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What were the alternatives?
The Urantia revelation rejects the concept that Jesus died for our sins, making this comment: "The people of Urantia continue to suffer from the influence of primitive concepts of God….The barbarous idea of appeasing an angry God, of propitiating an offended Lord, of winning the favor of Deity through sacrifices and penance and even by the shedding of blood, represents a religion wholly puerile and primitive, a philosophy unworthy of an enlightened age of science and truth. Such beliefs are utterly repulsive to the celestial beings and the divine rulers who serve and reign in the universes. It is an affront to God to believe, hold, or teach that innocent blood must be shed in order to win his favor or to divert the fictitious divine wrath." (60)
For most Christians, having been brought up from early childhood to accept without question that Jesus' crucifixion was to purchase forgiveness for our sins, this statement comes as somewhat of a shock. But, for most, it takes very little thought to realize the foolish contradiction inherent in the doctrine that God is both perfect love, compassion, and forgiveness yet demands that his only Son should be crucified, a sacrificial offering of his blood, in order to purchase God's forgiveness for our sins.
So why did Jesus need to die--especially that a horrible death by crucifixion was the most likely eventuality.
Jesus' prayer to the Father at Gethsemane specifically requested release. (p. 1968) But the release did not come. What seems to have come was the reminder that Jesus' bestowal conditions required that his mortal life be terminated only by natural means. (1331)
Other than by old age or sickness, only an accidental death seems to be a possible way for a natural exit from mortality by Jesus.
Jesus deliberately undertook the visit to Jerusalem on the Passover occasion that brought about the crucifixion. And he seems to have deliberately antagonized the Sanhedrin to the point that forced them to act against him. But there appears to have been no real need to do so. He could quite easily have avoided drawing attention to himself. In fact there appears to be no obvious reason why he should have gone to Jerusalem at all.
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