There was once a bridge that spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it. A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come; he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge were not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realised that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.
A powerful story, isn't it? It’s often used to
describe the sacrifice of Christ. And it is not without it's parallels.
It's true that God could not save man without killing his son. The
heart of God the Father did twist in grief as he slammed the gears of
death down on Jesus. And it's sad, yet true, that the innocent have
whizzed by the scene of the crime oblivious to the sacrifice that has
just saved them from certain death.
But there is one inference in the story that's woefully in need of
correction...
Jesus' death was not the result of a panicking, cosmological engineer.
The cross wasn't a tragic surprise. Calvary was not a knee-jerk
response to a world plummeting towards destruction. It wasn't a
patch-job or a stop-gap measure. The death of the Son of God was
anything but an unexpected peril.
No, it was part of a plan. It was a calculated choice. It was the
Lord's will to crush him. The cross was drawn into the original
blueprint. It was written into the script. The moment the forbidden
fruit touched the lips of Eve, the shadow of a cross appeared on the
horizon. And between that moment and the moment the man with the mallet
placed the spike against the wrist of God, a master plan was fulfilled.
What does that mean? It means Jesus planned his own sacrifice. It means
Jesus intentionally planted the tree from which his cross would be
carved.
It means he willingly placed the iron ore in the heart of the earth
from which the nails would be cast. It means he voluntarily placed his
Judas in the womb of a woman. It means Christ was the one who set in
motion the political machinery that would send Pilate to Jerusalem. And
it also means he didn't have to do it -- but he did. It was no accident
-- would that it had been! Even the cruellest of criminals is spared
the agony of having his death sentence read to him before his life even
begins.
But Jesus was born crucified. Whenever he became conscious of who he
was, he also became conscious of what he had to do. The cross-shaped
shadow could always be seen. And the scream of hell's imprisoned could
always be heard. This explains the glint of determination on his face
as he turned to go to Jerusalem for the last time. He was on his death
march. This explains the resoluteness in the words, "The reason my
Father loves me is that I lay down my life -- only to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord."
...This is why the ropes used to tie his hands and the soldiers used to
lead him to the cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they
not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate and no crowd, the
very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to
nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the
soldiers who killed him, nor the creams of the mob: It was his devotion
to us. So call it what you wish: An act of grace. A plan of redemption.
A martyr's sacrifice. But whatever you call it, don't call it an
accident. It was anything but that."