To the Necessity of Christ's Death and Burial

Q. Why was it necessary for Christ to humble Himself even unto death? 

A. Because of the justice and truth of God

For the Bible Tells Me So...

Genesis 2:17 “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

...satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God.

For the Bible Tells Me So...

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 

Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 

Hebrews 2:14,15 

• Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
• and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Q. Why was He buried? 

A. His burial testified that He had really died.

For the Bible Tells Me So...

Isaiah 53:9 And they made His grave with the wicked; but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 

John 19:38-42 

• After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. 
• And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
• Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 
• Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 
• So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby. 

Acts 13:29 “Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb… 

1 Corinthians 15:3,4 

• For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 
• and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…

The Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 16