Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die

This book does what any book examining Scripture should do - it takes Scripture, whether it be a difficult or simple passage, and then simply explains it for all to understand. Furthermore, it provides the correct context for the Passion (I recommend Matthew Mark, Luke, and John for further information!) and Christ's purpose.
Those who have negatively reviewed this book because it purports "dogma" obviously do not have a problem with "dogma" but with the Word of God, for every chapter Piper writes in this very concise book is exegeted from and based off of SCRIPTURE. I highly recommend this, especially for a friend who might not know Christ but is interested because of the movie.

Why was Jesus Christ crucified? That is the question that John Piper addresses in this small book, consisting of fifty short devotional chapters. Each chapter begins with a Scripture verse giving a reason why Jesus Christ came to die followed by a short exposition of that verse. Piper begins with reasons associated more closely with the work of atonement specifically (such as propitiation, substitution, ransom, forgiveness, redemption, justification, and reconciliation), and then moves on to reasons that show how Christ's death affects our Christian walk (for example, #38: To Create a Band of Crucified Followers). This is a very Christ-centered, cross-centered, gospel-centered work. Like Paul's preaching to the Corinthians, John Piper's teaching in this small book knows "nothing... except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). As such, this book is well-suited for everybody. It presents the gospel plainly to the lost, and to believers it brings further appreciation for the wondrous work of Christ on the cross on our behalf.

John Piper does an excellent job exegeting why Christ suffered and died. Each of the 50 chapters is a straightforward analysis of 2-4 Bible verse from the Old and New Testaments. His points are clear, focused, and short (each is 2 pages). He covers a range of topics from sin to atonement to justification to discipleship to salvation, each intimately tied to the cross. I think a mature Christian will gain a lot from Piper's 50 points, and can effectively use them in evangelization.

Piper has distilled the essential content of Christianity into 50 two-page essays, each supported rigorously with relevant scriptures and sound exposition. While Piper does not elaborate on the meaning of the resurrection (for this, see the works of Dr. Gary Habermas), his treatment of the suffering and death of Christ is what you might expect from a semester-long seminary class. Yet, the writing is easy to understand and does not require any previous knowledge of the faith, except perhaps the basic story outlined in the gospels. This book is required reading for anyone who wants to know why Jesus came to die.

Life is short, especially for quinquagenarians! So I like short books, because they don't get me bogged down in something that may turn out to be a waste of time!

This book appears to be one that is trying to attract an audience on the coat tails of Mel Gibson's movie, but I think that its value will keep it in circulation, long after everyone is saying "Mel Who?"

It is a great book for daily meditation on Jesus' death for us.

Highly recommended

John Piper does an incredible job of explaining the reasons for the cross and how they affect our everyday lives. It amazes me how Mr. Piper can put such theological depth into just two pages (which is how long each reason is).

He writes and communicates well and, in my opinion, this was an easy read. It made me a lot more thankful for the cross and what Jesus died for.

I highly recommend this book. It's fairly short and worth the time spent learning about how Jesus did much more than just die for sin.

Piper is one of the giants in contemporary Christian theology. In this book his gives us fifty reasons that Christ came and died on the cross for us. He uses scripture as his basis of truth. For the seeker or new believer this is an absolutely a must read.

Jesus and passion, not two words you hear together very often. Pastor Piper is a credible, solid preacher with passion for Jesus and may just enable us to understand what a passionate Savior Jesus is. Perfect time of year to read this would be beginning of April.

I have been reading this book prior to easter and enjoying it. Piper hits the nail on the head on very page and fully explains why Jesus came to die and lists 50 reasons. This book helps Christians remember the reason for the atonement and the importance of it. A great read.

Piper elegantly disects the issue of the significance of Christ's suffering. The book was released conveniently around the same time that Mel Gibson's movie was stirring up controversy in the media. Where Mel's movie fails to explain, Piper is quick to interject meaning. This book is not just recommended to people searching for answers to questions about the crucifixion of Jesus, but also for Christians who enjoy the shear joy and pure logic of the cross. Refreshingly, the book is not a defense of a tradtion, but an honest search for truth.

Wonderful book; not exhaustive but suggestive. And with 50 (count 'em!) reasons listed, it's VERY suggestive. Just not exhaustive, because God's purposes are so abundant and bountiful. I listened to it on CD, and the reader (Robertson Dean) was excellent and I'd love to hear him do other books. Now that I've listened to it, I'm sure I'll obtain a hard copy for both reference and devotions in the future.

This book is wonderful. Piper delivers a timely and PASSIONATE (no pun intended) exposition of 50 reasons WHY the passion happened. Each reason is covered by a two page explanation and some of the explanations may suprise you!!
I highly recommend this book!

