The Lesson Of 9/11

Like many of you, I have been watching and listening to the historical documentation about the 9/11 tragedy, and the efforts to memorialize ground zero and tell the story of the brave men, women, and children who died from the murderous hands of a deceived hateful religious sect.

A repeating theme of the 9/11 stories is about the people who ran into the buildings towards danger and the unknown in their efforts to save the many victims trapped inside. As I was thinking about this it dawned on me the parallel between these heroes who gave their lives for others, and Jesus Christ.

Just like the firefighters ran into hell figuratively to rescue the people inside, Jesus Christ ran into hell literally to rescue all of us. Just as many of those firefighters selflessly gave their lives at the possibility of saving just one more person trapped within, Jesus Christ selflessly gave His life at the possibility of saving you and me. Just as the ultimate sacrifice of those firefighters could not save everyone, so unfortunately, Jesus Christ also has not been able to save everyone…

But that is where the parallels between the two comparisons separate. The firefighters were humans limited by their physical abilities and the inevitable passage of time until the doomed buildings imploded. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is God Almighty. He was not overpowered by the miniscule forces of hell, and the collapse of the devil’s domain as Christ invaded was not capable of crushing Him.

Jesus wanted to save everyone. He still wants to. Even now, as the towers of this world fall under the plight of evil, Christ is still standing in the strength of God Almighty, holding the chaos of this world in check so that we can walk through the door to safety, and not be crushed under the hell of our own sins. But He can’t rescue everybody. We must want to be rescued…

Jesus will hold the building up as long as He can, but whether we walk out the door is our choice.


James :)