me thinks folks are simply not looking outside the box on this one. it never made sense to me either, as you said, who would the supreme being have to sacrifice his son to. for the longest time the only thing i could come up with was God wanted to show that under the right conditions, even the son of God has a weakness of faith & to some may even have sinned. so it stands to reason that mere mortals should accept the fact none will be perfect, even the son of God, but that God will still love them.

while i still think these ideas have merit, the idea put forth over the centuries that Jesus had children & that his bloodline continues today is a much more logical reason for God to have sacrificed his son. how many times have christians heard the phrase "washed in the blood of the lamb?" what better way to ensure at least some "good" genes among your creations.