Most of us have a keen sense of justice. When a person is known to be guilty, there is something deep in us that demands justice and punishment. By the same token, when an innocent person is accused of crimes we applaud it when they are acquitted.
Imagine another possibility. A person… or people… are proven to be guilty of the most horrible crimes imaginable. The evidence presented against them is video and eyewitness testimony. They are not only proven to be guilty, they actually admit their guilt publicly. How would you react if that had happened in relation to O.J. Simpson, Saddam Hussein, and Adolf Hitler?
Let’s go a step further. Imagine that they are not only allowed to walk free… but given places of leadership in your community! Would you be outraged?
Yet that is exaclty what salvation is all about. That is exactly what happens every time a person is saved. That is exactly what took place when you were saved. That is the outrage of Easter.
That is precisely what happened to Peter. Peter commited a crime against Jesus by denying him and cursing Christ. Yet he admitted his crime and then the one against whom the crime was committed (Jesus) not only forgave him but installed Peter as the leader of the Church (See John 21:15-18a).
Jesus was innocent… yet He was convicted, sentenced to death, and murdered {That was an outrage}. Peter was guilty (Along with every believer)… yet he was convicted, forgiven, and then given a place of honor by Jesus (2 Timothy 2:12a and Revelation 22:5b). That too is outrageous!
It is an outrage that any person is forgiven… much less given a place of honor by God. Yet it is the very outrage of Easter that glorifies God. It is the outrage of Easter that we must be thankful for and give us reason to praise, worship, and glorify God ourselves.
Oh by the way… there are two pictures that should be added to the ones above… mine and yours. For we too are guilty… but forgiven to the praise and glory of God!