What was the death of Jesus about?
Jesus, according to the gospels, sets out, not on a suicide mission (meaning a very dangerous mission), but on a mission to die, a seeking of death, a literal suicide.
In Mark he puts it on the table right near the start:
Mark 2:20 The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
and at the end he doesn’t take the midnight special camel train out of Jerusalem to points east, but deliberately avoids every chance to escape:
Mark 14:33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch." 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt."
Matthew 26:18 He said, "Go into the city to a certain one, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.'"
Matthew 26:29 “I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
Matthew 26:38 Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Luke 22:22 For the Son of man goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!"
Luke 22:42 "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."
The tone in John is different, but the determination to die is still foremost:
John 17:4 I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do; 5 and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
John 17:13 But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I've never understood what's supposed to be going on. I'd be grateful for coherent answers to three
The first question is:
WHY was it necessary for Jesus to die?
What could the death of Jesus achieve that an almighty God could not have achieved without bloodshed, just with one snap of those omnipotent fingers?
The second question is:
WHAT did Jesus’ death actually achieve? What, specifically, was different afterwards, that wasn’t so before?
The third question is:
Since God had made [his] covenant with the Jews, and was the God of the Jewish nation, and the only God, and had never needed an intermediary,
why would God suddenly need an intermediary in the first century CE?
Grateful for illumination.
it was another miracle that the powerful rich class, Jewish and Roman in His time, couldn't get rid of Him in a relatively short period of time when His message became rather clear to most people around Him. And Jesus needed just 3 years to reveal all spiritual truths that spiritual humans need to know about life. Jesus brought me what I may call Science of Reality... but this is off topic here.
