I Should Have Been Crucified

During the Civil War a man from the South named Willie Lee became a member of a Confederate group called Quantrill’s Raider’s. They used guerilla warfare tactics, raiding small towns and villages sympathetic to the Union and then disappearing in the night. The Raiders were successful in avoiding being captured for a span of about two years.

One night, in 1864 the Union forces were tipped off and were lying in wait for them. They were successful in capturing all of the Raiders but one, a teenage boy who escaped. The rest were sentenced to be executed before a firing squad. Word of the execution traveled over the countryside and a sizable crowd of spectators gathered to witness the fate of this notorious group. Little did the Union soldiers know that the teen who had escaped made his way back to the scene and was present in the curious crowd.

           

As the Raiders were lined up facing the firing squad, just before the shots rang out, the young boy ran out of the crowd and up to the commanding officer. He yelled, “Stop! I think you should know that I am one of them. But you didn’t bring me here. I came by own choice.” He then pointed to one of the men in the line and said, “This man is my friend. He has a wife and children, and I have no one. I’d like to take his place, if you will let him go.” The officer in charge replied, “If that is your desire, I will grant it.” The teen walked into the line, in the place of his friend and was executed with Quantrill’s Raiders.

           

Later the redeemed man, Willie Lee, came back to the awful scene of death, uncovered the grave, and found the body of his friend.  He put it on the back of a mule and took it to a little cemetery near Kansas City, where he was given a proper burial. At the time, he marked the grave with a rude wooden slab. Later, however, the grateful man erected a 15-foot marble monument inscribed with the words: “SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIE LEE / HE TOOK MY PLACE IN THE LINE / HE DIED FOR ME.”[1]

This true story went on to inspire Gordon Jansen, author of approximately 300 songs, to write the words of the Southern Gospel classic, “I Should Have Been Crucified.” Jansen was also deeply moved by the passage in Isaiah 53 where the prophet predicted some 700 years in advance of Christ all that the Suffering Servant would endure, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But 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” (Is. 53:4-5, ESV).  

As we approach Good Friday, let’s ask God to help focus our minds on the events of that day some 2,000 years ago. By the way, isn’t it ironic that we call it “Good Friday” when what happened on Calvary was so terrible? Actually, humanity’s worst deed was, at the same time, God’s master plan.

The Bible says that “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him” (Is. 53:10 NKJV). This means the crucifixion of Jesus was not a mistake. Nor was it an afterthought. It was part of God’s rescue mission from the very beginning. Before there was a solar system, much less a planet called Earth or a garden called Eden or a couple known as Adam and Eve, a decision was made in the councils of eternity that God Himself would come to Earth as a man and would go to a cross and die in the place of all sinners.

We call it “Good Friday” because the greatest good imaginable resulted—the satisfying of the righteous demands of God Almighty as Jesus died in our place. He bore our sins and we received His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).

Max Lucado adds these thoughts, “It wasn’t right that spikes pierced the hands that formed the earth.  And it wasn’t right that the Son of God was forced to hear the silence of God. It wasn’t right, but it happened. For while Jesus was on the cross, God sat on His hands.  He turned His back.  He ignored the screams of the innocent. He sat in silence while the sins of the world were placed upon His Son.  And He did nothing while a cry a million times bloodier than John’s  echoed in the black sky:  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Was it right?  No. Was it fair?  No. Was it love?  Yes.”[2]

I was guilty with nothing to say

And they were coming to take me away

But then a voice from Heaven was heard that said

"Let Him go and take me instead"

Crown of thorns, the spear in His side,

And all the pain should have been mine.

Those rusty nails were meant for me,

But Jesus took them, and let me go free!

I should have been crucified,

I should have suffered and died.

I should have hung on the cross in disgrace,

But Jesus, God’s Son, took my place.[3]

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[1] Lindsay Terry, Stories Behind 50 Southern Gospel Favorites, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2005), 130-133.

[2] Max Lucado, The Gift for All People: Thoughts on God's Great Grace (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1999), 73.

[3] Gordon Jansen, “I Should Have Been Crucified,” Benson Music Company, (1971).