This is a great book. It greatly helped me understand better the passion of Jesus Christ. Piper uses Scripture to back up every point he makes. Very well written and could be used as a devotional for 50 days. Worth the money.

As an evangelical Christian, I grew up knowing the gospel from church, Sunday School, and family. But John Piper's book has taught me how much bigger the gospel is than what I originally learned. Piper shows how the Gospel affects every area of the Christian's life. The Gospel is far more than "Jesus died for my sins."

Fifty reasons why Jesus came to die. Fifty? Really? How can it be 50 when a third of them are rewordings of the same thing. I knew the book was crap when reason number one stated that Jesus came to die because we're worse than frogs. The point is that animals don't sin and we do so we're worse than animals. That's why Jesus came to die, because we're worse than frogs. Literally, that's what he says. animals are not more morally perfect than us, as the authors argument implies. Animals are not immoral either...they are amoral. They don't have morals because they are incapable of having the intelligence to have morals. Therefore Jesus didn't come to die for us and not animals, he came to die for every living creature who needed Him to die for them...just so happens it was us and no one else. According to the "we're worse than frogs" argument all animals including us are exactly the same except we're more intelligent and sin...animals could sin but chose not to, lol I could go on forever about the erroneous logical implications of the author's argument here, but I won't. He also teaches that if you punish someone for a wrong doing then you have not forgiven them for it and not all sins deserve forgiveness because some sins deserve punishment. You can punish someone...send a murderer to jail...and forgive them at the same time. Forgiveness does not necessarily mean letting someone go scott free, but John Piper would have you believe it does.

The 50 reasons are:
1. To Absorb the Wrath of God
2. To Please His Heavenly Father
-Both the same, also, huh? He came to die to appease an angry God??? God sent Jesus to die out of anger?

3. To Learn Obedience and Be Perfected
-Jesus wan't perfect until he died on the cross?

4. To Achieve His Own Resurrection from the Dead

5. To Show the Wealth of God's Love and Grace for Sinners
-So, an angry God sent Jesus to die because he was angry and loved sinners? Then who was he angry at if it wasn't the sinners?

6. To Show His Own Love For Us
-He came for sinners AND for us, so we're not sinners?

7. To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us
-I thought that's what His teachings did, not his death. If that's not the case, then why teach at all, and instead just come, be silent, and die.

8. To Become Ransom for Many
-Yeah, yeah, yeah the tired old ransom argument. God had to pay a ransom to satan. Basically God couldn't save us without giving into the demands of satan...so satan wins??? And why not the ransom of all? Just some people are going to be saved???

9. For the Forgiveness of Our Sins

10. For the Basis of Our Justification
-So we can be found 'not guilty' of our wrong doings...huh? We cannot be found guilty of anything anymore? We get a free pass to heaven now?

11. To Complete The Obedience That Becomes Our Righteousness
-Yes, Christianity is all about following a list of "do's" and "don't" I point you to the amazing book The Conflict of Christ by George Shaw that spends 111 pages very beautifully refuting this idea. Also The Bible Speaks To You by Robert McAfee Brown has a chapter that would refute this as well.

12. To Take Away Our Condemnation

13. To Abolish Circumcision and All Rituals as the Basis of Salvation
-See #7

14. To Bring Us to Faith and Keep Us Faithful

15. To Make Us Holy, Blameless, and Perfect
-Well, then, if true, then Jesus failed.

16. To Give Us a Clear Conscience
-See #10 also, if I do something wrong I don't have to feel guilty? Doubt it.

17. To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good For Us
-So, the other 49 on the list aren't good? If they are than this one goes without saying and is unnecessary.

18. To Heal Us From Moral and Physical Sickness
-I currently have a terrible cold...guess Jesus failed.

19. To Give Eternal Life to All Who Believe on Him
-Believe IN him? Why ON him? Am I physically standing on him? and if so what am I believing in while I'm doing that? I know this is ridiculous semantics, but still...better diction please.

20. To Deliver Us from the Present Age of Evil
-And what, enter us into the current age of evil?

21. To Reconcile Us to God
-See #3

22. To Bring Us to God
-See #3 and #21

23. So That We Might Belong to Him
-See #3, #21, and #22

24. To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place

25. To Become for Us the Place Where We Meet God
-Jesus becomes a location when he dies? It's through Him that we get to God, but He didn't become a location.

26. To Bring the Old Testament Priesthood to an End and Become the Eternal High Priest
-So he could become a priest? There was no other method for Him to achieve this? And he never became a priest and I've never heard Him referred to as such outside this book.

