IT’S FRIDAY. BUT SUNDAY’S COMING! It Was All A Part Of The Plan

You may have heard your preacher tell the story of the drawbridge operator. One version goes like this.

In the 1880’s in a remote part of Scotland there was a man whose sole job was to operate the drawbridge that spanned a mighty river.  Most of the day the bridge was raised so boats could pass safely through it.  But at least twice a day a train would come along and the bridge must be lowered.

One day the engineer took his young son to work with him.  The boy was fascinated by operation of the bridge, the  control panel of switches and levers, and the monstrous set of gears.   He asked question after question and watched in amazement as his father raised and lowered the bridge.

It was not until the span had opened to allow the passage of a ship that the father realized the boy was gone.  When he looked out the window of his control cabin and saw his son climbing on the teeth of the gears. As he hurried towards the machinery to rescue the boy, he heard the whistle of an approaching train.

His pulse quickened. If he closed the bridge, there would be no time to retrieve his son. He had to make a choice. Either his son would be killed or a train of innocent passengers would be killed. A profound dilemma demanded a dismaying decision. The engineer knew what he had to do. He reached for the lever.

As the train passed safely, little did the passengers know that a man had just sacrificed his son so they could remain safe.

It’s a powerfully emotional and dramatic story to illustrate God’s sacrifice of His Son so lost humanity could be saved.  There’s only one problem with the story.  It’s not true!  It’s an urban legend.

But even if you tell it to illustrate God sacrificial love,  there’s another problem.  The engineer’s son died in an accident.  It was unplanned.  Unintended.  Unintentional.

Jesus’ death was not an accident.  The gospel writer Matthew records that Jesus told the twelve apostles.  “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death” (Matt 20:18).

When they arrived in Jerusalem Jesus reminded them, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified” (Matt:20:2).

Later Peter would preach that Christ’s crucifixion was “according to God’s “predetermined plan and foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23).  Paul penned that it was all a part of God’s “eternal purpose in Christ Jesus.”

God wasn’t caught off guard at the rejection of Jesus.  He wasn’t shocked.  Surprised.  Or stunned.  And neither was Jesus.

In Ken Young’s hymn, Thomas’s song, this question is raised.

 Jesus, You were all to me,
Why did You die on Calvary?
O Lamb of God I fail to see
How this could be part of the plan.

Friday’s cruel death was planned.  Purposed.  Predestined. It was, as we sometimes opine, “meant to be.”

On Friday Jesus died for our sins.  Willingly.  Voluntarily.  Freely.  It was an expression of love. An act of grace.  A way of redemption.  Pardon.  And Salvation.

Yet, without Sunday’s victory, even this selfless sacrifice would serve no real purpose.  Other than to hail Jesus as a heroic martyr.

But as he predicted, and the prophets prophesied and God planned, Jesus arose from the dead.

And so a once doubting Thomas could gratefully exclaim:

Reaching out to hold Your hand,
And touch the scars where nails were driven;
Coming near I feel Your side
Where holy flesh by spear was riven.
Now I believe. Jesus, now I believe.
Your cruel death was part of a heavenly plan!

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman