March 9, 2005
It’s been four weeks since Ash Wednesday. In the Gospel today, we see that Jesus is moving ever closer to the inevitable day when He will suffer and die. In the past, He’s not denied that He’s the Son of God, but now He’s getting more open about it. Talking to the Jews today about His relationship with the Father and the fact that whoever doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent Him.
In Monday’s Gospel Jesus healed the official’s son on the Sabbath. Now He’s openly claiming to be the Son of God. As John tells us, “they tried all the more to kill him.” Jesus has come as a sign of God’s love. He has come to pay the price for our sins. We know how the story is going to turn out. We’ve heard it before.
There’s a story told about a judge whose son was indicted for a serious crime. The case should end up in the judge’s court. Everyone was waiting for the judge to recuse himself, but he refused. He was going to try his own son.
As the trial went on it was plain that the judge wasn’t showing any favoritism to his son. But the skeptics all said, “Just wait. When it’s time to give a verdict, he’s going to let his son off the hook.”
The trial was winding down. The defense and the prosecution made their final statements. Everyone waited to see what the judge was going to do. To everyone’s surprise, the judge found the boy guilty. Not only that, he imposed the maximum possible sentence. Then he stood up, took off his robe, and came down from the bench.
The judge instructed the bayliff to place the handcuffs on his wrists. He would serve the sentence in place of his son.
Of course the story’s not true. Who would be willing to take the punishment for someone else? We know the answer, don’t we? God came down from heaven, in the form of a human being so He could pay the price for our sins. As He said. There’s no greater love than to lay down you life for your friends.
In Monday’s Gospel Jesus healed the official’s son on the Sabbath. Now He’s openly claiming to be the Son of God. As John tells us, “they tried all the more to kill him.” Jesus has come as a sign of God’s love. He has come to pay the price for our sins. We know how the story is going to turn out. We’ve heard it before.
There’s a story told about a judge whose son was indicted for a serious crime. The case should end up in the judge’s court. Everyone was waiting for the judge to recuse himself, but he refused. He was going to try his own son.
As the trial went on it was plain that the judge wasn’t showing any favoritism to his son. But the skeptics all said, “Just wait. When it’s time to give a verdict, he’s going to let his son off the hook.”
The trial was winding down. The defense and the prosecution made their final statements. Everyone waited to see what the judge was going to do. To everyone’s surprise, the judge found the boy guilty. Not only that, he imposed the maximum possible sentence. Then he stood up, took off his robe, and came down from the bench.
The judge instructed the bayliff to place the handcuffs on his wrists. He would serve the sentence in place of his son.
Of course the story’s not true. Who would be willing to take the punishment for someone else? We know the answer, don’t we? God came down from heaven, in the form of a human being so He could pay the price for our sins. As He said. There’s no greater love than to lay down you life for your friends.
posted by Mike at 10:30 PM
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