Chad and Trina Tolbert and their teenage son Zach lived in a rather ordinary Mid-Western town. Many of their friends envied their loving marriage as well as how close they were to Zach.
Last winter their neighbor, Meg, came over to tell them that her 17-year old nephew, Jordon, had gotten in some trouble and was going to come to live with her for a while to see if she could get him straightened out.
Chad and Trina promised to do everything they could to help and expressed the hope that their son Zach could be a friend and a good influence for Jordon and help him adjust to the move.
For the next six months, the situation could not have gone better. Jordon practically lived at the Tolbert’s house. He ate supper with them half the time and they often invited him to stay to do his homework with Zach or just to hang out with their family.
Chad and Trina knew Meg didn’t have much money, so they frequently bought Jordan clothes, paid his way to school and church activities, and let him know they were there to help him with any need that might arise.
Then one unforgettable afternoon the whole community was shocked to learn that when Chad came home from work, he found Trina murdered in their living room. The house had been ransacked and it appeared obvious that robbery was the motive behind the brutal murder.
Chad and Zach were devastated. Their grief was profound.
Within hours the police arrested a suspect–their teenaged neighbor, Jordan. Over the next few weeks the evidence, including DNA, was undeniable. Jordan, the young man Trina and her family had been so good to, was her murderer.
That tragic story isn’t true, but it allows us to clarify the meaning of some important terms.
If Chad somehow smuggled a gun into the court room and shot to death Jordan, his wife’s murderer, we would call that “VENGEANCE.”
If instead the court found Jordan guilty of murder and sentenced him to die by lethal injection, that would be called “JUSTICE.”
If Chad, in spite of his grief and loss, asked the court to PARDON Jordan for murdering his wife and to set him free, that would be called, “MERCY.”
On the other hand, if Chad, moved with love for his wife’s murderer, volunteered his only son, Zach, to die by lethal injection in Jordan’s place so he could go free; if Jordan confessed his crime and asked forgiveness and Chad then took Jordan into his home and adopted him as his own son to take Zach’s place, and for the rest of his life, loved and cared for Jordan, showered on him everything he needed, and treated him as if the crime had never happened, that would be “GRACE” – outrageous, illogical goodness to someone who deserved the opposite.And that is exactly what God, our Heavenly Father has given to us: outrageous, illogical goodness when we deserved the opposite. He sent His Son who took on Himself the sins of the world – He died in our place and was resurrected in victory over sin and death.
Pastor Orvid I. Lawson
November 5, 2018 at 6:02 pmIsn’t that story a wonderful example of what our heavenly Father did for us!
GOD BLESS YOU DR. BILL.
Claudia Brood
November 5, 2018 at 6:16 pmI have always been in awe of God’s Grace that saved such a sinner as me. No matter how good I try to be, I just can’t ever be good enough. But, I know, without a doubt, that the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all unrighteousness. In some miraculous way, when God looks at me, He sees only purity because of what my Redeemer, Jesus Christ did for me on the cross! “Grace, Grace, God’s Grace! Grace that is greater than all my sins!” Oh how I am thankful for that Grace and for my Savior, Jesus Christ! ❤️
Craig Apel
November 6, 2018 at 1:21 amIn the past I have used a similar story but no longer do so because I believe it is seriously flawed.
Chad volunteering his own son to die for the guilty would in fact be child abuse and injustice of the worst sort which is exactly what some accuse God of doing in sending His Son to die for us, “spiritual child abuse.” The only reason it was not is that God is three in one (a trinity). Jesus is a distinct person of the trinity, but also an inseparable person from the rest of the Godhead. Therefore, in sending Jesus God was in fact taking the penalty of sin upon Himself, not placing it upon another as in the story.
2 Corinthians 5.19 – ” God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.”
Dr. Bill Rudd
November 6, 2018 at 1:04 pmThanks, Craig, for your thoughtful response and sensitivity both to the theology and potential suggestion of “child abuse.” I know that people have made that assumption about God’s giving His Son to die for us. I think, as I know you would agree, that they also miss the fact that God planned to raise His Son from the dead in His glorified body and exalt Him in heaven and in His future kingdom. Jesus willingly embraced the plan because of what it does for us and for the whole world. I perhaps should have said that my imaginary story, like many of Jesus’ parables, shouldn’t be understood so that every detail is intended to be a perfect theological expression. For that, my story would have had to include details which would have made it unrealistic for human beings. Thanks for your thought-provoking and helpful insights.