God’s Christmas Card #3: A Son is Given

Without warning, a mine caved in trapping 12 workers 100 feet below the earth’s surface. For six days rescue workers frantically worked to free the men. Finally, on the seventh day, they managed to open a small hole between the trapped miners and freedom. Unfortunately, the hole was too small for a man to climb through and there was no sign of life among the miners. It appeared the workers had run out of time to save the victims.

The mayor’s son, barely 10 years old, volunteered to climb through the small opening to check on the trapped miners. Because of the desperate situation, the mayor allowed his son to undertake the rescue attempt.

After the boy was lowered down the mine shaft, he carefully climbed through the opening. Suddenly, the rescue workers heard the boy scream, “They’re alive! They’re alive!” Frantically, the people topside lowered food and water down the shaft. After transferring the supplies, the boy gave them to the miners.

The rescue workers once again began to dig out rock and debris to open the hole wide enough to allow the miners to pass through. It took another day, but finally the trapped miners were able to crawl through the opening one-by-one to safety. After all 12 were freed it was time for the brave young boy to exit through the gap.

All at once the people heard a loud rumble and a second much larger slide closed the opening.  The citizens knew that there was no chance to rescue the boy with so much debris. Three days later the town held a somber and tear-filled memorial service for the mayor’s son. Right in the middle of the proceedings a series of gasps was heard from the rear of the church. In walked the boy – filthy and famished, bruised and bleeding – but alive. The mayor ran to his son, picked him up in his arms, and kissed him repeatedly through his tears of joy.

When things had calmed down, the mayor asked his son how he had escaped the rock slide. The boy explained that there was a second small hole at the back of the cavern just big enough for him to wiggle through. Once on the other side, he found himself in a second mine shaft abandoned long ago. He simply followed the tunnel to its opening on the side of the mountain. The one they thought was dead was indeed very much alive.

Imagine that you are the mayor. Only your son can save the miners who are in a hopeless situation. If you send your son, there’s a good chance he will suffer pain and face death itself. But if you don’t send your son, the miners have no chance at all and will surely die. What would you do?

In a nutshell, that’s the situation that God the Father faced. If He sent His Son we would live; if He didn’t, we would die without hope. But in sending His Son, God knew that Jesus would face ridicule, slander, persecution, beatings, and eventually the Cross.

The story above is a metaphor for the salvation story. The mayor is God the Father; his son is Jesus Christ who came to rescue us from our hopeless situation. The rescuers are like the angels ministering to those in need. The outside stands for eternal life; and the cavern represents our separation from God forever. The funeral depicts the Apostles mourning the loss of Jesus as He lay in the tomb; but in the midst of their grief, Jesus appears and brings reconciliation, eternal life, and great joy.

God’s Christmas card is a reminder that “a son is given.” The decision to send His one and only Son guaranteed that Jesus Christ would suffer and die; it ensured that Father and Son would face the agony of separation. But it also led to Easter morning when Christ rose from the dead having conquered death. He made it possible for us to escape our hopeless situation and live with Him forever.

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