Taking Someone's Place

In Romans 5, we can read about the enormous sacrifice that Jesus made, even when we were apart from Him, when humanity lived in a status of being separated from God:
7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.10For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Jesus demonstrated His sacrificial love, putting our needs above His own, when He gave His life on a cross.  He told His disciples in John 15:13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
God's love, expressed through Christ, motivated Him to lay down His life, enduring humiliation, pain, and shame, and a cruel death on a cross, so that we may be brought into relationship with Himself.  And, that type of love can be motivational for us, as well, as we adopt that sacrificial attitude, allowing that love to flow through us, denying self, so that He alone can be glorified through us.
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In 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, we read this passage:
20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Raif Badawi is a blogger who operates a website called Free Saudi Liberals, which sought to encourage debate on religious and political matters, according to a piece on the Christianity Today website, which reported that in May of last year, the government of Saudi Arabia sentenced the 31-year-old Muslim to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes - that's 50 lashes a week for some 5 months.  Last Thursday, for the second week in a row, a medical commission postponed his scheduled Friday flogging on health grounds.

The CT report said that seven of the nine members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have asked the Muslim nation to whip them instead.  Vice-chair Robert George and his colleagues, in a letter addressed to Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States that, “Compassion, a virtue honored in Islam as well as in Christianity, Judaism, and other faiths, is defined as ‘suffering with another...,’ adding, “We are persons of different faiths, yet we are united in a sense of obligation to condemn and resist injustice and to suffer with its victims, if need be."  The letter does state that Badawi has already received 50 lashes.

The commissioners stated, "If your government will not remit the punishment of Raif Badawi, we respectfully ask that you permit each of us to take 100 of the lashes that would be given to him...We would rather share in his victimization than stand by and watch him being cruelly tortured.  If your government does not see fit to stop this from happening, we are prepared to present ourselves to receive our share of Mr. Badawi’s unjust punishment.”

Katrina Lantos Swett, the Commission's chair and also a signatory, had previously condemned the attacks in a statement released earlier this month as a “cruel and barbaric act... unfortunately, business as usual in the Kingdom.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the US State Department's eight "countries of particular concern," ranked 12th on Open Doors’s 2015 World Watch List and ranked ninth on a Freedom House study on internet freedom, a metric some have argued is vital for religious freedom.

The thought of taking punishment for someone else, even for someone of a different faith perspective, is a challenging and admirable one at that.  Dr. George is known for his devotion to religious freedom, in the U.S. and around the world, and this offer signifies that commitment.   And, other Commission members have stepped up, as well.

This offer can remind us of the sacrifices that many are making around the world for their own religious freedom and the sacrifices of those who speak out for them.  Many are risking their lives to preach the gospel and to be followers of Jesus Christ.  Those rights need to be protected, even in the midst of vigorous persecution.  

And, these proposed actions can remind us of Someone who took our place when we were facing eternal punishment.   Jesus became our substitute on the cross - He endured the shame, humiliation, pain, and death so that you and I might have life.   We stood condemned before God, sentenced to death because of our sin.  But, Jesus stepped forward, qualified to pay our penalty, and died on a cross.  He was raised to new life, raised in victory so that we could share in His triumph.

The question can be asked:  for what or for whom are we willing to lay down our lives?  I would hope that each of us would examine our hearts and determine that we would be willing to face persecution and even death for the sake of the gospel, for the glory of God, because we love Jesus. And, with an attitude of humility and sacrifice, we can think about what we would be willing to give up on behalf of someone who is in need - perhaps God is calling us out of our comfort zone into a new level of compassion and commitment to the needs of others, so that Jesus might be seen in us.