Sacrifice

In the United States there’s a gravestone with a simple inscription on it that says: “I want to stand where you’re standing.” And under the inscription is an account of an incident that happened during the American Civil War.

A 19 year-old soldier was part of a firing squad assigned to execute a man found guilty of treason. As the soldier took aim he was horrified to see that he knew the man. He lowered his gun and went over to his captain and said: “I know that man: he has a wife and children at home. If I shoot him, I not only end his life but their lives too. I can’t do it.”

Everyone understood that the punishment for treason was death: the price had to be paid…but after a short discussion they came up with a plan. They agreed that the young soldier could take the condemned man’s place. So the 19 year-old marched up to the captive and said: “I want to stand where you’re standing.”

The prisoner took off his blindfold and walked away free: back to his wife and family and the rest of his life. But his freedom came at a great cost to the young man who had chosen to die in his place.

Similarly, that story gives us a glimpse of what Jesus achieved on the cross. The price for our rebelling against God, our sin, is death. And as Jesus went willingly to his death for us, as if he was saying to each one of us, “I want to stand where you’re standing.” Jesus’ death bought forgiveness and freedom for everyone who accepts what He has done for them. Jesus died – to use the very words he used himself – “as a ransom for many.”

Rico Tice & Barry Cooper, ‘The Real Jesus’ booklet, page 7-8, New Malden: The Good Book Company

Some ten-year old boys, led by Johnny, were always making fun of an old man, tormenting him and calling him names. “Here comes old Rattlebones,” they’d call out teasing him whenever they saw him on the street. “Rattlebones, Rattlebones, moves as though he walks on stones”, was the usual taunt.

Then one day there was a knock at Johnny’s door and his mother went to answer it. There, standing on the doorstep and smiling warmly, was Old Rattlebones himself. “Oh, my goodness it’s you!” cried Johnny’s mother with obvious joy. “Please come in, come in,” she beckoned him. “Johnny. Johnny, come quickly,” shouted his mother, “come and meet the man who once saved your life.”

Johnny appeared but then immediately froze when he saw who it was. Putting her arm around Johnny’s shoulder, his mother continued, “Remember I told you how, when you were a baby, your pram rolled down the hill and fell into the canal? This man here, without any regard for his own personal safety, jumped into the icy waters to rescue you.” Then pausing slightly, she continued, “He saved your life that day, but the exposure to the icy waters left his health so severely damaged that he has suffered from chronic arthritis ever since!”

Overcome with guilt and shame, Johnny looked up at the man who had saved him. “Please forgive me,” he said, “I didn’t recognize you. I had absolutely no idea who you really were. I didn’t know it was you!” – We need to recognize Jesus for who He is – our rescuer, our Saviour.

R. Ian Seymour

Here’s an anonymous piece of prose that’s been around for some time, called, ‘The Long Silence’:

At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God’s throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly – not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.

‘Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?’ snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. ‘We endured terror… beatings… death!’

In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. ‘What about this?’ he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. ‘Lynched … for no crime but being black!’

In another crowd a pregnant schoolgirl with sullen eyes: ‘Why should I suffer?’ she murmured. ‘It wasn’t my fault.’

Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty sheltered life, they said.

So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen because he had suffered the most: A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.

Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced to live on earth, as a man!

‘Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured. At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.’

As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled. And when the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence. No one uttered another word. No one moved. For suddenly all knew that God had already served his sentence.

We remember ‘The Feeding of the 5000’ because it’s one of the most famous of Jesus’ miracles (recorded in all of the four gospels). In John’s account we are told it was a boy who came and offered to give up his own food – 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish – 5 bread sticks and 2 fish fingers, if you like! – Jesus took a child’s lunch, a kid’s meal: food for one to provide food for all! One willing sacrifice and all are provided for. Now that’s got a familiar ring to it, hasn’t it?

We used to play a game at summer camp in which we would blindfold one of the kids and have him or her run through a wooded area, relying on a friend for verbal directions to help navigate. “Turn to the left; there’s a tree coming! There’s a log in front of you – jump!” – Some kids would not trust the verbal directions whatsoever. They would shuffle their feet and walk very slowly, even though their friends were shouting that the way was clear. Other kids would trot along, and a few would go like gangbusters. All the kids, though, had to fight the urge to tear off the blindfold so that they could see what was ahead. It takes a great deal of courage to follow another person’s lead… It takes enormous courage to follow God’s leadings in the Christian life. Some of his callings demand the best that you can summon. Some of his tests stretch you to the limit. Some of his adventures evoke great fears and doubts. Spiritual courage is what’s needed.

Bill Hybels, Who You Are When No One’s Looking , p.16-17

There’s a story of a pastor in the US who introduced a visiting speaker to his church… an elderly preacher walked up to the pulpit and told this story: ‘A father took his son and his son’s best friend on a sailing trip when a storm overturned the boat sweeping them all into the ocean. The father managed to scramble on to the upturned hull and grabbing the rescue float and line he had to make the most painful decision of his life – which boy to throw the lifeline to and which one to sacrifice. He knew his son had accepted Christ but his best friend hadn’t. In anguish the father yelled, ‘I love you son,’ and threw the rope to his son’s friend. By the time he’d hauled the boy back to the capsized boat his son had disappeared beneath the waves. His body was never recovered. The father knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and couldn’t bear the thought of his friend facing eternity without Christ.’ At the end of the service a teenager approached the old man and said, ‘That’s a nice story, but what father in his right mind would sacrifice his son’s life in hope that the other boy would become a Christian?’ ‘You’ve got the point,’ the old preacher replied. ‘But I’m standing here today to tell you, that story gives me a glimpse into what it must have been like for God to sacrifice His only Son for us. And I also understand, you see, because I was that father, and your pastor… he was my son’s best friend!’

Source: The UCB Word For Today, 30/5/2009

I read an emotional story some time ago about a little girl, Lucy, who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her five-year old brother, who had thankfully survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. He hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath and the said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her.’

Well, as the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, seeing the colour returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, ‘Will I start to die straight away?’

You see, being so young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor: He thought he was going to have to give her all his blood!

In a sense that’s what Jesus did for us. Each one of us has a serious disease – it’s called ‘sin’! Each one of us needs to be saved. Jesus is the only one who can save us; he sacrificed himself and has paid the price with his own blood. This is the gospel; the good news of salvation and it’s a free gift to all who can accept it.

Jack Canfield & Mark V. Hansen, Chicken Soup For The Soul, Florida: Health Communications, p.27-28

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

I remember reading a story about a wounded soldier. In hospital the doctor said to him, ‘I am sorry you lost your arm.’ To which the soldier replied, ‘I didn’t lose it. I gave it.’ – Jesus didn’t lose his life; He gave it. Jesus said I am the good shepherd who chooses to give his life for his sheep (John 10v15).