Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8, NIV)
Yesterday we sang a modern Christmas song in our worship service. The song was Let Us Adore by Elevation Worship. It’s a good song! Here’s a sample of the lyrics:
For the unclean, the unholy,
For the broken, the unworthy,
You came, Jesus, you came.
For the wounded, for the hurting,
For the lost and for the lonely,
You came, Jesus, you came.
For the outcast, the defeated,
For the weary, for the weakest,
You came, Jesus, you came.
All of those statements are true. But something is missing. Think about the unclean, the unholy, the broken, the unworthy, the wounded, the hurting, the lost, the lonely, the outcast, the defeated, the weary, and the weakest. These descriptions could be summarized with words like victimized, oppressed, exploited, and enslaved.
There’s nothing extraordinary in the story of a hero (Jesus) who comes to rescue the oppressed and exploited victims. Even in the sacrificing of his life to save them, we applaud. Of course someone like Jesus would come to liberate the enslaved! Duh! We’ve all seen enough MCU movies to expect that storyline. And the Bible makes it clear that Jesus did come to set the captives free, love the untouchables, and proclaim victory over the oppressive forces of evil in the world. But the unexpected and scandalous twist in the true story is that Jesus didn’t only come for the victim. Jesus came for the guilty. And therein lies the scandal of the cross.
Despite the influence of the MCU in pop culture, Romans 5:7 is still true today. Very rarely is someone willing to die for someone else. Most people aren’t heroic enough to sacrifice much of anything, especially their lives—even for the oppressed. Even for the people we agree need to be rescued—and should be rescued—we’re not going to make the effort.
If we won’t sacrifice to save the people who deserve it, how likely is it that someone would give his life to save the people who don’t deserve it? While everyone applauds the hero who dies to liberate the oppressed, does anyone applaud the hero who takes the death penalty to save the oppressor?
In our society, everyone plays the victim. It’s easy to sing songs about the God who came for the victims. But nobody wants to admit that they’re guilty of victimizing others. Whatever your skin color, ethnicity, or background, we are all guilty of hurting, oppressing, abusing, lying… of sinning against others. I’m glad Jesus came for the lonely, the outcast, and the defeated. And I’m glad he came for the guilty—because that includes me. Thank you, God, for saving me!