Stand-In For a Star

Wouldn’t it be cool to have that job? You know, the actor’s double on the movie set. At least for a movie or two?Glenn Duhigg says, “No!"He was Tom Cruise’s stand-in for Mission Impossible 2. Here’s what he said about it...

"I don’t think many people realize the long hours and constant demands that deflate your ego very quickly. The days are long. Whatever scene Tom was in, I would be the one standing there, being him sometimes for ages as the crew set up the shot – getting the lighting just right and the props just so. I’d be standing there for hours out in the weather, getting drenched in the rain or sun stroke out in the heat. And then Tom would just walk on the set from his air-conditioned caravan or out of his beautiful sports car once the scene was ready."

In Hollywood, there’s an obvious difference between the stars and the stand-ins.But with Jesus, it was the other way around.Jesus is supposed to be the star, right? He’s the King of Kings. He’s the important one. Yet he stood naked in the cold, endured merciless beatings. The star went to the cross and absorbed the penalty of sin. And then after it was all over he simply said, “Here, take my place. I stood in for you. Now you enjoy forgiveness and salvation."“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).