March 2024
Dear Friends
Perfect justice is appealing: those who’ve betrayed us, or
trampled on us, will get all they deserve, either at the hands of men or by the
hand of God (see my February letter). Perfect justice is appealing – until we remember
that we must answer for our mistreatment of others and, even worse, we
remember that we have lived our lives trying to keep the God who made us out of
the picture. ‘I did it my way,’ is the
confession of rebels who must expect to be overthrown by the One who rightfully
belongs on the throne of our lives.
Many know what Jesus said about this – that he had not come,
initially, to execute judgment but to offer forgiveness. ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’ (Mark 2:5) were
Jesus’ startling words to the paralysed man lying on his mat.
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But how is it just for Jesus to be punished for something he
didn’t do, and for me not to be punished for the things that I have
done? No-one made a scapegoat of Jesus
against his will. Jesus said that no-one
would take his life from him, “but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18).
If Jesus and those he is rescuing were legally separate
persons then it would still be immoral to punish ‘the wrong person’. But the Bible says that those who trust in Christ
are more closely joined to him than even the ‘two-become-one’ bond of
marriage. Jesus takes on himself the unpayable
debt that we owe God and he gives to his people all that he is, and shares with
us all that he has. Despite the objections
of some, the cross of Jesus is actually the place where God demonstrates his
perfect justice (Romans 3:25).
So, that leaves one question: Do we want to continue to bear full responsibility
for our actions, or are we willing to accept Jesus’ invitation and let him shoulder
the burden and blame for us? (Galatians
2:16)
Happy Easter!
Graham Burrows
