Life through Death
Jesus is significant on so many levels. As we read through the Gospels, we are amazed at Jesus’s power, His compassion, His wisdom, etc. But ultimately, it was very difficult for the Jews to believe that this man was their promised Messiah for one very important reason: He was executed as a criminal.
Israel’s history was filled with kings and judges who conquered their enemies, and the prophecies about the Messiah
pointed to a victorious king. So it must have been confusing when Jesus began to speak about His death. And they didn’t know what to do about this would-be Messiah once He died.
In Mark 8:31–33, Jesus told His disciples that He was going to “suffer many things” and be put to death. (He also
foretold His resurrection.) Peter, unable to see how such a course of events could fit with Jesus’s mission, replied by rebuking his Master and suggesting another path. A triumphant king who dies on a cross? Who ever heard of that? Yet all of the Gospels describe Jesus’s death as central to His mission, and Luke spent almost ten chapters dealing with Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem to die (Luke 9:51–19:27).
Before Jesus was born, an angel declared that He would “save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The problem of sin had threatened humanity’s relationship with God ever since Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the garden. In order for God’s people to be in a right relationship with Him, sin had to be atoned for. All of the sacrifices that God’s people made in the Old Testament pointed forward to the sacrifice that Jesus would offer on the cross (Heb. 9–10). Jesus was the true Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7)—He sacrificed Himself so that we can live.
In the last Old Testament session, we talked about the promise of a new covenant, and the reality that the death of Jesus established this covenant. As we discuss Jesus’s death here, we cannot forget this connection with the new covenant.
As Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, He held the cup and said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). Thus Jesus fulfilled both of the major promises that carry over from the Old Testament: (1) He was the coming King from the line of David (the Messiah), and (2) through His death He established the new covenant that would heal and recreate His people.
Of course, the ultimate proof of the power of the cross is the resurrection. Many had claimed to be the Messiah, but only Jesus rose from the dead to prove it. After all, a conquering King cannot remain buried in a tomb. The resurrection is crucial to our faith and to the fulfillment of God’s saving purposes. Without it, we have no hope. The Gospels testify that Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to His disciples.
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 
It will be the same for us ……..Romans 6:4-7
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.