05/27/2020
When was the last time that someone took the blame for something you did? Better yet, when was the last time you took the blame for an offense that someone else committed? For this to occur in either way it involves love. The person who stands in propitiation for someone must at the very least like them enough to take the punishment, but as the offense, or sin, increases in its distaste, then the love must increase as well.
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2 ESV
Jesus intercedes for us before God, but He does much more than just make a verbal argument in support of us; He has taken on our sins, and He has paid the price for them. Unlike Christ, we might take the blame for another in some things, but what about those offenses which are horrendous in nature? Would we take the blame for a particularly distasteful transgression; what about a brutal beating, child abuse, having had an affair with a friend’s spouse, or rape? Being totally innocent of these things, would we even consider taking the blame for them? Yet Jesus has taken on the sins of the world. He has taken on the most rancid of them to redeem us. The pure and perfect Lamb of God became sin for us...
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
In times gone by, wealthy men could pay another person to fulfill their obligation to serve in the military. They would enter into a contract in which someone else would enlist in military service, and even fight in wars so that they wouldn’t have to personally go. Jesus stands voluntarily in our place before God; not because we have paid Him too, but in fulfillment of the will of God. He went to the cross in our stead.
A similar thing to military conscription happened within the early Catholic Church. A person might receive a punishment from the church for sins they committed, but were allowed to pay someone else to take their penalty for them. A good example would be an offense in which the punishment was to go on pilgrimage. Before the sin would be expunged by the church, a person was required to leave their home, and travel long distances by foot to a pilgrimage site, and back. Upon reaching their destination they presented a letter to the local priest there, and received a document which proved they had completed the trip... then they walked home with it, and upon completing the trek they were forgiven of their sins. We are not talking about hopping on an airplane, or boarding a bullet train; these journeys took months and even years to complete, and the way was often arduous, and dangerous. The routes were lined with thieves, and wars were often raging along the way. Many pilgrims died on pilgrimage. So, wealthy persons would pay someone else to go that distance for them, and return with the required document. Jesus fulfills this surrogate pilgrim’s role for us, but we need to walk alongside Him in faith.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—”
Galatians 3:13 ESV
Our only payment to Jesus is to have faith in Him, and know that He is the Son of God. He doesn’t redeem us because of our own doing, but because He was sent by God to do so. He is obedient to the will of our God who loves us...
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
John 3:16-18 ESV
So let’s look at our lives, and identify the times when we willingly took the blame for another, or argued their case before an authority. Then, compare that to what Jesus does for us. In this way we can use the offerings of our meager lives to help us understand His, and to know His motivation, and His sacrifice. We might have taken the punishment for a sibling, but Jesus took on the sins of the world. We might have gone to bed early without dinner, but Jesus feeds us with His body, and blood in remembrance. We might have decided to intercede as we saved someone from pain, but Jesus intercedes for us to Complete God’s will, and save us from eternal death, and damnation. We should be living as Jesus lived, and constantly comparing our lives to His. We should be obeying God’s commandments, and doing His will, but always for His glory, and with the true love of a child.
“whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:25-26 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your overwhelming love for us, and for your Son Jesus Christ who has taken our sin, and stands in propitiation for us. How could we possibly redeem ourselves considering the weight of the sin we carry, and yet Jesus shouldered our transgressions, and removes the burden of guilt from us. Holy Father, teach us to stand up for others, and to lead them to you through Christ by our reflection of Him. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who loves us beyond all understanding, and whose Son stands before you bearing our sin that we might be forgiven, and redeemed. Praised be your name for stooping from heaven to lift us by His sacrifice. Great are you who teaches us to love others as you have loved us, and to help them see Jesus in our lives as they struggle under the weight of sin. Hear our prayers Father as we call out for strength, and ask your Holy Spirit for understanding. Open our hearts, and strengthen us in obedience to your will! You are our God who has allowed His Son to make propitiation for us... even as we wrestle in the clutches of sin.
“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Hebrews 2:17-18 ESV
Rich Forbes