Pictured above are Al Quie and Chuck Colson
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(…continued) This idea of Jesus as our substitute has been illustrated in many ways. One of the most famous illustrations is of a judge who hears a case, is informed of the guilty verdict by the jury, pronounces the death sentence, and then comes down off the bench and offers himself taken away to prison and execution in the place of the accused. The image is outrageous. No judge would ever do that and no court would ever allow it. And God’s merciful forgiveness of our sins by the death of the sinless Jesus in our place, is just as outrageous and unexpected. But that is exactly what the Bible says happened.
One of the best illustrations of this comes from the days of the Watergate scandal. President Nixon’s chief of staff, Charles Colson (1931-2012) was convicted of participating in the cover-up, and was sentenced to two years in prison. Not only was Colson’s political career coming to an end, but his personal life at this time was falling apart. Among other things, Colson’s marriage was on the verge of breaking up, and, his son was having his own troubles with the law and needed his father. Knowing all this, then Minnesota congressman Al Quie (1923-2023) learned of an obscure law that allowed another man to serve prison time in place of the convicted man for non-violent crimes. Despite having his own family and career, Quie offered to be that substitute, and serve Colson’s term, so that Colson could at least attempt to save his marriage and look after his son. It was an incredible offer. The judge refused the request, but Colson was profoundly moved by the offer, and that was a part of what led Colson to give his life to Christ.
What Al Quie offered to Charles Colson is just a small illustration of what Jesus provided for us when he went to hell in our place, and then rose from the dead so that we might also defeat death. Jesus took our place, so that we could live in his place, forever.
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Isaiah 53:4-6 — Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Matthew 27:41-43 — The chief priests mocked him, and along with the scribes and elders said, “He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. (Jesus did not come down.) He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” (God did not deliver Jesus on that day.)
Romans 5:17 — For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:13 — Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
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O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Book of Common Prayer
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