Wondering at Calvary's Justice
Lastly, this week I want to say that we must wonder at the justice that Calvary offers us — the Cross.
Yes, we weep for injustice. Yes, we call out evil.
But don’t forget that God’s ultimate hope is for even evil people to find salvation, to find the Good News, and to find His mercy.
Praying for the Wicked
You know what I think our prayers should be, friends? We should not be hoping that God breaks the teeth of the wicked and hurts them one day in eternity. We should be pleading with God to intervene in the lives of the wicked ones now — to turn their lives around.
Do you remember that old hymn To God Be the Glory? Verse 2 says, “The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.”
The Power of Forgiveness
Some of you will know the story of Corrie ten Boom, who was arrested during the Second World War for concealing Jews in her home in Holland. After the war, she went around preaching on forgiveness.
One day in 1947, she was preaching this message of grace to a crowd in Germany. To her horror, a man came walking towards her. She recognized him as one of the guards at the concentration camp. She thought of all the terror he’d unleashed there. Her sister had died in that camp, and she writes this:
“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out. ‘A fine message, Fraulein. How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea.’ And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course, but I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I’d been face to face with one of my captors, and my blood seemed to freeze.
‘You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,’ he was saying. ‘I was a guard there.’ He didn’t remember me, but since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. And again a hand came out will you forgive me?’
And she says: ‘As I stood there, I who had every day to be forgiven could not. Betsie had died in that place. Could he erase her slow terrible death simply by asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I ever had to do. For I had to do it. I knew that the message that God forgives has a prior condition — that we forgive those who have injured us.
And still I stood there, with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion — I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. “Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”
And so, woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, and sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother!” I cried, with all my heart.
For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands — the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.’”
Justice Through the Cross
That story brings tears to my eyes. Because of that man’s faith in Jesus, he found forgiveness. The justice that his sins deserved was placed on Christ on the Cross.
And because he had truly repented and changed his ways, he was forgiven — as she learned to forgive him too.
So friends, when you see evil in the world, don’t gleefully wait for judgment. Mournfully see the judgment that awaits them, and pray for their redemption. Pray that even the vilest offender will truly believe and find faith in Jesus.
Because that is what Jesus did for you. Each little sin that you committed was cast on Him for your forgiveness, and you are not condemned. He will offer the same to even the vilest offenders — because on the Cross, justice was bought for those who believe.
