Without getting political, President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter the other day. But what I want to focus on is how this brings into stark focus the profound reality of God’s grace and the scandal of the gospel.
Consider the startling implications if President Biden, instead of pardoning Hunter, and instead of Hunter being the guilty person, he were completely innocent, and Joe chose to pardon a stranger like you or me—guilty of a heinous crime such as murder—and then said I will send my innocent son Hunter to take the punishment in prison or on death row. This presses us to consider the gospel more deeply, it reflects somewhat what God has done for us in Christ. Except of course; Joe is only just the president of the United States and God is the all powerful ruler and creator of the universe. And God is not worried about any legacies, and He could vaporize anyone that opposes Him. Furthermore, Christ is perfectly innocent not only in deed but in thought and motive (just a little different from Joe and Hunter or any of us to say the least).
Scripture makes clear that we stand guilty before a holy God. Paul writes in Romans 3:10-12: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Our sin, like the crimes of a convicted felon, is deserving of death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
None of the “gods” offered in any other religions even come close to this. And really why would they, they think like men because they are created in human minds…the God of the Bible does not think like humans because was not created by humans, He is not human…He does unimaginable things because we can’t make a being like Him up, we wouldn’t, we haven’t, and we can’t. Imagine standing before a judge, fully deserving of your punishment. But then the judge pardons you—not because of any merit of your own, but because his innocent child has volunteered to take your place. How would you feel? Shocked? Grateful? Overwhelmed? Yet this is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. It’s illogical to our selfish finite minds and desires.
Instead of condemning us, God sent His own Son to bear the punishment we deserved. Isaiah 53:5-6 declares:
“He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
…Read that again, “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God did it to his son. Not the Jews, not the Romans, not King Herod…the Lord.
In carrying the analogy, Joe Biden stands in the place of God, the one with the authority to pardon. Hunter, innocent of our crimes, stands in the place of Christ. The exchange would be unthinkable in human terms: the guilty murderer walks free, while the innocent son bears the punishment. And yet, this is the scandalous grace of the gospel.
Just as in the analogy of a presidential pardon, a divine pardon must be received to be effective. It is startling to think anyone would refuse such a pardon from the president, yet we do so all the time with God’s pardon. Usually for three reasons.
1. We don’t realize the pardon exists. Many have not heard or understood that Jesus came to take their place (Romans 10:14).
2. We won’t admit our guilt. Pride blinds us to our need for forgiveness, as we convince ourselves we are “good enough” or deny our sin altogether (1 John 1:8).
3. We believe we can earn acquittal. This is perhaps the most pervasive human delusion: that we can work our way to heaven by our own merits (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Each of these reasons reveals the human heart’s resistance to grace. Accepting a pardon requires humility: acknowledging our guilt, laying down our pride, and trusting fully in the one who offers it.
The hypothetical scenario of Joe Biden pardoning us at the cost of his son’s suffering pales in comparison to the reality of what God has done. Jesus Christ did not merely endure prison but bore the full wrath of God on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares:
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
This divine exchange—the innocent for the guilty, the righteous for the unrighteous—is the heart of the gospel. It is incomprehensible in human terms. But in God’s economy, it is the only way to reconcile justice and mercy.
In a vivid contrast to the humility required to receive grace, humanity often exalts its own strength and self-reliance. France recently and very much to everyone’s surprise, finished rebuilding the Notre Dame cathedral. Emmanuel Macron used the French motto, “Impossible is not French,” which embodies the spirit of self-determination. Similarly, many Americans cling to the belief that “God helps those who help themselves” (which, by the way, is nowhere in the Bible) and also embodies the spiritually and logically absurd quote from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Anyone who has lived and experienced life knows we are in control of nothing, anything can happen at anytime to anyone anywhere and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We are at God’s mercy constantly…especially our soul.
But scripture rebukes this mindset. As theologian Dean Ulrich reminds us: “God does not help those who help themselves. Rather, he helps those who cannot help themselves, know it, and rely on him.” The rooster atop Notre Dame serves as a fitting reminder—not of human pride, but of human failure. The Rooster actually reminds us of Peter’s denial of Christ and the grace that restored him. He thought he was in control as well. Christ proved to him, no matter how confident he thought he was, remember he said “if all fall I way I never will Lord.” Christ proved so vividly to Peter that he was not the master of his fate or the captain of his soul…Christ is, and Peter learned it!
As we reflect on this truth, we who are called…are called, to respond in gratitude and dependence. My favorite president Abraham Lincoln’s words remind us of the importance of recognizing our need for God:
“It is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God . . . and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”
Oswald Chambers says: “There is only one relationship that matters, and that is your personal relationship to a personal Redeemer and Lord. Let everything else go, but maintain that at all costs.”
The gospel is an invitation to freedom, but it comes at a great cost—not to us, but to God’s Son. This Advent season, let us marvel at the divine pardon offered to us, and let us not refuse it out of ignorance, pride, or self-reliance. Instead, accept it with humility and gratitude, knowing that “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).