***before I get into this, I want to make sure it is clear that this is not some far fetched analogy that I cooked up on my own. Only Jesus could have done something like this to make this life lesson so real. I know us Jones’ tend to have ridiculous and unbelievable stories to tell, but believe me when I say that this is real.
About a month ago I was driving through downtown Columbia and was pulled over (I know, what could I possibly have done to get pulled over??). Believe it or not, I wasn’t speeding this time, I was pulled over for not wearing my seatbelt. The officer came to my car, told me why he pulled me and asked for my license and registration. I waited for about 20 minutes while he was writing up my ticket (at least that’s what I thought he was doing…) He game back to my car and informed me that my license was showing up suspended. He then proceeded to inform me that driving on a suspended license in South Carolina is an arrestable offense. He asked me to get out of my car, turned me around, put handcuffs on me and placed me in the back of his cruiser. I sat in the back of his car for about an hour, literally losing it. I couldn’t breath I was crying so hard. After he had finished inventorying my car and helping the tow truck guy get everything taken care of, he got back in his car and drove me to the police station where I was booked (mug shots included). From there I was taken to the Lexington County Jail, where I was informed that I would be spending the night until I could see the judge the next day, when it would be decided if I could post bail or not. When I got there they took everything from me; hair ties, headbands, shoes, clothes, glasses, etc. I was booked again (more mug shots!) and they gave me an orange jumpsuit to wear, some flip flops, a baggie of non-contraband toiletries, a mat to sleep on the floor with, a sheet and a blanket. During this time I tried to get in touch with my parents so that I could let them know what was happening, but no one answers 1-800 numbers when they call your house any more, and my only option was to call collect from inside the jail. After a few failed attempts of getting in touch with them, they put two and two together and figured out that a Lexington County inmate was calling them, and that Lexington County was in South Carolina. They called the receptionist desk at the jail and found out that I was there while I was standing right next to the desk getting finger-printed.
My conversation with my dad was more along the lines of me sobbing, and him trying to interpret the few words I could actually get out, but before we hung up he said something along these lines to me “Cole, this… this is just too unreal for it not to be Jesus. He has you here for a reason, He wants to show Himself to you… so let Him.” With those words ringing in my ears I was escorted to my cell that I ended up sharing with seven other women (one; a drug dealer, another; had killed someone, and a third; that liked to play eye games and touch/grab at me when I wasn’t looking). I didn’t sleep much that night; I sat up thinking about the realities of my situation. I was in jail. This was on my record. I’m in graduate school, with hope to become a teacher, maybe even overseas; neither of which was a possibility with something like this on my record.
By some extraordinary miracle my parents had been able to get in contact with my grad school advisor and long time professor Dr. Cooper; and even more miraculous, Dr. C was in town that weekend (something that is extremely rare). Unbeknownst to me, Dr. Cooper came to my hearing the next morning where the judge posted my bail at 300 something dollars, and paid my bond. I got out of court around 1030 that morning and was finally released sometime after 12. Dr. Cooper was waiting for me on the outside… when I finally got out, the entire situation was so unreal to me that it hadn’t even dawned on me that my adviser, from grad school (a grad school that is a Bible college, no less), had just bailed me out of jail. Stop and enjoy the irony of that for a moment… good stuff. :)
The days that followed this incident were honestly a blur of trying to figure out what was real, and what wasn’t about my experiences in jail. The entire situation seemed otherworldly to me, like something I had experienced, but hadn’t quite felt the repercussions of yet.
Just this past Thursday I had my court date. Over the past month my mom dawned her Super Mom outfit (which, by the way, she should just keep on under her real clothes because of how often she pulls it out for Caleb and I), and began doing what she does best; making phone calls, getting information, and fixing things. There was a mix up with the DMV, she fixed it. I had forgotten to pay for a ticket, hence why my license was suspended, she fixed it. I needed so many different letters, from so many different people stating different things about the situation as proof that I wasn’t an actual criminal, she fixed it. I couldn’t possibly imagine going into court on my own without her there, so she came to Columbia (for a grand total of 12 hours) and fixed that too.
We got to court that morning and we were told to talk to my arresting officer before going into my hearing to give him all of the paperwork that my mom had compiled. Officer Hines came out, took a look at everything we had, stepped into his office for all of five minutes and came back out to tell us that everything was taken care of…
“What do you mean ‘taken care of’?”
“‘It’s off of her record, it will never show up. It’s like it never happened.”
“Jail? Arrest? Everything?”
“Yes. Everything. And, if you step right over their to the receptionist, they’ll give you all of the money that you’ve put down for bail, etc. back.”
I cried. I really did, out of relief maybe? Or unbelief? I’m still not sure. But over the last two days, as I’ve been reflecting on what happened, my dads words to me last month have been reverberating through my head: “This has to be Jesus… there’s no other explanation…”
When we got into the car after leaving the courthouse I said to my mom “You know what’s bothering me right now? It’s like it never happened… but it DID happen Mom…” and that right there… that’s when it hit me. I’ve been so blessed this semester in the classes I’ve been able to take here during my last semester of grad school; one of which is a class on the book of Romans. All semester my ideas on theology, and honestly just Christianity in general have literally been flipped on its head. In one paper that I wrote about Romans 3:21-26, I learned deeply and sincerely about the concept of justification.
For the first time, Paul presents Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross as propitiation, a covering of our depravity as a human race and an open opportunity for being made just and righteous. (3:25-26) With two simple words (“But now… 2:21) Paul wipes the slate clean, excuses us from the literally impossible task of up-keeping the law, and offers a way out in Jesus Christ. Paul spends the majority of the first three chapters in this letter making clear that the whole of humanity has fallen short, indicting us all for our shortcomings. He brings this home in 3:23. Paul makes it clear that this new attainable gift of righteousness is attainable to all simply through faith. Our entire plight as believer’s hinges on what Paul is communicating in these verses. Justification is nothing that we can produce in ourselves or for ourselves. The only thing we can do is trust in faith that it is ours. In Romans 3:24 justified is in the passive voice, we are the ones who are being justified, justification is not our work, it happens to us from outside of us, it does not happen in us and we do not produce it. Imbedded in the word justified is the word just. Just and righteousness have very similar meanings. Being justified is receiving God’s righteousness through faith.
Justified means: to be justified by God does not mean to be made justified by God, it means to be counted just. It is not an act upon our nature or state it is a transformation of our standing before God. God’s righteousness can only be found in the atoning sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross, outside of that God cannot be righteous, and therefore neither can we. God must always act completely in line with his character, thus without Jesus “covering” (propitiating) our sins, he would be unjust, and unrighteous.
Essentially, a believer’s entire theology hinges on Paul’s message in these verses. We are depraved and hopeless, we need propitiation. God, because he is just and righteous provided the ultimate “covering” atonement through his Son Jesus Christ. In faith we must believe and accept his justification. In being just we are allowed righteousness and the opportunity to bask in His glory, because those whom he has made just he will glorify.
In getting pulled over, arrested, sent to jail… and then being given the verdict of “not guilty” Jesus met me. He gave me a hands-on, real life experience in justification. I had absolutely nothing to do with my verdict; it was out of my power and only through the grace of Officer Hines that I was able to walk out of that courthouse with a clean record.
It is by grace and faith that I (and you!) am made just before God. There is no law that I can upkeep to obtain righteousness and the verdict of “not guilty.” It is only through his sacrifice on the cross that I can be made clean. Amen.
