Why did Jesus have to suffer so badly? What is the reason for Jesus' suffering?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Scripture presents Jesus’ suffering as both intentional and necessary. The Gospels detail His arrest, beatings, scourging, crown of thorns, and crucifixion (John 18–19; Matthew 27), events that fulfilled prophecies about the Servant’s damaged appearance, pierced hands and feet, and even the casting of lots for His clothing (Isaiah 52:14; Psalm 22:16–18; John 19:24, 36–37). His suffering, however, went beyond the cross, as He learned obedience through life's trials that prepared Him to fully submit in death (Hebrews 5:8–9; Philippians 2:8).

Jesus’ death was not just any death. He took the curse for sinners in a form of death marked by shame and pain (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13), one appropriate for wicked people. In this way, He atoned for sin, bearing iniquity for many (Isaiah 53:5–6, 10–12; Mark 10:45), carrying sin in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Truly, His greatest suffering occurred when the Father forsook Him because He carried the world’s sin (Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1). Through this suffering, He became the author of salvation (Hebrews 2:10) and a High Priest who understands our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Long before Jesus’ birth, Scripture predicted a Redeemer who would save through suffering. The expectation started with God’s provision of sacrifices, where a bloodied animal had to die so sinners could live. The Messiah would be the final sacrifice for sinners, dying in a way that revealed the true cost of sin and the seriousness of holy justice.
• The sacrificial system taught Israel that atonement required blood. Moses wrote, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls” (Leviticus 17:11). The Day of Atonement involved sacrifices combined with imagery of guilt being taken away (Leviticus 16:11–22). These images offered a glimpse into why the Messiah’s work would include both payment and burden-bearing. The seriousness of sin calls for real loss, real suffering, and real death.
• Isaiah described a Servant whose appearance would shock onlookers: “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance” (Isaiah 52:14). He then said that “it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief” and that this Servant would “make many to be accounted righteous” by bearing their iniquities (Isaiah 53:10–11). The wording is deliberate: God desired the Servant to follow a path of pain and suffering. Not because He was cruel, but because justice requires death for sin, and His mercy could be displayed by killing the Servant as a sinner in the place of actual sinners. The Servant’s wounds were visible signs that sin’s penalty fell on Him (Isaiah 53:5–6).
• David’s lament in Psalm 22 provides a vivid picture of righteous suffering that closely resembles crucifixion. He describes encircling evildoers, exposed bones, and public shame, culminating with, “they have pierced my hands and feet” and “they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” (Psalm 22:16, 18). The psalm combines physical pain, shame, and a feeling of abandonment that the righteous sufferer endures. When these elements reappear at the cross, they indicate that Jesus was the expected, righteous sufferer.
• The law associated public hanging with a divine curse: “God curses a hanged man” (Deuteronomy 21:23). This helps explain why the Messiah’s death was on a tree. Because the Messiah was bearing the sins of the world, His death was a fitting penalty for a great sinner.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Jesus taught the importance of His suffering. After His resurrection, He asked, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26). Jesus then explained how the Old Testament pointed to both Him and His death (Luke 24:27). Therefore, Jesus’ suffering was essential.
• And His suffering was indeed great, with the Gospels recording his abuse and crucifixion in sober detail. He was struck (John 18:22–23) and whipped (John 19:1) before being mocked as a king when “the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe” (John 19:2). After all that, despite Pilate declaring, “I find no guilt in him” (John 19:6c), under pressure, He handed Him over to be crucified as if He were guilty (John 19:16). In His weakened state, He was then made to carry His own cross to Golgotha (John 19:17). There, He was nailed to the cross (John 19:18), and after six hours of agony (Matthew 27:45), He died (John 19:28–30). He also endured the humiliation of being stripped naked while the soldiers gambled for His clothes (John 19:23–24). Even after He died, they pierced His side with a spear to be extra sure He was dead (John 19:33–34). In everything, the righteous One suffered as the Old Testament had foretold.
• Yet, dying on the cross was not the peak of Jesus’ suffering. When He was on the tree, the Father placed the sins of the world on Him and judged Jesus as if He had committed those sins. Near the end of His life, we read, “about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46). He was quoting Psalm 22:1 to describe the horror of the eternal relationship the Son had with the Father being severed because of the sin He was carrying.
• Why would Jesus come and suffer like this? He Himself explained the purpose of His death as a payment for others: “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The apostles explained what this means: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus died the kind of death reserved for the most wicked sinners to bear the punishment all men and women deserve. He did that so that those who trust in Him would receive the gift of salvation earned through His death. His intense suffering matched the weight of the judgment He carried for His people.
• Paul linked Jesus’ specific way of dying to the law’s language about curses, writing, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13; cf., Deuteronomy 21:23).
• Hebrews explains why the Savior’s anguish also fits His role as our perfect mediator. Its author said, “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10). This does not mean Jesus lacked moral perfection; instead, through suffering, He completed His mission, becoming perfectly suited to save. To prepare Jesus for this incredible suffering, He endured suffering His entire life. We read, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,” (Hebrews 5:8–9). While Jesus was the Son of God, in some way that is mysterious to us, He needed to learn to suffer so that he could face the final, horrific suffering with complete, unwavering obedience. Because of all that He suffered, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
• Believers are encouraged to draw strength from Jesus’ endurance. We are told to “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12:3). Therefore, the Savior’s suffering is both the foundation of our salvation and the example for our own perseverance through suffering. Peter said, “to [suffering] you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Because Jesus suffered, believers might suffer well, also.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Jesus’ suffering shows us just how grave our sins are, but it also reveals the incredible depth of God’s love for us. The cross reminds us of what our rebellion against God deserves, yet it also demonstrates how far God was willing to go to save us—punishing His own Son as if He were you or me. If you're wondering whether God understands what pain feels like, look at Jesus. If your guilt feels overwhelming, remember that Jesus carried the curse so you wouldn’t have to. His wounds are proof that justice has been satisfied and that mercy is available to everyone.

For those who believe, Jesus’ suffering means your own struggles are not in vain. Just as Jesus went through suffering purposefully, God can use your pain to help you become more like Him. Because Jesus has walked this path before you, you can turn to Him for comfort. He understands temptations, life’s pressures, betrayal, injustice, physical pain, and deep sadness. You can bring Him the pain you can’t even put into words, knowing He truly gets it. And while following Jesus may come with challenges, His strength and the Holy Spirit will sustain you to the very end. Remember, you’re not alone—His love and grace are always right there with you.

UNDERSTAND

• Jesus’ suffering was necessary to take the judgment and curse we deserved, offering salvation to all who trust Him.
• Jesus’ agony showed the seriousness of sin and God’s justice.
• Through His suffering, Jesus became a compassionate High Priest, able to sympathize with and strengthen believers in their own trials.

REFLECT

• How does knowing that Jesus suffered in your place affect the way you view your own sins and guilt?
• How do you draw comfort from Jesus’ empathy when facing your own trials or pain?
• How does Jesus’ suffering inspire you to persevere and trust God in difficult circumstances?

ENGAGE

• How does reflecting on Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy through suffering deepen our understanding of God’s plan of salvation?
• What lessons can we learn from Jesus’ obedience and endurance that shape how we respond to suffering?
• How can we encourage each other to see trials as part of God’s refining work?