When The Bee Stung Mother

Good News – May 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine

When The Bee Stung Mother

A boy was once asked how long he had known his Savior and whether he knew all his sins were forgiven. “Oh, yes,” he replied, “I know that they are all forgiven; I am sure of that.”

“When did you first come to know and understand that?” asked the visitor.

“When the bee stung Mother!” said the boy. “I have a mother who for some years told me what Jesus had done for me; but I never really understood nor realized how He had taken my place and died as my Substitute until one summer afternoon. I was playing by the door of our home.

“Suddenly, a large and much-excited bee came buzzing around my head. I was frightened and tried once or twice to slap it away, but round it came, closer each time. At last in despair, I ran toward my mom, who had been watching my efforts to free myself. With motherly care, she put her arms around me.

“This was barely done when the bee stung her deeply. She felt the sting sharply, but a thought struck her which was the means of my salvation. She said, ‘The bee cannot hurt you now. Its sting is in my arm. It has only one sting.’

“Sorrowful for my mother, I looked at the sting. She applied the lesson well, explaining to me how it was a picture of what she had been telling me about Jesus having taken my place and being punished for me. I had learned and often repeated the verse, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed’ (Isa. 53:5 NKJV); but I never understood until then. The Lord Jesus was punished instead of us who deserved to be punished. If we claim the fact that He has taken our place, we cannot be punished too.

“The fact that I could do nothing for myself dawned on me. I told the Lord Jesus that I trusted only Him for salvation. I realized that if I put the whole matter into His nail-pierced hands, He would certainly save me and give me a home with Him in heaven. I accepted Jesus as my Substitute and knew that I was saved and my sins were all put away by His death on the cross.”

Do you understand God’s way of salvation? Have you ever truly realized that Jesus suffered for your sins on the cross of Calvary and that He was punished for you? The sting of sin and its wages, death, was endured by Him there that we might go free and dwell forever in heaven with Him. He, the righteous One, who never knew sin, suffered for us who have sinned “that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). Just as the boy’s mother was stung instead of him, so Jesus bore the judgment against sin for us, and if we accept Him as our Savior, God’s wrath will never fall on us, for the sting was all borne by Jesus.

No judgment now for me, I sing because I’m free. Jesus died for all my sins On Calvary’s cruel tree.

Can you say these beautiful lines? You can if you will accept the Lord Jesus as your Substitute. If you realize that you are a sinner and deserve to be punished, then listen to the good news of salvation God has for you. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). God has laid all your sins on Jesus; He suffered for them and put them forever away. Now, He bids you never to fear. The Judge Himself has taken your judgment and He promises whoever “hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life” (Jn. 5:24).

How about you – do you believe? We can tell you how.

This article is available as the gospel tract “Stung By A Bee” from Grace &Truth.