Why Did Jesus Suffer and Die? Hope from the Apostles’ Creed

The Heart of the Message: In this sermon, Pastor Kirt Anderson walks through the heart of the Apostles’ Creed: Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, was buried, descended into hell, rose again, ascended into heaven, and will come again. He shows that there is no depth Jesus was unwilling to go to reach us, and no place we can fall where He will not meet us. It is a message of real comfort for anyone who has ever wondered whether faith actually matters when life gets hard.

Looking for the full service stream? Watch Here

On his drive to church, Pastor Kirt had to swerve around a cyclist, and then stopped at an intersection as a whole group of bicycles rolled past on a quiet Sunday morning. The streets were nearly empty. It raised a question worth asking: for all the people out at the park, the beach, or the golf course, does any of this really matter?

To answer it, Pastor Kirt turned to Isaiah 53 and to the Apostles’ Creed, an early statement of faith that new believers spoke aloud at their baptism. He pointed out that after Jesus rose from the dead, the early church went back to the Scriptures to ask what they had missed. They had expected a conquering king. Instead, Jesus turned the other cheek and told His followers to love their enemies. Then they found Isaiah 53, a passage that described a servant who would be despised, rejected, and crushed for the sins of others.

Pastor Kirt noted that the Creed moves straight from “born of the Virgin Mary” to “suffered under Pontius Pilate,” saying nothing about Jesus’ life in between. He shared that if you wrote down all the words of Jesus without repeating parallel passages, you could read them in about 30 minutes. Yet this one man’s impact changed all of life and our whole view of reality.

When Jesus stood before Pilate, He did not deliver a political speech. He said simply, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and He was still crucified. Pastor Kirt described the brutality of that day: a crown of thorns pressed into His head, a flogging with 39 lashes so severe that few survived it, and a method of execution the Roman government refined to maximize suffering and delay death.

Did Jesus really die on the cross?

Yes. Pastor Kirt explained that a soldier pierced Jesus’ side to make sure He was dead, and blood and water flowed out. There is no question of Jesus simply fainting and waking up later, because no one who had endured that kind of physical trauma would have been able to roll back the stone and walk out of the grave.

What does it mean that Jesus “descended into hell”?

Pastor Kirt explained that the words used in the Bible (Sheol in the Old Testament, Hades and Gehenna in the New) each carry their own meaning, but all of them have to do with the place of the dead. The phrase means Jesus went into the very depths of death, and First Peter speaks of Him preaching to those in that dark place. The good news is this: there is no place your life can go and no depth you can fall to where the Lord does not meet you there.

Pastor Kirt added that this was true of Jesus’ life, too, not just His death. He went among the most despised people of His day. Religious leaders criticized Him for spending time with tax collectors and sinners. There was no place He would not go.

What happens when Jesus comes again?

Pastor Kirt shared that the early church expected Jesus to return at any moment, and that expectation has stayed constant for 2,000 years. When He returns, it will bring a great transformation and a new heaven and a new earth, with all of creation taking on the glory Christ bears in His risen body. Christians hold different views on the details, but Pastor Kirt said it all comes down to the promise of Jesus: “I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also.”

The Answer: Why This Matters for Everyone

So does any of this matter to the people out on their bikes on Sunday morning? Pastor Kirt believes it does, even if they are not thinking about it right now. Accidents happen. Hard seasons come. And when they do, the deep questions come with them.

He shared a personal story from this past spring, when his brother was very near death. Pastor Kirt got on a plane the same evening he heard the news. The next morning, the first thing his brother said when he woke up was, “Will you pray?” Together they said the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23, just as they had as kids. Pastor Kirt said that story is not unique. Every one of us will live some version of it, and there is not a human soul for whom those questions and hopes will not rise to the surface.

That is why he reads Jesus’ promise at every memorial service he leads. Our only comfort in life and in death is that we belong, body and soul, to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Pastor Kirt was honest that one day we will all be called to account. But he reminded us that God, if He is not just, cannot be loving, and only a loving God is just. We stand convicted, but the penalty has been laid on God’s Son on the cross. Because of that, we are acquitted and set free. As Pastor Kirt put it, this is nothing new. It has been the foundation of the church for 2,000 years: Christ died, He has risen, and He will come again.

Scripture Focus

Anchor Verse: Isaiah 53:5 (NLT)

“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”

Additional Passages:

• Isaiah 53:1-12 (the full reading)
• John 18:36 (My kingdom is not of this world)
• Matthew 22:21 (Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar)
• John 19:34 (Jesus’ side pierced, blood and water flowed)
• 1 Peter 3:18-20 (Jesus preached to those in the place of the dead)
• Romans 8:22 (All creation groans and waits)
• John 14:3 (I will come again and take you to myself)
• Psalm 23