Why Jesus Came

In the four gospels Jesus makes a number of direct statements about why he came. I have wanted to investigate and compare all these statements for a few months, and since it is mildly relevant to a paper I am writing this semester I went ahead and made a list of them all. I tried to group them by theme at first, but that didn’t work very well. They are listed here in order of canonical appearance, with passages that parallel one another grouped together. Enjoy…

Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Matthew 9:13 – “But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:17 – On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Luke 5:32 – “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Matthew 10:34-35 – “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law”
Luke 12:51 – “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.”

Matthew 20:28 – “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 1:38 – Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."
Luke 4:43 – But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."

Luke 4:18-19 – “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

Luke 12:49 – “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”

Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

John 3:17 – “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

John 6:38 – “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”

John 6:51 – “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

John 9:39 – “Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

John 12:27-28 – “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

John 12:46-47 – “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”

John 18:37 - "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."