Fullfilment of the law

JGG

Well-Known Member
Mar 12, 2006
12,018
2,098
✟58,445.00
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Private
If Jesus, for some reason, had not died on the cross, and instead died some other way, would He still have fulfilled the law, or was the manner of His death a mechanism of the fulfillment?

If Jesus had died of a brain aneurysm or an unfortunate accident, would the law still have been fulfilled? Or would things be different?
 

Farmergal

Member
Dec 31, 2015
9
6
West Coast
✟7,986.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
It would have been different due to the requirement and expectation of Jesus' obedience. He had to be willing to be the sacrificial Lamb and obedient to it.

Phil 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,…
 
  • Like
Reactions: BeStill&Know
Upvote 0

BeStill&Know

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Sep 13, 2015
1,078
553
✟68,040.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Private
If Jesus, for some reason, had not died on the cross, and instead died some other way, would He still have fulfilled the law, or was the manner of His death a mechanism of the fulfillment?

If Jesus had died of a brain aneurysm or an unfortunate accident, would the law still have been fulfilled? Or would things be different?
Jesus had to fulfill, the prophecies of Him also, so the answer is NO. check them out here> http://www.accordingtothescriptures.org/prophecy/353prophecies.html
 
Upvote 0

JGG

Well-Known Member
Mar 12, 2006
12,018
2,098
✟58,445.00
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Private
It would have been different due to the requirement and expectation of Jesus' obedience. He had to be willing to be the sacrificial Lamb and obedient to it.

He would not have been a sacrifice if He had died any other way?

How is it then that we villify Judas, or Pilate, or the Romans, or the Jews for fulfilling their roles in the prophecy?
 
Upvote 0

JGG

Well-Known Member
Mar 12, 2006
12,018
2,098
✟58,445.00
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Private
Last edited:
Upvote 0

2PhiloVoid

Yes, you're right! I'm not Gandalf!
Supporter
Oct 28, 2006
21,122
9,946
The Void!
✟1,125,854.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Others
If Jesus, for some reason, had not died on the cross, and instead died some other way, would He still have fulfilled the law, or was the manner of His death a mechanism of the fulfillment?

If Jesus had died of a brain aneurysm or an unfortunate accident, would the law still have been fulfilled? Or would things be different?

Hi JGG,

My understanding is that the nature of Jesus' death does signify its fulfillment and meaning. In Jesus' case, His death reflects: 1) a prescription of judgment under the Old Testament Law (death by application of a 'just' penalty), and 2) a patterning after rhetoric given by Old Testament prophets (cut off, pierced, hanging on a tree, innocent sacrifice, etc.).

So, a death by aneurysm, heart-attack, cancer, or other natural cause, wouldn't have qualified as a Messianic fulfillment.

Peace
2PhiloVoid
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Farmergal
Upvote 0

Look Up

"What is unseen is eternal"
Jul 16, 2010
928
175
✟16,230.00
Faith
Presbyterian
Marital Status
Married
If Jesus, for some reason, had not died on the cross, and instead died some other way, would He still have fulfilled the law, or was the manner of His death a mechanism of the fulfillment?

If Jesus had died of a brain aneurysm or an unfortunate accident, would the law still have been fulfilled? Or would things be different?

God is indeed constrained by what He decides (such as by what He prophesies at the mouth of His prophets); God ordains all history, such as the event of Judas Iscariot's betrayal, though God does not approve nor is He complicit in that which offends Him, namely sin as He defines sin (which definition is necessary for us). Jesus predicted He would be crucified, so He had to be crucified.

If on the other hand God had instead decided (and prophesied) His Son would die some other way than as was prophesied and occurred, we may at least mentally experiment with the hypothesis that some other method of death would have been possible provided other constraints were met, such as that Jesus' death provided a substitutionary sacrifice for sin (also a fulfillment of Aaronic priestly typology), though in that Jesus' crucifixion provides not only the means for salvation but also the model for Christian ethics ("deny yourself, take up your cross" ... "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin ..." ... "I have been crucified with Christ ...") as well as the stigma of evangelism (foolishness to Greeks, not ashamed of the gospel), I have to wonder what the apostolic canon (and parts of the OT) and Christianity and Christian history would have to look like in more ways than I can imagine to be confident the hypothetical mental experiment could amount to anything more than vast and unbridled flights of imagination.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

Farmergal

Member
Dec 31, 2015
9
6
West Coast
✟7,986.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
He would not have been a sacrifice if He had died any other way?

How is it then that we villify Judas, or Pilate, or the Romans, or the Jews for fulfilling their roles in the prophecy?
The requirement was a perfect, obedient blood sacrifice on the willing part of the One who was sacrificed.

No blemishes allowed, which would include cancer or any other diseased portion of the body. He is the perfect, non-blemished sacrificial Lamb. He had to be murdered, too, this was the way God required sacrifices to be offered.
 
Upvote 0

Job8

Senior Member
Dec 1, 2014
4,634
1,801
✟21,583.00
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married
If Jesus, for some reason, had not died on the cross, and instead died some other way, would He still have fulfilled the law, or was the manner of His death a mechanism of the fulfillment?
The manner of His death was a fulfillment of the Law, which says "Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree" (Gal 3:13). Christ took upon Himself the curse of the Law. But since He was the Lamb of God (and the Passover Lamb) who took away the sin of the world, He also fulfilled all the types and shadows of the sacrificial system under the Law of Moses (including the serpent of brass which represented Christ on the Cross).
 
  • Like
Reactions: BeStill&Know
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums