Imagine someone giving you 30 million dollars: what could you do with that? All the things that could be done that have been on the back-burner... Now think about what you would be able to do if you were given 30 million dollars to investigate the life of another person.. How many secrets could you unfold? What things of the past could be uncovered?
If you turn that around you have the situation being faced by President Clinton at this time. Kenneth Starr has been given 30 million dollars to investigate the life of the President checking his probity, his past political deals, his personal life.... I wonder how many of us would stand up to that depth of scrutiny? With that amount of money, almost everyone I had ever met would be subjected to questioning. I don’t pretend to have been perfect, so I know that some things would come to light that I would prefer not...
Consider now the life of Jesus: submitted to the scrutiny of scholars and peasants, learned and simple, suspicious and trusting. More than 30 million dollars has been spent investigating his life over 2000 years: his family background, his upbringing, his ministry life, his private life, his death and even the resurrection has been scrutinised with the finest tooth combs. And the bible says this of him: "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. " At the time of his trial Mark notes that "some stood up and gave this false testimony against him... Yet even then their testimony did not agree."
The one who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be freed from deserved condemnation (it doesn’t take $30m for us to know that), and in doing so gave powerful expression to the grace of God which is now ours. As we remember and celebrate this Easter, let us do so with renewed commitment to serving the One who died for us - and for all
Gary
April 12, 1998
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