By SHAVAUGHN MOSS, Special Sections Editor, shavaughn@nasguard.com

Jesus was not killed, but rather decided to die in order to keep the integrity of his word to himself, and destroy the stain and power of sin in every man's life, according to Bahamas Faith Ministries senior pastor Dr Myles Munroe.

And that he said is the joy of the Easter message and cause for all men everywhere in every nation and race to have hope.

"Good Friday was the greatest act of a loving heavenly father expressing his love for this image in each man and paying the ultimate price to redeem us from our own folly.

Munroe says the death of Jesus was not, and must not be considered and act of suicide, because the notion of suicide is always motivated by an individual's response to personal distress, frustration, hopelessness and depression. He says the death of Jesus was completely opposite in nature, and was rather initiated to relieve others from stress, and give us all hope for life and beyond the grave.

"His resurrection from the dead guaranteed our hope that we to will win over the greatest enemy of mankind, death itself.

"Easter is also a reminder, that of all the religions of the world, the Christian faith is the only faith in which the founder personally and willfully died and shed his blood on the cross for His followers and assures them of a bodily resurrection by his own. Good Friday is not a day for Christians," he said, "but for the whole world and all humanity. This is the joy of the Easter message and cause for all men everywhere in every nation and race to have hope. He was not killed. He decided to die in our place in order to keep the integrity of His word to himself and destroy the stain and power of sin in every man's life."

Munroe said that in light of the unacceptable rate of violent crimes in the country, the cry for justice and safety continues to rise, and that one of the major points of controversy is the cry for the death penalty, with many on death row awaiting their day of doom.

"As I thought about this situation and the season we are in called Easter, I also realized that mankind as an entire species was rendered guilty of ultimate crime and sentenced to death by the judge of the universe in the court of eternity for the crime of treason. This judgment is detailed in the words of the creator in Genesis 2: 'The day you eat from this tree you will surely die'. In essence, mankind was placed on death row after violating the law of God and condemned to die. This is the heart of the story of Good Friday.

"It was the day the divine king of heaven decided to come down to the prison of earth and walk into death row, and sat in the electric chair or the noose from around the necks of humanity and placed it around His neck. He took us from the table of death and lay Himself down and took the needle for us all. In fact the death of Jesus Christ was the greatest act of substitution in history and made is possible for all mankind to go free from the penalty of death. The heart of Easter is that no man took His life, but Jesus freely laid it down in our place."

Munroe said the controversial movie "The Passion of the Christ" by famed actor and producer, Mel Gibson, stirred the fires of a global discussion in response to his block-buster icon movie.

"Months after its release, the world-wide media joined in the debate. One of the major points of contention was the implication derived by many from the movie that the Jews were presented as the principle cause and instigators of the death of Jesus Christ. It was felt that this group of people was magnified as the culprits and the Roman government authorities were simply the mechanism used to execute their desires."

Munroe says this argument has been perpetrated for hundreds of years and in some cases, at different times in history, has been used by the Christian church to justify an antagonistic attitude toward the Jewish people.

"As I sat for days listening to the media with their numerous guests, some claiming to be experts in the subjects, and others with no clue to the gravity of the issue, tried to answer and explain a divine activity from intellectual finite concepts. I was amazed at some of the religious leaders who were drawn into the argument with little more to add than commentary on the words of those who were already confused."

Munroe says over the years in his search for the truth when it comes to biblical questions that the answers are always contained within the Bible itself, and that it is no different with this question of who really killed Jesus.

"As we celebrate this holy season of Easter, the thoughts of the global community of millions of Christians and others focus on this critical story and records the events of this week 2,000 years ago. "There is no event in history that is the topic of more mystery, confusion, discussion, and argument than the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, in order to answer the question, "Who killed Jesus?" it is more important to question the question.

"It is my contention that the question itself is not the correct question, because the issue is, "was he killed?". According to the scriptures and all the prophecies and declaration of Jesus Christ himself, it is my conclusion and also the biblical declaration that Jesus was not killed by man or any one human entity."

It is Munroe's contention that "Good Friday", occurred long before the creation of man and as a result, mankind could not be responsible for the death of Jesus.

Scriptures that speak for themselves:

Rev 13:8-9 — 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. — KJV

Isa 53:4-5 — 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. — KJV

Isa 53:10-54:1 —10 But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

11— As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors. — NAS

"A careful review of these scriptural texts will show clearly that the death of Jesus Christ, was not the result of a carefully devised human scheme or concoction, but was a deliberate pre-destined, pre-determined divine decision by the creator in his redemptive program to restore all mankind to his perfect will. Note particularly these statements: 'Smitten of God' or, "The Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting him to grief", and 'Yet He himself bore our sin...'.

"Thus we see that God takes responsibility for the death and suffering of Jesus Christ for the benefit of the Jews, the Romans and all mankind including every Bahamian in the nation today.

"The words of Jesus himself sum it all up when he states;

John 10:17-19 — 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. — NIV What a wonderful truth and divine relief that no man killed Jesus, but rather, the incalculable love of the heavenly Father that created us in his image, to the proactive choice and divine prerogative to kill himself in order to save our lives from the destructive impact of our rebellion against him. This word rebellion is the Hebrew word we translate as sin. Good Friday is about this very issue of sin. The Old Testament scriptures of Leviticus, which is also included in the Jewish scriptures and the Islamic Koran, declare that the atonement for Sin is only possible by the shedding of blood.

"Lev 17:11 —11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. — NIV (Heb 9:22) 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. — NIV"