Easter is about a debt we could never pay and a victory we could never win. And strangely enough, one of the clearest pictures of that truth comes from an old story from the 1870s.
It’s about a widow living alone on a small farm.
One day, three men came to her door asking for a meal. She was embarrassed because she had so little to offer them. She even began to tear up, since it had been years since a man had been in the house. But what troubled her most was what was coming next.
By four o’clock that afternoon, a banker was arriving to foreclose on her property. She needed $800, and she didn’t have it. As they ate together, she shared her situation with the young men and thy listened sympathetically.
As the men prepared to leave, the leader handed her the money she needed, but before walking away, he told her, “Make sure you get a receipt.”
When the banker arrived later that day, she paid the debt in full. But the story didn’t end there. The newspaper later reported that the banker did not get far before he was robbed in the nearby woods. The man who robbed him was the very one who had given the widow the money.
That man was Jesse James!
Now, Jesus is not an outlaw in the way Jesse James was.
But there are at least two powerful parallels in this story that point directly to the heart of the gospel.
Jesus Paid Our Debt
When Jesus hung on the cross, His final words were, “It is finished.” In Greek, it's just one word. The word used in John 19:30 is Tetelestai, a term often used in business transactions. It means a debt has been paid in full. That is exactly what happened at the cross.
Our sin was not ignored or excused. It was paid.
Scripture tells us, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Not some sin. Not most sin. “All” sin. This truth is also echoed in the words of an old hymn:
“There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose ALL their guilty stains.”
William Cowper wrote those words while battling deep depression. He had even attempted suicide three times before discovering the grace his troubled soul needed at the cross of Christ.
Some have tried to remove all the references to “blood” in his song, but thankfully they failed. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin!
The hope of Easter is that Jesus has fully paid our debt.
As someone once said, “The cross is the payment for our sins, but the resurrection is the receipt proving the debt was paid.” Some may object to calling Jesus “the greatest outlaw.” In one sense, they are right. Jesus did not break the law. He lived a perfect and sinless life. But the reality is that He was treated like one!
The crowd was given a choice: release Barabbas (a murderer) or crucify Jesus. They chose Jesus as the one most worthy of death. Jesus was also crucified between two criminals.
More than this…. He became sin for us!
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
He stepped fully into our place. He took our guilt, our shame, and the consequences of our sin and made them His own.
Jesus Robbed the Devil
At the cross, Jesus not only paid our debt—He also robbed Satan of the power of death. When He died, the earth shook, rocks split and tombs were open!
This was not defeat.
It was victory!
The debt is paid. The prison is open. Death has been defeated. The hope of Easter is not only found in the past, but also in the future.
Three years ago, my mom was diagnosed with stage four bladder cancer. During the time leading up to her passing, we talked often about the resurrection. Some of my last memories with mom are of her lying in bed holding her Bible tightly with a radiant smile on her face. She believed confidently in the resurrection!
Scripture says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Recently, I stood at her grave in New Gloucester Maine. It is a quiet and lonely place. As I stood there, a question came to mind: why did we buy a tombstone, when it’s only going to split in half at the second coming of Jesus?
When He returns, the dead in Christ will rise. Bodies will be made new, and every trace of sickness will be gone.
There will be no more cancer. No more death. No more suffering. No more tragedy, no more war, no more devil and no more grief.
Thank God for The Greatest Outlaw!
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Gary Blanchard is President of the Northern New England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
