Destined for the Crossনমুনা

The two natures of Jesus Christ are distinct—He is one person with two natures that make up His substance. One nature was not grafted into the other, nor does the divine nature of Christ change into our human nature. The two natures do not mix. They exist in Christ as distinct. Yet, there is but one Jesus. It is precisely because of these two natures that Jesus perfectly fulfills the role of the one mediator between God and men. He can perfectly represent both of us—God and man—with the fullness of the new covenant.

So, how is Jesus able to perfectly represent us? The writer of Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one [Jesus Christ] who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus isn’t just feeling compassion for us in our weakness. He experienced our weaknesses and yet remained without sin. As He mediates on our behalf, as He intercedes for us with the Father, He does so with an understanding that comes from His fully human nature. On the cross, His flesh experienced every temptation known to man. The one who was pierced for our transgression, crushed for our iniquities, the one who took the punishment that brought us peace, the one by whose stripes we are healed (Isa. 53:5 NKJV) is Jesus. The New Living Translation says, “He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”

Jesus, our mediator, “having abolished in his flesh the enmity” (Eph. 2:15 NASB) between sinful humans and God, made peace so that we might be reconciled once more to God. This reconciliation took place on the cross, and we enter into it as members of the new covenant. God’s new covenant with believers is His promise to humankind that He will forgive us our sins and, through Jesus Christ, restore us to fellowship when we put our faith in Christ alone as Savior and redeemer.

In answer to Pilate’s question of why Jesus had to die, Scripture says that Jesus died to mediate the new covenant.