Letter To The Editor - Why did Jesus have to die violently?

The lent has just passed, culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a well entrenched belief of Christians that the son of God died to save humanity from sin.

Jesus did not die of natural death. Following the chronicle of events leading to his demise, a picture of unmitigated violence on his person was present. The query that comes to mind is whether or not his death through violence was necessary.

Common dogma has it that Jesus was sent to save humanity which presumably was wallowing in sin at that time. The death of Jesus in a tumultuous manner was either planned by his people in heaven or was the unavoidable consequence of a volatile situation of his time. Inculcated in us however, is God''s omnipotence, hence, we can safely say that the purpose of Jesus coming and the manner of his death was in a sense, considered with deliberate seriousness by the heavenly father. The redemption of humankind was not a trivial matter to warrant the sending of the only son of God.

But why should Jesus die violently? Was his violent death intentionally plotted to have an indelible episode for mankind to remember?

God''s ways are mysterious indeed! On the level of purely human and therefore, limited perception, I say that the torment that the son of God had suffered was not necessary as there were other means of persuasion to convince the people then to abandon their sinful ways of life. God, being all powerful, had all the means to chose on otherwise peaceful manner of ending his son''s presence on earth. Maybe death was necessary for salvation but violence as a way was not.

The violent death of Jesus shows that even the supreme planner has considered violence as an essential ingredient to earthly existence. Is it God''s tacit endorsement that to dramatically execute basic changes (including political changes) violence is the better option? Amen.

Very truly yours.

Jovenson Bugs Mabalatan
Escario St. Cebu City