In 1863 an ordained priest by the name of Joseph Damian was inspired by the example of Jesus to go and help a leper colony on one of the Hawaiian Islands. The people there had been banished without family, friends or any sort of help. The priest went to live among them. He buried the dead, cleaned the water system, built homes and set up a school, a hospital and two church buildings. In 1885 the lepers were stunned when he started a sermon one Sunday with the words, ‘We lepers…’ He too had contracted the disease. This man was prepared to go to those lepers and show them love, even though it meant becoming one of them. And that is what God has done for us. He became one of us to take our place, and His sacrifice on our behalf means that all those who repent and believe are cleansed, justified and forgiven. One preacher, attempting to explain the concept of being ‘justified’, said: “It is God accepting me ‘just-as-if-I’d’ never sinned. We are guilty but are declared not guilty.”

Source: Mike Cain, Real Life Jesus, p.50