Discharged and Acquitted – Part 1

DISCHARGED AND ACQUITTED: A LEGAL APPROACH TO THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF JUSTIFICATION (Part 1)

One major tenet of the Christian Faith is that Christ suffered a gruesome death on the cross for mankind. Crucifixion was a capital punishment in this era and it was meted to persons found guilty of serious offences like treason, speaking against the government, rebellion, and murder. Our Lord Jesus was accused of speaking against the government and being the fake messiah. Even scriptures show that Christ was wrongly accused of all these offences.

The High Priest and Pontius Pilate who passed judgment on Jesus did not find him guilty of any of the offences alleged against him. However, to pacify the Jews, Jesus was sentenced to death on the cross. Jesus himself testified to this fact that the prince of this world is coming and he has nothing in him (John 14: 30). That is, he has nothing to use against him. (See the accounts of the death of Christ in the gospels: Matthew 26-27; Luke 22-23). Most importantly, 1 Cor. 5:21 says

“For God made Christ, who never sinned to be the offering of our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (NLT)

The Message Translation puts it more succinctly:

“God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.” (MSG)

You see, before Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we were lost and sold out to wickedness. The fall of the first man Adam was the fall of every man and the fall of creation; for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). How did all sin? See Romans 5:12 below:

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned that the soul that sin shall die.”

All of mankind was confined under sin through the act of one man. Although we were not yet born, the seed from which we came was in Adam when he sinned, and by that, all fell. Mankind was drowning and needed a saviour, but man lacked the ability to save himself; for if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, there would not be a need for a different priesthood. The truth is not farfetched; a drowning man cannot save another. Man needed a saviour in all its sense to plunge fearlessly into the water and save him.

Because of the great love with which the Father loved mankind, he sent his only son Jesus to take our place. Christ knew no sin but he came in the form of man to die for man. He conquered sin and death on our behalf. Glory!

The prophets of old prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. One prominent of this prophecy that carries the entire message of Christ sacrifice is found in Isaiah 53. The entire passage talks about how Christ was bruised for our iniquities; was wounded for our transgressions; how he bore our griefs and sorrows, and how the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him. All of mankind’s’ sins were laid upon him, and, despite the fact that he was innocent, he never uttered a word.

Even the people he was dying for labeled him a criminal without any proof of criminality. They refused to believe that he is the son of God and constantly accused him of blasphemy, yet, he still chose to lay down his life for us. It was a choice; for he had the power to lay down his life and he chose to lay it down for us. I don’t know about you, but in my mind, when I imagine the picture this scripture paints, all I can think of is asking the question “Why?” Why did Christ go through this path of dying a gruesome death? Why did he not defend himself before the High Priest and Pontius Pilate, since he was innocent of all the accusations levied against him? The simple answer is this; Love.

Christ needed to pay the ultimate sacrifice for us because that was the only way we could be declared justified. He did this, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a Life that cannot be destroyed.

To be continued…