What did Jesus achieve on the cross? We cannot answer this fully, but the following stories and Bible teaching will give some pointers.

Follow the links below:

• Story 1: The businessman and his friend, the judge
• Story 2: The boy and the postman
• Story 3: Father Maximilian Kolbe's story
• What the Bible says

There was once a businessman who was caught with his fingers in the till - in other words, he had been caught embezzling his company's money.

When his case came to court it transpired that the judge was an old school friend. They had not seen each other for many years, but the businessman knew that the judge would recognise him. He thought: "My luck's in! He is bound to let me off or give me a very lenient sentence!"

Well the judge did recognise him, but he was a just judge. There was no way he would change his administration of justice for the sake of an old friendship. His friend was guilty and the crime was serious, so the sentence would have be hard. It would have to be a large fine, and if the fine could not be paid then his friend would have to go to prison.

When the sentence was passed in court the businessman's heart sank. He knew he could not pay the fine and that he would have to serve a lengthy prison sentence. Added to this he was deeply hurt that his old friend, the judge, would do such a thing to him! In great sadness he was led away to the cells.

But there was a twist to come in the story. The guard came, unlocked the cell and instead of transferring the businessman to the prison transport so that he could be taken to prison the guard said: "You can go free!". The businessman was astonished: "How can this be? There must be some mistake: I cannot pay the fine!" The guard explained that there was no mistake. The fine had been paid by someone else. "Well, who paid my fine?" Asked the businessman. "The judge paid your fine", said the guard.

Later, the judge wrote to his old friend, the businessman. He said: "Because I am an honest and just judge I could not let your crime go unpunished. But because you are my friend, I paid the fine for you to save you from prison."

This story is a picture of the what Jesus did on the cross. Because God is just the penalty for sin must be paid. But because God loves us so much he has taken the punishment on himself so that we can walk free.

Picture, if you would, a central European village by a lake. Every winter the lake would freeze over, but because of the movement of the water the ice was inconsistent: in some places it was thick and in some places thin.

Each day a boy would go out to play, and each day his father would say: "Don't play on the ice: it's too dangerous!" The boy started by obeying his father, but as the days went be he began to test the ice at the very edge of the lake -- it always took his weight. It was such fun sliding on the ice. As the days passed the boy ventured further and further onto the ice, despite his father's daily warning. Always the ice held the boy's weight, so it seemed to the boy that his father was wrong: the ice wasn't dangerous, in fact, it was quite safe!

One day the inevitable happened. The boy was running and sliding on the ice when it broke under him and down he went into the freezing water. It was so cold that it took his breath away and he could not cry for help. He struggled to climb out, but he was too cold and the ice was too slippery.

Fortunately the village postman was out doing his work by the lake. He heard the ice crack as the boy fell through. He ran onto the ice and rescued the boy. The boy was unconscious from the cold and half drowned.

His father took him home and nursed him. He was very ill and nearly died, but after a few weeks the lad had recovered. His father said to the boy: "You are strong enough to go out again, but before you go out to play I must take you to see something." The boy wanted to know what it was that his father needed to show him, but the father refused to tell him and simply said: "You will see."

They walked through the village to the graveyard. The boy thought: "My father wants to scare me. He will tell me that I almost ended up here!" But the father said nothing. Instead he led the boy to a new grave. It was muddy, the grass had not had time to grow, and there was a new gravestone. The father said to his son: "Read that stone!". So the boy read: "Here lies the body of (the name does not matter), village postman, who died saving a young life from the icy lake."

Lovingly the father put his arm around his son. "My son, up until now you were too weak for me to tell you this terrible news. But now you are strong enough to go out again and you had to know. You would have died because you disobeyed me. Instead the postman died and you have another chance of life."

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe In 1941, the Nazis imprisoned a notable priest, Father Maximilian Kolbe, in the Auschwitz death camp. There are many accounts of his Christian attitude and service whilst in the camp, but the most dramatic story concerns his death.

On the night of August 3, 1941 three prisoner successfully escaped, one from the same section in which Maximilian was held. In reprisal, the commandant ordered death by starvation for 10 men chosen at random from the same section. One of the condemned, Sergeant Franciszek Gajowniczek, shouted out: "Oh, my poor wife, my poor children. I shall never see them again."

