No Greater Love
Thousands of white crosses stood straight, peppering the manicured green fields. In all directions as far as the natural eye could see, individual crosses marked the tremendous loss and ultimate sacrifice of over 9,000 American soldiers. Standing in the military cemetery at Normandy, it’s impossible not to be pensive and speechless. Every cross represented soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.
No doubt, they had been afraid when the landed. Most, if not all, would have been happy to have been somewhere else the day they lost their lives in battle. When reflecting on his impending death, Jesus experienced many of the same emotions as these soldiers even though he was the son of God. When Christ prayed in the garden, he was a man, flesh and blood, like those who went to Normandy. The scripture tells us that Christ dreaded what was coming; He asked that if possible that God the Father wouldn’t require him to give his life (Matt 26:39) But it was not to be. Remaining obedient to the end, Jesus sacrificed himself, giving His life’s blood for our sins so we could live eternally (John 3:16-17). He purchased our salvation with his life’s blood.
In John 15:13, the Bible tells us that “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends (KJV). As we reflect this Veteran’s Day on the sacrifices of men and women that purchased our freedom with their lives, let us also give thanks for the sacrifice that gave us spiritual freedom, salvation, and eternal life provided to us by the shed blood of our Savior.
-TH-