God killed Jesus. That’s what some people who stand in opposition to the gospel are saying. According to their teaching, this makes God a cosmic child abuser not worthy of their worship, assuming He is real.

But there are two serious flaws with their reasoning. 

First, Jesus is God. He always has been, and He always will be. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.—John 1:1-5 (NIV)

Jesus is the Word made incarnate, the perfect God who took on human flesh and dwelt among us. Can I fully wrap my head around the divine mystery of God expressed in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit? That would be a no. But someday I shall know fully even as I am fully known.

That brings us to the second flaw. Not only did God not kill Jesus—because that would make Him suicidal, and thus a murderer and a sinner—but Jesus willingly offered up His life to pay a penalty we could not pay.

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”—John 10:17-18 (NKJV)

Imagine a firefighter running into a burning building and carrying people to safety. Or consider the officers who stopped cars to prevent them from trying to drive over Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after its collapse. We call such people heroes.

Jesus gave up the glories of heaven and was born in humility for the singular mission of taking our punishment upon Himself. He is omniscient, so He knew the cost. Yet He bore it, praying for His enemies as He suffered the crushing pain of crucifixion.

He is our divine firefighter, our fourth Man in the fire. He is our bridge-builder, spanning the divide between us and God so we can experience eternal life in Him. He is our ultimate hero and our living hope.

And though He died, He is alive forevermore, and He invites us to share in His life.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”—John 11:25