I Was Guilty in Amish Country
A few weeks ago, I was traveling back from Salt Lake City by way of Nashville International Airport. I didn’t get to Nashville until about 10:00 pm and was a little too anxious to get home.
As I was passing through Amish country in Ethridge, TN, I got the blue light special. A nice Ethridge police officer, with a very twangy Tennessee accent, suggested I slow it down a bit. He then gave me an invitation – more like a citation – to join him in court at the end of the month.
This all happened a few weeks before our daughter’s wedding and the court date happened to be the week of the wedding. So I called Ethridge City Hall and they kindly offered to rearrange the date. However, I kept running into scheduling problems with my work travel. The clerk told me that someone could come stand in front of the judge in my place, plead guilty, and pay for the fine. Not only that, my stand in would also receive any of the verbal reprimands given by the judge.
“Hey Baby, so what do you have planned on August 28?” I asked my sweet husband. Without flinching or questioning or hesitating, he said he would do it for me. Tim stood in my place in court and took my licks and paid my fine just as if he had been driving that little gray Camry down Hwy. 43 at ??mph. I was truly humbled by his act of service for me.
Of course, anything that happens in my life becomes fair game for sharing the message of the gospel on my blog. I could not help but see the parallel between what Tim did for me and what Christ does for all of mankind.
Christ’s intercession for us was prophesied all the way back in Isaiah. He took our punishment and judgment:
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5
He took on the curse of our punishment…
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— Galatians 3:13
Tim interceded on my behalf on judgment day in Ethridge. When the judge called MY name, Tim stood in MY place and plead guilty to a crime I had done. What Tim did for me kept my driving record clear, kept me out of jail, and paid my debt. What Christ did for us is so much greater…and He was totally innocent.
1.We are free from sin’s slavery: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:2
2. We are justified before God: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Romans 5:9
3. Because Jesus acts as our High Priest before God, we have access to grace…Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb. 4:16
So watch your speed going through Amish country. But much more importantly, do not neglect so great a salvation offered to you through our Great Intercessor, Jesus Christ.
