I got the opportunity this past week to go out with a group on campus called Student Outreach. This ministry is geared towards Gospel-centered evangelism. We gave out the Gospel of John among other tracts in Millennium Park, and moved into the subway system to do the same when it started to rain. I was able to have some very interesting conversations with others as we waited on the platform in between the red line trains. More than once I was challenged by questions concerning Jesus’ death on the cross. One individual said something along these lines: “I don’t get why Christians always talk about Jesus’ death on the cross. It seems to me like a sob-story, used to make us feel guilty, like we owe him something now. I didn’t make Jesus die. Why did he need to?”
Imagine that someone harms you, or sins against you in anyway. Imagine that this hurts you deeply. Naturally, this would sever your relationship with that individual. You have two choices. You can make them pay, you can get revenge. You can make them suffer for what they did. Or, you can choose to forgive them, but this process would not come without pain. Choosing to let something go and to not hold it against someone who deserves to be punished is by no means easy, and it would take a lot out of you to continually choose love and forgiveness. But either way, someone pays. There is no such thing as forgiveness without payment. Murderers are sentenced to prison to pay for their acts. If the judge were to show them grace and let them go free, then the surrounding community would pay. Those involved would feel hurt that the victim’s life was not properly defended, and others would be put on high alert at the thought of the criminal roaming free on the streets. Justice comes with a price, and someone must pay it.
In Exodus 12 there is an account of the events surrounding the first Passover season. The Egyptians were a very powerful kingdom in those days, and they held Moses and his people captive. But in Exodus 12 God told of a wrath that he would send down that would kill the firstborn of every household unless that household spread the blood of a sacrificed lamb on its doorposts. The Israelites were God’s chosen people, and so he had no intentions of killing their firstborn. And yet, God did not exclude Israel from this command. They were not exempt from the wages of sin.
This story is a beautiful picture of sacrifice for the sake of life, yet it is not the greatest one. Luke chapter 22 records a Passover celebration with Jesus and his disciples. But there are two distinct things that were different about this particular meal. It was customary for the leader of the meal to stand and explain it. Back then this message would be about the bread of affliction that represented the Israelite ancestors who suffered in the wilderness and were delivered to the thanksgiving of modern Jews. But when Jesus took the bread, he broke it and said “this is my body”. He was referring not to the past affliction of his chosen people, but to his pending affliction and suffering that would be at the expense of his own body. Not only that, but at this meal there was a predominant dish missing. There was unleavened bread, and there was wine, but in the scriptures there is no mentioning of a lamb. But a lamb was customary and an essential part of the meal! The disciples must have been confused…but catch the significance: There was no lamb on the table, because the Lamb was sitting at the table.
Jesus is the Lamb of God. He did not temporarily cover doorposts in order to protect from momentary affliction. Rather, he covered the sins of the souls of men. His sacrifice is permanent, it cannot be washed away, yet it washes away all that is unclean. When Abram went to sacrifice his son out of obedience, God shouted out immediately for him to stop, and provided another sacrifice. But when Jesus hung on the cross, no one said stop. When Abram said that God would provide a sacrifice in Genesis 22:8, isn’t it beautiful to note that this indeed proved to be true? God did not just provide any sacrifice. He told Abram to take his son off of the wood, knowing that later his son would be crucified on it.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Blessings.
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