In recent years there has been an interest in how our justice system works. Not long ago there was some debate on whether or not live television should be allowed in the courtroom. Today we have Court TV. There is an entire cable network devoted to nothing but courtroom cameras and criminal justice. Or sometimes injustice.
If having cameras in the courtroom has proved anything it's that the human criminal justice system doesn't always work. It's been made pretty clear over the years that real justice has been rather elusive in the courts. Those who kill infants at birth are set free. Government bureaucrats who spend billions of dollars to protect a snail or butterfly are never prosecuted. Our human courts have an uncanny way for turning justice completely upside down. The wicked prosper while the righteous suffer.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the arrest, trials, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. No victim of injustice was ever more innocent than the sinless Son of God. And yet no one ever suffered more agony than He did. He was executed by men who openly acknowledged that He was innocent. At the same time, a murderous robber was set free. It's easy to look at the cross and see that this was the worst miscarriage of human justice in the history of the world. And it was.
It was an evil act, brought on by the hands of wicked men. But that's not the full story. The crucifixion of Christ was also the greatest act of divine justice ever carried out. It was done with "the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). It was also done for the highest purpose. Yours and my salvation. It opened the way for God to forgive sin without compromising His own perfect holy standard.
Christ was not just some mere victim of injustice. He died willingly. He became the atonement for the sins of the very men who killed Him. It was the greatest sacrifice ever made. It was the purest act of love ever carried out. It was the highest act of divine justice than all the human injustice it represented.
Every one of us who are true Christians know that Christ died for our sins. But in the daily routine of our lives, we sometimes take the cross for granted. We tend to think of it as just an elementary fact of our faith. And as a result we sometimes fail to meditate on the cross. We miss the richness of it.
Jesus didn't deserve judgement. But He bore it on behalf of everyone of us anyway.
