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Oct 01, 2024 06:00am

Justice and Grace

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Does the punishment fit the crime?

Shaun and I watch a show called “I almost got away with it.” We watch as thieves, murderers, rapists, and sexual offenders are finally caught and brought to justice and receive their punishment. But, even though they may have received life in prison for the horrible crime they committed, often, they report they only served a year or so of it and were released.

What?!

We are stunned. How can that be? That punishment does not fit the crime at all!

What if…

Can you imagine if the punishment was just?

Acts 13:6-12

“They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

7, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,

10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?

11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately, mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

Bar-Jesus, also called Elymas, was a sorcerer. He made his money by leaching himself to the wealthy and powerful, promising to predict the future and help them rise and maintain their power. He was a false prophet who pretended to be a man of God yet was leading people into darkness and destruction.

He was blinding them to the truth.

Paul and Barnabas come to the island to share the truth about Jesus, and it changes everything.

Elymas does not want them there. They would expose him. They would reveal the truth. He would lose his ticket to power and wealth when they showed what a fraud he was.

But it was even more than that.

God punished Elymas. And it was a punishment fit for the crime.

He had blinded people to the truth, leading them into darkness, and that’s precisely what God did to him.

Blind. In darkness. Reaching out for help. Relying on someone to guide him by the hand, wondering if they would deceive him. Trusting they would be honorable and help him.

When Jesus is present, the light exposes the dark. The truth is revealed.

This happened in my own life. I finally saw Jesus for who He truly was, and it made me see myself for the first time. In His presence, I recognized the ugly truth about my sin.

God could certainly have punished me in a similar way as He did this evil man. What if? What if God did punish us in the same way that we sinned?

But by His grace, we are saved.

We receive something we do not deserve!

And it’s by His mercy alone! God chose to reach down and offer us His hand, His love, and His life so that we could be saved from the punishment of our sins.

AMAZING GRACE!

How sweet the sound.

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost.

But now I’m found

Was blind

But now I see.

Do you know Him? He is ready and willing to offer you that same beautiful grace if you’d simply turn to Him. I’d love to show you how.

Go to follow.lifeword.org to learn what it means to follow Jesus.