Information Related to "Jesus Christ's Profound Example of Suffering"
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Why did Christ suffer?
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God . . ." (1 Peter 3:18).
Christ did not suffer because He deserved it. He endured suffering for our benefit: to help fulfill God's purpose for us.
During His ministry Jesus Christ was ridiculed, despised and rejected by the religious leaders of His day. This was a large part of His personal afflictions before His crucifixion. His countrymen demanded His execution. In the end, even His disciples abandoned Him to suffer His fate alone. "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). "He came to His own, and his own did not receive him" (John 1:11). He endured the full range of human suffering.
After He had triumphed over death through His resurrection, Jesus immediately explained to His disciples the necessity of His suffering (Luke 24:46). Since He was sinless, He did not suffer for any sins of His own, but for ours. No one else has ever experienced the fate of mankind resting upon His shoulders in this way. He took the penalty for our sins upon Himself. That is what made His suffering and death absolutely necessary for our salvation.
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