It was then that the unexpected had happened, and that from among the ranks of those temporarily reprieved, prisoner 16670, Kolbe, had stepped forward and offered himself in the other man's place. Then the ten condemned men were led off to the dreaded Bunker, to the airless underground cells were men died slowly without food or water. Kolbe led the poor dying men in prayers and hymns as long as their strength lasted. One by one all the men died and after two weeks Kolbe alone was left alive. This the authorities felt was too long; the cell was needed for new victims. So one day they brought in the head of the sickquarters, a German, a common criminal named Bock, who gave Fr Kolbe an injection of carbolic acid in the vein of his left arm. And so he died on August 14, 1941.

Fifty years later Maximilian Kolbe was made a Saint by the pope. Among the 150,000 crowd who attended this event was Franciszek Gajowniczek along with his wife, children and grandchildren. The Pope said "This was a victory won over all the systems of contempt and hate in man -- a victory like that won by our Lord Jesus Christ". Like his master Jesus Christ he had loved his fellowmen to the point of sacrificing his life for them.

(To read more about Kolbe visit www.catholic-pages.com/saints)

The Bible uses a number of ideas to explain what Jesus achieved on the cross. We are going to look at just three ideas drawn from the context of: the slave market, the temple, and the law court.

The Slave Market: Ransom and Redemption

Jesus uses ransom to explain the purpose of his death:

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45. Also Matthew 20:28) (The title, 'Son of Man' was the most common way Jesus referred to himself.)

A ransom is a price paid to secure the release of a captive. Today we only hear the word used in the context of a kidnapping. The typical scenario is that the kidnappers demand a large sum of money - if that money is paid the victim is released and if not the victim is killed.

In the ancient world there were added meanings which we might not think of. Notably, a ransom was a price paid to secure the freedom of a slave, or freeing someone held by an enemy, or to set free from liabilities and charges, and generally the deliverance from calamity.

Ransom is the price paid: redemption is the act of paying that price. We still use this word but for less life changing circumstances. For example, if my car is taken to the pound by the police because I have parked in the wrong place, I will have to redeem it by paying for it.

This is what Jesus did for us on the cross:

In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Ephesians 1:7)

In these words, then, Jesus describes his death as some sort of payment which will set us free from slavery or deliver us from calamity. We are set free from the power and slavery of sin, we are delivered from the penalty of sin, which is death, and we are liberated into freedom and fellowship with God.

So the death of Jesus buys freedom for you and me and this is a cause for grateful devotion to him:

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

This shows God's great love and commitment to you and me.

The Temple: Sacrifice

The words of Peter, above, speaking, as they do, of 'blood' and 'a lamb without blemish or defect' takes us to the world of the temple and sacrifice. Here the picture is of a sacrifice offered to 'atone' (make amends) for sin. It is this idea which John the Baptist uses when he describes who Jesus is:

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36)

The Law Court: Justification

The word justification contains the idea of being made just, or innocent in the law. The death of Jesus is said to make us 'innocent' before God:

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished -- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:22-26)

In these verses you will recognise a number of the terms we have already talked about. The important point is that a just God cannot ignore our sin, and we are all sinners. So God has acted to punish our sin, as he must, but instead of you and I paying the penalty, God takes the penalty on himself in the person of his Son Jesus. In this way God remains just, but is also our justifier. The story of The Businessman and his friend, the judge at the top of this page is an illustration of this concept.

We cannot earn this freedom from God's law, it is a free gift. All we can do is to receive it by faith. But once we receive it we find that our relationship with God is restored, we are reconciled to God. Then, having come back into a right relationship with God, God can start the work of changing us, and making us the people we always should have been.

... 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. (2 Cor 5:19)

So we find that in all these ideas Jesus is our Substitute. Whether he is the 'ransom' who pays for our freedom, or the sacrificial offering which 'atones' for our sin, or a very, very kind benefactor who pays our ultimate legal bill, he is always seen taking our place. This idea is wonderfully expressed by Paul:

... having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)

It was the custom in Roman crucifixions to nail the charge sheet to the cross on which someone was executed so that everyone could read what crime the unfortunate victim had committed. Colossians 2:4 tells us that in God’s eyes your charge sheet and my charge sheet were nailed to the cross of Jesus. In other words, he died in our place.

Peter puts it this way:

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

Jesus did not deserve to die, but you and I do. However, in God’s great love, Jesus dies so that you and I may live. What amazing love, what a fantastic gift!