And on the other hand it was not his own death but that of men the Saviour came to fulfill. Therefore he did not lay aside the body by his own death - for he had none since he was life - but he accepted the death imposed by men in order to destroy it completely when it came to his own body.
Athanasius, 293-373 AD, De Incarnatione, 22 (translated by Robert W. Thomson, Contra Gentes and De Incarnatione, Oxford on the Clarendon Press, 1971, p. 189)
Does it matter how Christ died? Why?
It does matter. His last words remind us that he died:
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2) forgiving his torturers;
3) experiencing feelings of abandonment;
4) thirsty;
5) knowing his mission was finished.
May our lives all end with a knowing that we have finished the course and run the race with forgiveness.
I share that desire.
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