People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. (Orwell)

One morning in 2018, I walked into the patrol office and saw a deputy’s ballistic vest lying in a chair. The outer carrier was covered in mud. The vest told the story of the previous night. While we slept peacefully, this deputy fought for his life in a roadside ditch. A routine arrest turned into a near-death struggle. The suspect assaulted the deputy and tried to take his gun.
The deputy survived, but not without scars. Some are physical, others hidden. The vest reminded me that any struggle against evil comes with a cost. Many people reap the benefit of a low-crime community without knowing the sacrifice of those who provide it. There is more to it than you may think.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross…” (1 Peter 2:24)
To many, the crucifixion is just a Sunday school story. A tear-out picture from a coloring book depicting a cross and an empty tomb. Many who reap the benefits of forgiveness never realize the sacrifice required of Him who provides it. A man once told me you cannot understand the Bible until you first understand the cross. Yet, we may never know the totality of what happened on the cross on this side of eternity.
Jesus still bears the scars of the crucifixion. His appearance was changed forever by His sacrifice. Yet the suffering He endured on the cross transcends the physical. The Bible says, “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin…” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The sinless Son of God, Holy from all eternity past, became sin. Let that marinate.
Whenever I hear this verse taught, I lean in, hoping for an explanation. Each time, however, I am disappointed. It is a mystery few understand. God made Him who knew no sin, to be my sin and your sin. He became sin, “so that we may become the righteousness of God.” Jesus became the unthinkable so that I may become the unachievable.
“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3)