一名20歲的富家子弟與朋友飆車時，不慎撞死了一名路人。雖然他後來被判了3年徒刑，但有些人認為，出現在法庭受審，並繼而入獄服刑的那名男子，其實是肇事者花錢找來替他頂罪的人。這種花錢找人頂罪的做法，在某些國家時有所聞。

找人頂罪的做法，聽起來可恥且令人髮指，但兩千多年前耶穌也代替我們「為罪受苦，就是義的代替不義的」（彼得前書3章18節）。做為上帝全然無罪的祭物，基督藉著一次獻上自己，使凡相信祂的人永遠聖潔（希伯來書10章10節）。基督在十字架上，用自己的身體承擔了我們犯罪所應受的刑罰。現今有些人願意幫犯罪的人頂罪，是為了賺錢，但基督代替我們死在十字架上，是因為祂甘願白白地為你我犧牲生命，好讓我們得著「盼望」（彼得前書3章15、18節；約翰福音10章15節）。耶穌這麼做是為了彌合我們和上帝之間的鴻溝。

唯有藉著耶穌替全人類受死，我們這些亟需拯救的罪人才能與這位慈愛的上帝建立關係，並能毫無阻礙地來到祂面前。願這寶貴的真理能使我們歡喜快樂，並得到安慰與信心。

A wealthy twenty-year-old was drag-racing with his friends when he struck and killed a pedestrian. Although the young man received a three-year prison sentence, some believe that the man who appeared in court (and who subsequently served a prison sentence) was a hired surrogate for the driver who committed the crime. This type of thing has been known to occur in some countries where people hire body doubles to avoid paying for their crimes.

This may sound scandalous and outrageous, but more than two thousand years ago, Jesus became our substitute and “suffered once for [our] sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). As God’s sinless sacrifice, Christ suffered and died once and for all (Hebrews 10:10), for all who believe in Him. He took the penalty for all our sins in His own body on the cross. Unlike a person today who chooses to be a substitute for a criminal to get some cash, Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross provided “hope” for us as He freely, willingly gave His life for us (1 Peter 3:15, 18; John 10:15). He did so to bridge the chasm between us and God.

May we rejoice and find comfort and confidence in this profound truth: Only by the substitutionary death of Jesus can we—sinners in need—have a relationship with and complete spiritual access to our loving God.