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"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." (Isaiah 1:18).
Luther called this the 'wonderful exchange'. He was referring to the exchange of the following situations described in Scripture: One who does everything right is treated as if He had done everything wrong, so that another who has done everything wrong can be treated as if he had done everything right!
There is no such possibility in any human legal system, but there is in the Bible. It is the central doctrine of salvation: Jesus, the man from Nazareth, the Son of God, lived His whole life as one lives when one is not corrupted by sin – in peace with God, in harmony with His will and plan, 100 percent according to the principles of love.
Jesus lived perfectly – and died anyway – even though death should only come to those who live far from God (that is, not perfectly)! Jesus' death is a mystery. On the one hand, it should never have happened, it was a scandal. On the other hand, it is counted as an atonement for the sins of humanity. And this is only possible because He died completely innocent.
The Old Testament had already foretold this. Jesus' death was unjust. But this scandal gives God the opportunity to pardon people who really deserved to die, because the death for their sins had already taken place on the cross.
Why is it so complicated? Because there is someone who wants to take advantage of the situation of human sin. We are talking about the devil, also known as Satan, a very powerful being created by God. Satan has forfeited his own destiny by rebelling against God. Now he wants to portray God as merciless because He has to banish sin from the universe. Jesus' death shows that God's law is indeed inviolable. At the same time, counting Jesus' death as an atonement for the sins of mankind shows that God is extremely merciful.
Through the 'scandal' of Jesus' death, God has given Himself the opportunity, contrary to the devil's accusations, to save people who repent and ask for forgiveness. When Satan claims that this would be unjust, God can point to the death of Jesus as the greatest injustice of all!
The fact remains that Jesus' death was a flagrant injustice. That is why death could not hold Him forever. He had to be brought back to life! His resurrection is recorded in the Bible, not as a myth, but as a fact. At one point Paul refers to over 500 witnesses who saw Jesus as risen (1 Corinthians 15:6)!
If Jesus is really risen, what more can we fear? Then those who have trusted Him and given their lives to Him will also rise! We can trust in that!
The following story is said to have taken place in the former Soviet Union:
Communist teachers travelled through the country to teach the people about the blessings of Communism and to ridicule the errors and superstitions of religion. It was Easter. Everyone in the village was called together to receive training from the party emissary. When the comrade had finished exposing the 'fairy tales' of the Bible and faith, he allowed questions and comments. An old man came forward and shouted to the village community, "Christ is risen!", to which the congregation responded in chorus, in the tradition of the Russian Orthodox Easter greeting, "Truly, he is risen!"
A similar attitude could help us too. Are we aware that Jesus has risen from the dead? Then the miraculous exchange has been successful. We are liberated! If we are asked, we too can say in the deepest tone of conviction:
"Truly, he is risen!"
Bible texts for in-depth study:
Genesis 3:15; Psalm 22:2, 15, 19; Isaiah 53; Romans 3:25-26; 8:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 20-22; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 19-21; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 2:14-15; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 1 John 2:2, 10
