Rich in Grace

There have been some impressive examples of self-sacrifice. For instance, Jordan Rice was thirteen and unable to swim when his family became trapped in a car by flood waters. When crews arrived and tried to rescue Jordan, he told them to help his younger brother first. Jordan’s brother was saved just before a wall of water swept Jordan and his mother away.

Arland Williams was a passenger on Air Florida Flight 90, which crashed into freezing waters in the middle of a snowstorm. When a rescue helicopter arrived and threw him a lifeline, he immediately gave it to another passenger. When the helicopter came back, Arland did the same thing again. When the helicopter returned a final time, Arland was dead. He had used his last ounce of energy to save a stranger.

Jesus Garcia was a railroad brakeman in Mexico. On November 7, 1907, he noticed that some hay on the roof of a boxcar containing dynamite had caught fire. He drove the train at full-steam out of town before the dynamite exploded, killing him but sparing many people. He is now revered as a national hero.

Even dogs have left some impressive examples of self-sacrifice. When a drunken man fell asleep on a train track in Kazakhstan, his four-legged-friend pushed, pulled, and nudged him off the tracks just as a train struck and killed the dog.

These examples and many others, like a soldier jumping on a grenade to save fellow troops or a boyfriend taking a bullet for his girlfriend, are all admirable and praiseworthy. However, no story of self-sacrifice in the history of the world is more impressive than that of Jesus Christ. It was planned longer, rings louder, and looms larger than all the others. He suffered the most brutal and torturous form of execution in the Roman Empire for us. Here is how the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia describes crucifixion:

“The suffering of death by crucifixion was intense, esp. in hot climates. Severe local inflammation, coupled with an insignificant bleeding of the jagged wounds, produced traumatic fever, which was aggravated by the exposure to the heat of the sun, the strained position of the body and insufferable thirst. The wounds swelled about the rough nails and the torn and lacerated tendons and nerves caused excruciating agony. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrific throbbing headache ensued. The mind was confused and filled with anxiety and dread foreboding. The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths. Tetanus not rarely supervened and the rigors of the attending convulsions would tear at the wounds and add to the burden of pain, till at last the bodily forces were exhausted and the victim sank into unconsciousness and death” (Vol. 2, p. 761).

Jesus did not have to do it. He chose to do it. His great sacrifice, which started in heaven and culminated on the cross, brought hope to the hopeless and life to the lifeless. It did for us what we could not have done for ourselves. It made us rich in grace (2 Corinthians 8:9)!