As I read this simple story this morning, I thought about Jesus:
On May 2, 1962, a dramatic advertisement appeared in the San Francisco Examiner: “I don’t want my husband to die in the gas chamber for a crime he did not commit. I will therefore offer my services for 10 years as a cook, maid, or housekeeper to any leading attorney who will defend him and bring about his vindication.”
One of San Francisco’s greatest attorneys, Vincent Hallinan, read or heard about the ad and contacted Gladys Kidd, who had placed it. Her husband, Robert Lee Kidd, was about to be tried for the slaying of an elderly antique dealer. Kidd’s fingerprints had been found on a bloodstained ornate sword in the victim’s shop. During the trial, Hallinan proved that the antique dealer had not been killed by the sword, and that Kidd’s fingerprints and blood on the sword got there because Kidd had once toyed with it while playfully dueling with a friend when they were both out shopping. The jury, after 11 hours, found Kidd to be not guilty. Attorney Hallinan refused Gladys Kidd’s offer of 10 years’ servitude.
From the Book of Lists #2, p. 157.
Jesus always sides with truth, it is His very nature. In this world of deception, and murder and lies, God stands holy, in absolute purity, in perfect truth.
In this account, Gladys Kidd had nothing to defend her husband with, but her life. She knew him, and she knew he was innocent. So, she performed a desperate act, an appeal to justice, and any true appeal to justice, reaches heaven…
She was willing to become a slave for 10 years, to work as a servant, out of love for her husband, and clearly God Himself raised up a champion for her cause!
Jesus is truth, stands for truth, and executes judgement against all evil and lies…
Yet, the gospel would not be good news, if that were the end of the story. In heaven’s justice system, there is mercy…
Jesus is still a friend of sinners. His blood is still alive before heavens throne, and to all who come to that blood, there is mercy, forgiveness…He will forgive!
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
[ A New and Living Way ] Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood ofJesus,
His blood will atone for our sins. He can forgive our deepest, darkest secrets, and we can be cleansed from our guilt and shame, by His precious, heavenly, holy blood.
Today, do not seek to manage your sin, come bold to His throne, and find His blood there. Confess your faults and guilt to Him, and Him alone, and find mercy in heaven’s courts, and watch Him move on your behalf, here, in the earth.
God is not your problem, unless you keep running – Jesus is your answer, and can create a bright new day, and future for you, no matter how dark your journey has been.
Let’s pray:
