A man was brought into court for trial and found guilty. The judge happened to be a close boyhood friend of the accused, although they had not seen each other for many years. Remaining impartial, the judge sentenced the defendant and levied a penalty – a fine – appropriate to his crime. The fine was so large that the accused could not pay it, so a jail sentence seemed to be the only alternative.
The judge then did a very unusual thing. Leaving the bench, he approached the convicted man, shook his hand, and announced, “I’m paying the fine for you.” There in the courtroom the law was satisfied, and so was love.
Beautiful justice. Scandalous love.
What a picture of the cross.
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night.
The ultimate intersection: two beams connected, the vertical and the horizontal. One pointed to God, one reached out to man. And there, suspended between heaven and earth, the Prince of Glory was judged in love.
The ultimate paradox: how could something so ugly be so beautiful?
The ultimate collision: sin met grace.
The ultimate demonstration: the love of God and the sin of man.
The ultimate betrayal: thirty stinking pieces of silver for the life of the Son of God.
The ultimate rejection: unconditional love, hammered through with nails.
The ultimate ransom: innocent blood for guilty humanity.
Beautiful justice. Scandalous love. [click to continue…]
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