arach and i had a discussion a couple years back for about a year or so thatthe death (and resurection... can't forget that lol) was not to satisfy god's bloodlust, but to satisfy man's.
more specifically. god could easily forgive without any loss of any sort. all he needs is repentance. however. men are not so fogiving and seem to think that someone has to die to fix problems. see hitler, see american foreign policy post 2001, see the evolved form of nearly every religion ever, see human vengence.
the summation of our discussion was that (assuming the death of jesus in the first place which.. well...) it was for god to demonstrate to men that he would do anything to draw them to him. once mankind's gladiator need was filled and they'd seen blood, they were satisfied and could then accept him.