Jesus' death on the cross was not an accident or a mistake but the fulfillment of his whole ministry.

Although he was without sin, he took upon himself the sins of the whole human race opening up for us a way back to God.

Because Christ died for us, Christians believe that our sins will be forgiven if we repent and turn back to God.

We also believe that God is with us in our own sufferings and shares our pain and grief.

'It is immensely easier to suffer in obedience to a human command than to suffer in the freedom of one's own responsible deed. It is immensely easier to suffer with others than to suffer alone. It is immensely easier to suffer openly and honourably than apart and in shame. It is immensely easier to suffer through commitment of the physical life than in the spirit. Christ suffered in freedom, alone, apart and in shame, in body and spirit, and since then many Christians have so suffered with him.'

From 'I Loved This People', Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 20th Century

'I went to the little boy. His face was thin and wrinkled, his eyes wide. His abdomen was extended and he looked like an old man. His arms and legs were only a little thicker than my thumbs. The light weight of his body was ghostly. His name, like that of many Mexican boys, was Jésus. Later, when the missionaries mentioned in a letter that the little boy had died, I went out and bought a crucifix and hung it in my room. Under it I taped a lettered sign that read, "Jesus died for your sins in Cuatemoc, Chihuahua, on August 18, of infantile dysentery and malnutrition."'

From the Diary of Bobby Gerber, 20th Century

'And being found in human form, Christ Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.' Philippians 2:8