“We are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Once, it was still in Germany, I visited someone, who had been seriously ill, but eventually was cured by means of a transplanted organ. Perhaps you can imagine that this person told me in very positive way about Organ transplantation, and that it is so wonderful to get a new chance. Now I know that organ transplantation is a very controversial issue, even if things are done properly and in a legal way. Even if an organ is solely transplanted, when the person, who decided in life to become a donor, dies – let’s say, because he or she was involved in an accident. And even if the recipient not finds out, whose organ he or she received, in order to make it easier to live with the new organ, to enjoy life that without the organ would have ended very soon. Even in such a case, where everything is handled in a proper and leagal way, organ transplantation remains a controversial issue. Nonetheless, let me use organ transplantation as an example in view of today’s bible word.
Imagine you had an incurable heart disease. Your heart would be extremely weak; so weak that it would be just a matter of time until it would stop beating. Every part of your life would be affected by it. It would trammel and deprive you of joy, because it would force you to live constantly with death on your doorstep. Now imagine that someone voluntarily died to help you; and this without your knowledge, without consulting you. Imagine this person as someone close to you: Let’s say your spouse, or your child, or a dear friend of yours; someone, who was healthy, with a still high life expectation. This loved one of yours would have died out of love on your behalf to donate a healthy heart to give you another chance to live. And the only thing, that would need to be done, would be to give your permission to the doctors to operate. What would your reaction be? Would you refuse to do the operation: Maybe out of grief over the death of your loved one; or out of pride, because you could not accept that someone had to die, in order to give you the chance to live? Or would you accept the new heart, live the new life; so that the sacrifice of your loved one wasn’t in vain? Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! We humans are seriously ill. We have a disease, which is so severe that no doctor in the world could ever cure it. Many wouldn’t even be able to detect it, because it is so deeply connected with our nature that for most people it doesn’t even appear as a disease. We humans are suffering from sin, which corrupts our hearts, senses and all other parts of our bodies. Thus it affects many areas of our lives in a destructive way, and eventually it causes death. We would be doomed without god, who is the only one, who is able to help, and who did help us in Jesus Christ. Because: Jesus, who as the only human being ever committed no sin, sacrificed his life – even before we were born – to offer us his strong and healthy heart, and with it the opportunity of anew chance, a new life. Jesus suffered the pain and consequences of our disease. He paid, what is actually our bill, and died on our behalf. Your brother, Jesus Christ, died on your behalf,  N.N.  , because He, the sinless suffered the consequences of our sin. This is, what Paul points out by saying: „God made him who had no sin to be sin for us“. And the story of Christ’s suffering shows us, how literally we have to understand this: You know that the religious leaders of Israel, the devout teachers of the law, the Pharisees, and Priests were hostile to Jesus because of the way he taught the people about God. They didn’t agree with him; his teachings didn’t fit into their picture of God. They didn’t like the idea of a righteous God, who humbles himself to associate with sinners, in order to save them. So they made a plot against Jesus, arrested him in secret, accused him by means of false testimonies, and convicted him, the Son of God, of blasphemy. However they weren’t able to execute the judgement because of the occupying power of the Romans. So they brought Jesus to the Roman Governor Pilate, accusing him to be an agitator. They said, Jesus tells the people not to pay taxes, and to refuse the authority of the Roman Emperor, even though Jesus publicly said: Give to the Emperor, what belongs to the Emperor. Pilate on the other hand, who despite of all their lies couldn’t find any fault with Jesus, still sentenced him to death. Because: He feared the crowd, who hysterically demanded Jesus death, and a real agitator and murder to be pardoned instead. Bearing all this in mind, we can see that Christ was accused and sentenced for all offences that his opponents actually should have been blamed for. Jesus bore the blame of the blasphemy of the religious leaders, who presumed, God has to conform their ideas rather than to obey and to believe. Jesus bore the blame of their false testimonies, which they arranged and get Jesus out of the way. He bore the blame of the agitation of those, who incited the people to call for His death. And last but not least Jesus bore the blame of those, who killed Him by taking his life, although He was not guilty of anything. However – coming to the essence of his passion – while Christ suffered the death penalty for all these crimes, a murderer and agitator was pardoned instead of Jesus, getting a new life, a new chance and new freedom. Now as we look at this pardoned agitator and murderer, Barabbas, which in English means: ‘Son of the Father’, we are actually looking at ourselves. Because: We benefit in the same way from Jesus suffering as Barabbas did, who was acquitted of all charges and received a new life, and a new chance.
Jesus suffered and died on our behalf. With him all our guilt died and is forgiven by God. He, the sinless, bore the consequences of our sin to give us a new chance; the chance of a new life. The only thing for us to do in order to get this chance, and in order to be called sons and daughters of God, is to accept Jesus’ sacrifice in faith, to accept God’s therapy. It is for this reason that Jesus committed this message of reconciliation to his disciples, to Paul as well as to us. Because: He wants us to implore each other on his behalf, to accept his self sacrifice; to accept his new and righteous heart, so that his death was not in vain. Sp be reconciled to God, who made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Amen