27. To Become a Sympathetic and Helpful High Priest
-See #26

28. To Free Us from the Futility of Our Ancestry
-My personal favorite, lol He goes on talking about that we cannot be held to the bonds of our ancestors because He died on the cross. Nothing I have ever learned about, or read in, the Bible has ever stated this ever.

29. To Free Us from the Slavery of Sin
-See #9, #11, #12, #18, #20

30. That We Might Die To Sin and Live to Righteousness
-See #9, #11, #12, #18, #20, #29

31. So That We Would Die to the Law and Be Fruit for God
-What happened to what I've aways been taught about that we shouldn't be dead under the law like the Pharisees? Read the Conflict of Jesus and you'll understand why this one is wrong.

32. To Enable Us to Live for Christ and Not Ourselves

33. To Make His Cross the Ground of All Our Boasting
-Never mind all Jesus taught against pride.

34. To Enable Us to Live by Faith in Him
-See #14 and #23

35. To Give Marriage Its Deepest Meaning
-Huh? Huh?? Huh??? That's all I can say about this one!

36. To Create a People Passionate for Good Works
-John Piper is a protestant but here he begins to sound like a Catholic. Choose a faith and stick to it, either one is fine, but stop crossing the line. Even Catholics, that prize good works, don't say that's why Jesus died. It's what he taught, according to them.

37. To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness and Costly Love

38. To Create a Band of Crucified Followers
-See #37

39. To Free Us from the Bondage of Fear of Death
-If we're free of death, then how can we die to the law???

40. So That We Would Be with Him Immediately After Death
-Immediately after death? Immediately? So, he died to shorten the time it used to take to get to God after death??? Never heard this in my 20+ years of Bible study.

41. To Secure Our Resurrection from the Dead

42. To Disarm the Rulers and Authorities
-He never came to disarm any governing body. If he did, then he failed. The Jews believe that the messiah would have come to fight against the Romans...Jesus did not so that didn't believe he was the messiah.

43. To Unleash the Power of God in the Gospel
-Uh huh. The Gospels hadn't been written yet, and Jesus never envisioned they would be as far as we know. If he did then why'd they take so long to get written after his death???

44. To Destroy the Hostility Between Races
-Jesus came as a sort of civil rights leader? Don't think I've ever heard that one before. If he did, then why'd it take until almost 2000 years later before that came to fruition??

45. To Ransom People from Every Tribe and Language and People and Nation
-See #8...also, I though he earlier said "many" and not "all"...he came for many AND for all? Doesn't the all include the many or did he come double for some people???

46. To Gather All His Sheep from Around the World

47. To Rescue Us From Judgement
-See #12

48. To Gain his Joy and Ours
-It was joyous to die on the cross??? What about the agony in the garden? or am I mistaken and it was the joy in the garden?

49. So That He Would Be Crowned with Glory and Honor
-He came for his own prideful reasons...not humility?

50. To Show the Worst Evil Is Meant by God for Good
-So evil is sent to us from God to achieve Good? When something "evil" happens its really just God doing good things???

In The Bible Speaks to You by Robert Mcafee Brown the author sums up everything Fifty Reasons... says (minus the crap and poor theology) in 9 pages under 4 headings:

1. The Cross as Example
2. The Cross as Judgement
3. The Cross as Reconciliation
4. The Cross as Victory

John Piper lists recommended books at the end a section called Books on the Historical Reliability of the Bible's Record (never mind everything I learned in Christian grade and high school about the Bible containing historical inaccuracies that don't take away from its theological perfection). In that section is a book called Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus. Sounds like this is a guy who does not believe in the modernization of Christianity. Christianity should be applied to the age in which is exists. You cannot keep it exactly the same 100% of the time and expect it to be pertinent, relatable, usable, and make sense.

Basically, this is a book that could be summed up in 9 pages under 4 headings. The author runs out of ideas and has to reword the same things over and over again in order to find 50 reasons. In actually, there's only about 38 reasons...and even then, not all of them are good theology.

This book is insanely dogmatic and the author obviously spent more time making sure each of the 50 "reasons" filled EXACTLY 2 pages. Not a word more.. or less.
What a terrible book. I did read as far as reason 30 even though my wife wanted me to stop because the book kept upsetting me so badly.
Very depressing. (...)
Not recommended unless you like dogma and wish to punish yourself.

John Piper is lost when it comes to understanding the power of God. The only healing he believes in is a "moral and spiritual" healing. This book doesn't even come close to explaining why Jesus came and died/rose for us. Don't waste your time or your money with any of his materials.