The Cross: Why Did Jesus Have to Die?Намуна

What Changed at the Cross?

Key Question: Did anything actually shift—or was it just symbolic?

It wasn’t just symbolic.

Something changed in the fabric of reality.
At the Cross, Jesus didn’t just defeat sin—he disarmed it. He didn’t just reveal a better way — he launched it.

In that moment, the powers that held us—shame, accusation, fear, death—were put on trial and stripped of authority. Not by brute force, but by the power of suffering love.

“The cross is the point where God, in the person of Jesus, absorbed into himself the consequences of evil and broke its power.”
— N.T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began, p. 46

At the Cross, Jesus took everything meant to destroy us and turned it into the doorway of a new creation.
This wasn’t about escaping earth for heaven; it was about bringing heaven’s life into earth’s pain.

God’s rescue plan wasn’t to evacuate souls but to restore His world—starting with you and me.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you that you didn’t just die for me, but you broke the power of death, shame, and fear itself. Help me live like someone who’s truly free. Amen.

Today’s Questions

• For yourself: What lies, habits, or fears still try to claim authority over you, even though they’ve been disarmed?
• For your group: How does knowing the Cross actually changed something shift your perspective on following Jesus?