Wednesday, January 13, 2016

He Took My Place

January 13, 2015

My last musings on the Apostles' Creed were back in December when I commented on the Ascension and Session of Christ. Reviewing my writings, I noticed that I didn't say much on Christ's death on the Cross. Of course, the Creed doesn't say much, either: "Crucified, dead, and buried" is about it. You can't get much more blunt and matter-of-fact than that. It doesn't say why he died or why this particular death matters. For this, we must return to Scripture itself. 1 Peter 3:18 says, "Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God." Romans 4:25 says, "He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God." Other texts reinforce this notion, what we call vicarious atonement, which simply means he died in our place. It goes back to the ancient Jewish sacrificial system that recognized as we often do not, that something has gone horribly wrong in life, and that it is such a serious matter that only an innocent death can make it right. You may not agree with this particular perspective on life, but it is the view of Scripture and of the ancient Jewish people who gave it to us.

It was also the understanding of Jesus himself who said that he came to "give his life a ransom for many" ( Matthew 20:28). Of course, it was also the belief of the apostles Peter and Paul, as quoted above.

Not everyone likes this perspective, but an old story may shed some light on it. During the American Civil War, the pro-Confederate Quantrill gang terrorized Kansas and the Missouri territories. Today we would call William Quantrill a terrorist; back then he was more akin to a guerrilla fighter, an "irregular" who operated outside the formal military structures of the day. His main claim to infamy was the raid on Lawrence, Kansas in which his men killed over 150 men and boys in revenge for the deaths of some of his band's wives who had been rounded up and detained by Union forces. Quantrill and part of his gang were finally captured and he was seriously wounded in 1864 in Kentucky. The original band of raiders had splintered, so when Quantrill was captured, the killing continued through the likes of "Bloody" Bill Anderson and the Cole-Younger gang of outlaws.

The story goes that when the men captured were sentenced to be shot by firing squad, a young man burst from the bushes and asked the commanding officer to allow him to take the place of one of the outlaws standing blindfolded and awaiting his execution. "I'm as guilty as he, but you didn't catch me," the young man supposedly said. "He has a wife and children; I have no one. Let me take his place." The commanding officer conferred with other officers and it was decided that there were no regulations preventing them from granting the young man's wish. The two men exchanged places and in a matter of moments, the young man lay dead with the others.

The man whose life had been saved asked permission to bury the one who had saved him. Time passed, and when he had saved enough money, he exhumed the body and had it properly buried. Many years later, an old man was seen placing flowers on a grave in a Missouri cemetery. When asked if this was family, he responded, "No; more than family." Pointing to the monument, he read aloud the inscription, "Sacred to the memory of Willie Lear. He took my place."

That's what the death of Jesus Christ is all about. He was innocent of any sin, but he took my place. And yours. By our sins, we deserved death, as the Scripture says, "The soul that sins shall die." (Ezekiel 18:20). The death of Christ on the cross was not merely an ordinary execution of a Jewish peasant. Thousands of Jewish men were killed this way, but only this One took our sins upon himself. He died in our place, and like the man in the story, we get to go free to live a life we would never have imagined possible. I am grateful tonight that Jesus took my place. And set me free.

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