The Sacrifice of a Man

To Sacrifice a Son - An Allegory

by Dennis E. Hensley

There was once a bridge which 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 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. The man stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was about to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, the man found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was 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.

The man 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, the man 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 realized 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.

Now if you comprehend the emotions which went through this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?

I like the sentiment behind this story, who wouldn't? A parent going about their seemingly important daily work, the child seeking his father, the father who loves his son beyond measure, the father's impulse to protect his child from harm, but then the ultimate heart-wrenching decision to willingly sacrifice his beloved child for the greater humanity. I want to be that kind of person! Someone who would make the "right" decision for the greater good. I think we all want to be that kind of person. And for those of us who relate the story to God as the father, it kinda makes us feel like maybe - just maybe - it's possible to "understand" what God did for humanity through the death of Christ. But, that's not possible - our understanding or the parallel comparison to the death of Christ.

If we compare this story to God's plan for the salvation of all mankind through the death of his son, we have a problem. Either we must accept that the man in the story planned the death of his son, or we argue that God was forced by the events of the time to make an impulsive decision and He let Jesus be crucified. If we argue the former (the man in the story planned the death of his son), then the story becomes a tale of cruelty and hatred that diminishes the possibilities of the unimaginable love a parent has for their child. If we choose to argue the other possibility (that God was forced by the events of the time to make a decision and allow his son to die), then we reduce God to a being that can be controlled by the wishes and whims of human nature. God is no longer the Creator, but is now the creation.

What is important for us to understand, the central message of the Gospel I believe, is that God purposely sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for all mankind's sins. It was his plan from the beginning when God took on the form of a baby and lived among his creation, that he would offer himself as the necessary sacrifice. So, let's enjoy this tale and the sentiment found in it, but let us always remember that Jesus' death was not an accident! It was, and is, a gift to everyone who will accept it. 

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