious question, then, is why would God allow that to happen? There may be some level of fear -- if God let this happen to Jesus, what might happen to me? - but kids mostly want to understand why God wouldn't have intervened.