I recently finished reading Fifty Reasons why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper. It's a short, little book - about 120 pages. I read through it in about a week but I would definitely recommend using it as a devotional. There are fifty chapters (One reason per chapter) and each chapter is two pages but they are saturated with scripture. I loved that many of the scriptures were repeated throughout the book. I become more familiar with verses I haven't really studied before and that is a wonderful thing! Piper gives us fifty reasons or purposes in answering the question "What did God achieve for sinners like us in sending his Son to die?"
On Goodreads, I had seen a few reviews claiming this book didn't really teach the reader anything new. I doubt that most believers could spout off fifty reasons for Christ's death. But I don't even think the importance is learning all of the reasons and being able to communicate the theology behind each one. When you come to the end of the book, you see and feel the enormity of what happened at Calvary and at the empty tomb. Piper spans a huge range of the Father's relationship with Christ, their relationship with us, Old Testament priesthood, on and on. It's a bit overwhelming to skim through these fifty reasons again and see how much Christ changed our lives, our world, our victory, everything.
I recommend this book to anyone investigating Christ or wanting to learn more about the purpose of his death.
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