Section 2
side (19:34). Therefore, these records are along two different lines. We must know the purpose behind these two lines.
According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the main purpose of the Lord's death was to redeem us. He died for us and for our sins that He might accomplish the work of redemption. The Lord cried, "My God, My God, why did You forsake Me?" because it was at that very moment that God put all our sins upon Him and the Lord be came the sin-bearer, becoming a sinner in our stead to bear our sins. Therefore, God forsook Him. Luke especially notes that the Lord was the Redeemer to redeem us from our sins, for he tells us that the Lord died with two sinners, two thieves, one who was saved and one who perished (Luke 23:32, 39-43). Such a record can not be found in the Gospel of John. What then is the purpose of John's record? Since the Gospel of John is the Gospel of life, his record of the death of Christ follows the line of life. John's purpose was to show that the Lord Jesus is the expression of God as our life and that He died on the cross for the purpose of releasing Himself to us as life. His death on the cross was for the purpose of imparting His divine life into us.