GOOD NEWS

The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
   from heaven he viewed the earth,
   to hear the groans of the prisoners
   and release those condemned to death.  –Psalm 102:19-20

              Once upon a time there was a criminal who had committed some very serious crimes.  He had his trial and was found guilty and sentenced to death in the electric chair.  He was then placed on death row to wait for the time when his sentence would be carried out.  Day after dreary day passed, and now all he had to look forward to was the moment they would come to his cell, take him to the chair, strap him in and end his life.

            As time passed, he got to know the other inmates on death row, and he came to care about them, because they were his world now.  Some of them had appeals in to the governor, and he followed their cases with interest, rooting for them.  But he had no such hope, because he was guilty, and there were no grounds for appeal.

            Then one day a guard came to his cell door, opened it and said, "prisoner, get your things, you are being released."

            He looked up to see what the joke was, but the guard appeared to be serious, so he asked, "What do you mean?"

            "Your crimes have been wiped off the record, your sentence has been erased, and furthermore, the governor has declared you to be our most outstanding citizen", the guard answered.

            The man laughed out loud.  "Oh sure!" he responded, "And tomorrow they make me the Pope!"

            "This isn't a joke!" the guard replied gruffly.

            "Then it’s a mistake!” the man shot back.

            "No, there's no mistake.  There is a man, a well known philanthropist, whom you don’t know. He knows about you, however, and he has decided to give you a second chance. He went to the governor and the courts and made a deal with them that your crimes would go on his record and his record of excellent conduct would belong to you.  Now he is going to come to death row to take your place in the electric chair, so you are free to go.”

            This was more than the criminal could comprehend.  Even in his wildest dreams of rescue, and he’d had some wild ones, he had never dreamed anything this incredible!

            “What’s the catch?” He asked, realizing that there must be some impossible requirement on his part for someone to do something like this for him.  He felt his heart sinking as he waited for the answer.

            But the guard responded, “There is no catch.  All you have to do is agree to the deal.”

            At this the man began to cry, overwhelmed at the tremendous gift he was being given for no reason.  After all, he was clearly guilty and undeserving, yet this man he did not even know was offering to die in the electric chair for his crimes, and he, the criminal, would go out into the world with absolutely no record hanging over his head.  More than that, he would have this man’s record of model behavior as his own. And all he had to do to receive this gift was to accept it!

            His head was spinning as the guard said, “So, what do you say?  Do you agree or not?”

            In a daze, with his heart full of emotions that were unfamiliar to him; emotions like gratitude, tremendous joy, humility and a total recognition of his unworthiness, he said, “Yes! Yes, of course I agree!”

            As the man gathered his few belongings and headed for the open cell door the guard said, “Oh, there is more.”

            The man braced himself, expecting the worst, but to his utter amazement the guard continued, “This philanthropist has made the same arrangement for everyone on death row.  I was asked only to tell you, now it’s up to you to decide what you want to do with the information.”

            Do you suppose the man decided to keep this news to himself and quietly, selfishly leave his friends to their fate?  No!  Out he bounded, running from cell to cell, shouting the story of the incredible offer that had been made to each of them, and rejoicing with them, as one by one they too accepted it.  And that, my friends, is the Good News!  That is the gospel.  All of us, everyone, is on death row until we accept what has been offered to us by Jesus Christ.  And all we have to do to accept is to say, “Yes.”

            That’s it.  Period.  No strings attached.  Accept it and the gift is yours! 

Of course, we all know that every illustration breaks down and can be picked apart.  But the bottom line is that what Jesus actually did for us is even better than this story.  The philanthropist could only offer the criminals a second chance in this life and, being human and criminals, they would very likely have blown it.  But Jesus offers us a relationship with him, and the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts to help us with this life.  And, best of all, he offers us an eternal life one day where there will be no more failure, no more sin, or fear or pain or sadness or sickness or death.

            There may be some of you who are still on death row.  Maybe you didn’t know the good news.  Maybe you didn’t know about the deal Jesus is offering to you.  Maybe you didn’t know all you had to do to receive the gift was to say, “Yes.”  If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and you want to accept the deal, you can, right here and now.  Just tell God, “Yes.  I know I am guilty and I don’t deserve it, but Yes, I accept Jesus’ offer to die in my place.”  And it is yours. Your record is wiped clean and God welcomes you as his son or daughter, with Jesus’ perfect record in place of your sins.  You are now free!

            Go and share the Good News.