The Gospel of John - Punished for Me

I remember hearing the story of 4 people that were sitting across from each other in a little stall on a train. On one side were a college basketball player and his coach. On the other side was a beautiful college-aged girl with her grandma. It was clear that there was an attraction between the basketball player and the young woman, as they exchanging flirtatious glances at one another. Then suddenly, they go through a short tunnel, and for a few seconds it is totally dark on the train. During this darkness, two distinct sounds were heard by everyone. There is the smack of a kiss and then the immediate slap of a face. The girl thinks “I am sure glad he kissed me, but I wish my grandma hadn’t slapped him.” The grandma thinks “I can’t believe he had the audacity to kiss her, and I’m so glad that she slapped him.” The coach, who is rubbing his face, thinks, “I can certainly understand why he kissed her, but I think that girl slapped the wrong guy.” The basketball player thinks, “Awesome! I got to kiss that girl and slap my coach.” That is the power of perspective, and we are going to see Sunday that sometimes the Biblical writers noticed and emphasized different things as they observed the events leading up to the cross. We’ll see that they observe the same event but pay attention to slighty different things, depending on their personalities and their purpose in writing. And then, we’ll put the whole thing together. Join us this weekend as we discuss the punishment of Jesus for us and the invitation that flows from that.