We enter the world’s restaurant to dine on the finest sinful delicacies. We are met by a devilishly good-looking waiter who escorts us to our table and hands us the wine list. We begin our culinary adventure with a lovely glass of Sinfandel and then carefully read the menu and order a seven “curse” meal of the finest vice the world has to offer. Once the meal arrives, we dig in and gorge ourselves until our bellies are full and then sit back, loosen our belts, and relax in a culinary stupor. As our tryptophan rush of sinful gluttony begins to wear off, the waiter presents us with a check. We realize our appetite has run up a bill we cannot pay, a debt we cannot settle. We rustle through our pockets and pull out a church bulletin from a Christmas service we attended six months previously, but the waiter is unimpressed.

Nervously, we prepare ourselves for an eternity in the hot, humid kitchen trying to wash enough dishes to pay off our debt. Our weeping and gnashing is suddenly interrupted by the presence of a holy benefactor. Jesus picks up the bill, crumbles it up, and stuffs it in His pocket. He wraps an apron around His waist and heads to the kitchen to clean our dirty dishes for us. The waiter tells us we’re free to go. But as we leave, Jesus’ parting words ring in our ears: “Temptation comes with a heavy price. I have paid it once and for all. Don’t ever underestimate the cost again.”

Photo by Lefteris kallergis on Unsplash