I've been thinking a lot about Jesus and just how miraculous he was and is. It is truly amazing what he did for us. Today at church this analogy came to mind that I'm about to share. It's the best comparison I can think of for what Jesus did for us on that cross. My hope is that it will help you better understand the love God has for us and to deepen your love for him.
So imagine this. There is a man on death row. He is within hours of his execution for committing one of the most outrageous of crimes. Perhaps it is homicide, rape, or child molestation. Just imagine the most despicable crime you can think of. Now let's take it a step further and say he did this to you or your family. This criminal did the unthinkable by murdering your family or raping your daughter. The natural feeling is anger and even revenge. Nobody would blame you for feeling that way. Now imagine taking their place on death row. Instead of them dying for their crime, YOU die for their crime EVEN THOUGH it was a crime against you.
Jesus did just that but on a much higher level. We all sinned against God time and time again. We all deserve death for what we have done, are doing, and will do in the future, but Jesus took our place. Jesus died for us and our "crimes" against him. The only reason he would do this for us is out of his loving grace. There was no guarantee that we would even care. He didn't know if we would love him back. He died to cover our flaws and our sin. He gave us a free path from death into life. He opened the door, and all we have to do is walk through it. We were granted forgiveness and a new beginning.
So I return to the analogy. Would you be willing to die for somebody that took everything from you? Would you switch places with them to suffer the consequences that THEY deserve? It's not comfortable to think about such a situation. Today people mourn for the victims of violent crimes and condemn the perpetrator. My hope is that you would have a new way of thinking. I hope that you would mourn for both. In essence that criminal is no different than you and me. We are both sinners. As bad as the crime may be, they are also children of God. It breaks my heart to hear people give up on these criminals and say things like, "they deserve to rot in hell." We all deserve that. While it's natural for us to show sympathy and compassion for the victim and their family, it is equally important to do that for the other side. God never gave up on us, so why would we give up on others?
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