It was actually your statement that He didn't want to die. As God, He never did 'die', only had a fleshly body destroyed, and then ressurected. We end up using the term "die" only in our basic understanding, and end up ignoring the difference between what the bible teaches about life and death in it's physical form, and what it teaches about life and death in the spiritual form. It states often that death to the body is actually life to the soul if we follow our teachings and walk the walk Christ did. In that sense, (and that is the only sense we SHOULD think) we must realize the platitude we tell others when a person close to us dies in the flesh. That ha/she has gone to a bette place.
When we realize this, if God was in the flesh of Jesus, God actually could not die, but only have his physical vessel destroyed. He knew, since he originated there, that this death was only temporary. After all, He created His own home, and nothing can stop Him from going there.
We, on the other hand, have to have faith to believe we are going to a place we have never seen after death. Their is a very big diference between what we believe, and what we know. By this I mean not in just religious doctrine, but in everyday life.
Jesus/God suffered for us. But He knew it was a temporary suffering. He had control over how long He suffered and when to finish the pain.
But Jesus/man could NOT know that for sure, just as we don't. We can end our physical suffering ourselves, but to do so in many faiths dooms us to both spritual and physical death. Jesus/man had no control over when the agony was to stop. Jesus/man had to have the same faith we have, and know in His heart that God never had forsaken Him.
Which is where, if we study the NT, we end up debating and losing many paople who would accept the faith. They ask, "How can God die"? Since we and they have faith God can't die, they question the godhood/diety of Jesus. The muslim faith basically accepts much of our OT scripture, but place Jesus as a Holy Spirit filled prophet, on par, or just under, the prophet Mohamed. Judaich faith also places Him as a prophet, yet reject His teaching as God inspired. Placed together, these two beliefs along with atheism and all other religious faiths ends up making over 75% of the world reject the Godhood of Jesus. If we are to stay with out faiths, we must address this point.
We are taught about how Jesus was God on earth, yet He prays on earth to God. So that makes it hard to understand how He could have been God in the flesh. After all, how many times are YOU going to follow someone who prays and talks to him/herself constantly?
Then there is another teaching in which Jesus is part of a triune God. Again, we need to address why, if Jesus was part of God, why would He ask why God had forsaken Him. As part of God, He would know that God hadn't, and would never have stated something, even in pain, so contrary to what he was called and taught.
That leaves us with two other possibilities. One is the total rejection of Jesus/God, and the other is that Jesus/man was in close contact with God, much as Moses was, and was filled with the knowledge God had given Him, much as we ourselves realize many truths from God when we study the bible, our in our daily walk in physical life.
Those who take the rejection path end up being most of our population on earth. Those who take the other path believe that they do not have to reject the teachings of Jesus without having to worship Him in the Godhead.
Which is why I asked the question.
