Why Holy Week is a big deal …

It is not enough to say Jesus died for our sins. That is gloriously true, but the cross was not a last-minute act of spiritual rescue. It was the culmination of a mission of reconciliation requiring perfect obedience, righteous substitution, and triumphant victory. To reconcile us to the Father, Jesus had to do far more than offer His life, He had to live it flawlessly, fulfill the purpose of God’s Law, conquer sin and Satan, and defeat death itself. Nothing short of perfection would suffice, because reconciliation with God demands more than forgiveness — it demands righteousness.

He had to live a perfect life under the Law
From His first breath in Bethlehem, Jesus stepped into the world not merely as God but as man. Galatians 4:4–5 says, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” This means Jesus had to obey the Law perfectly. Not just the Ten Commandments, but the entire moral and ceremonial system.

As Jesus Himself declared, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose,” Matthew 5:17. Our reconciliation required not just the removal of sin but the imputation of righteousness. We needed more than a clean slate, we needed Christ’s obedience credited to us. Only a sinless life could qualify Him to be our substitute.

He had to reveal the truth and expose sin
Jesus’ mission included proclaiming truth in a world shaped by lies. John 18:37 states, “Pilate said, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus responded, ‘You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.'” That truth included the holiness of God, the reality of sin, the necessity of repentance, and the exclusivity of salvation and reconciliation through Him. Jesus pulled no punches when calling sinners to repentance, saying, “When Jesus heard this, he told them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners,” Mark 2:17.

He was the light that exposed darkness, and this confrontation with truth inevitably led to the cross. But it was not just a matter of proclaiming truth, He embodied it. “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son,” John 1:14. His perfect integrity validated His authority to redeem.

He had to destroy the works of the devil
Sin and death were not abstract problems. They were the consequence of rebellion, and behind that rebellion stood the enemy. First John 3:8 makes the purpose explicit: “But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus did this not only through His teaching and miracles but ultimately through the cross.

The cross was not a defeat, it was the devil’s undoing. As Hebrews 2:14 says, “Because God’s children are human beings — made of flesh and blood — the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.” By entering into and overcoming death, Jesus broke its hold. By enduring temptation, He triumphed where Adam fell. By submitting to the cross, He crushed the serpent’s head.

He had to become our ransom
Jesus did not merely offer forgiveness, He paid a debt. His death was substitutionary, intentional, and deeply personal. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Mark 10:45. A ransom is a price paid to release someone from bondage. We were enslaved to sin, and the price of freedom was blood — His, not ours.

This was not an act of sentiment but justice. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ,” 2 Corinthians 5:21. The Father did not merely forgive sin; He judged it — in the body of His Son.

He had to save sinners by bearing our judgment
All sin incurs divine wrath, and reconciliation required more than apology, it required atonement. Paul wrote, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ — and I am the worst of them all,” 1 Timothy 1:15. Jesus bore in His body not just physical suffering but the full fury of divine justice.

Isaiah had prophesied, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed,” Isaiah 53:5. On the cross, Jesus took the wrath we deserved. That moment of forsakenness — “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” — was the agony of separation so that we could be brought near.

Jesus became the propitiation for our sins, as described in 1 John 2:2, “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” Propitiation means the turning away of God’s wrath through a sacrifice, and Jesus did this for us. He bore the full weight of God’s righteous judgment, so we wouldn’t have to.

He had to defeat death
Reconciliation does not end in forgiveness, it ends in resurrection. Jesus did not remain in the tomb. He had to rise again, not just to prove who He was, but to secure our eternal life. Paul declared, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins,” 1 Corinthians 15:17. His resurrection was the Father’s stamp of approval, the validation that the debt was paid in full.

Through the resurrection, Jesus conquered death — not only for Himself, but for all who belong to Him. “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you,” Romans 8:11. Reconciliation is not merely a change in status, it is the promise of everlasting life in the presence of the Father.

He had to do it all in our place
Jesus did not come to offer advice or inspire imitation. He came to take our place at every level. He lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved to die, and rose again so we might live forever. And He did it all not to merely repair our morality but to restore our relationship with the Father.

Second Corinthians 5:18–19a captures the fullness of the mission: “And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them …”

As the cross stood in the center of Holy Week, it wasn’t just a means of salvation, it was the place where God’s eternal purpose found its expression in the flesh of Jesus. The weight of our sin and the depth of His love collided in that moment, breaking the chains of death and offering us new life. The resurrection didn’t merely confirm His identity, it assured us that nothing — nothing — could separate us from the love and life He offers. The mission of reconciliation did not begin with Holy Week, but through it, we see the unbreakable bond of God’s unrelenting love, forever set in motion. And in that love, the means to being reconciled to the Father was fulfilled, opening the way for us to walk in intimate fellowship with Him now and forever.

Scotty