It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! By his blood we are now put right with God; (Romans 5:7-9)

A total of 441 first responders were killed on September 11, 2001, including firefighters, law enforcement officers, port authority personnel and more. They were not already in the buildings. They did not board an ill-fated commercial jet. Unlike the thousands who senselessly died that day without a choice, the first responders ran towards the danger, into the fiery infernos, into the immanently collapsing buildings with one purpose in mind: to save as many lives as possible even while risking their own.

Rescuing people is not easy. Our fight or flight response causes people to react in many counterintuitive ways. Children often hide in small spaces, some people freeze completely, some resist violently, some endanger the life of the rescuer as they are being rescued. Not to mention that many rescue situations are still extremely dangerous: homes engulfed in flames, flood torrents, rip tides, active shooters, battle, etc. To be so dedicated to saving lives that one would choose to go toward what everyone else is fleeing is amazing to me. I’ve spent 35 years of my life with one of them, and I still find it miraculous that people do it.

Perhaps that’s why the story of Jesus’ sacrifice touched me so deeply when I first heard it and still does. Jesus didn’t have to accept His mission from God. The Bible makes it clear that it was His choice to obey God. At so many points in His life He could have chosen a different path and saved His life. He could have remained a carpenter, had a family and died peacefully in Nazareth. He could have bowed before Satan and become a wealthy world leader. He could have listened to the advice of His apostles and stayed away from Jerusalem and the angry religious leaders. He could have renounced His claim to be the “I AM” in front of the Sanhedrin, or the ‘King of the Jews’ in front of Pontius Pilate. He could even have called for the angels to rescue Him from the cross.

Accepting His calling wasn’t easy. How many times did He look over the needy crowds pressing into Him and feel compassion for them? How many times did he feel frustration that even His own apostles, weren’t grasping His crucial, life-saving message? How many times was He so exhausted He had to go off and refresh himself through night-long prayer sessions? How many times did he narrowly escape imprisonment or stoning from angry crowds? How many miles did he log on dusty, rocky roads wearing only sandals?

He sacrificed His time, His talents, His finances, His family, His home, His employment, His reputation, His comfort, His control, His future, and everything He was and ever would be, all for God’s glory. Only once do we get a peek at how exceptionally stressful facing His final ordeal truly was:

“Then he went off…and knelt down and prayed. “Father,” he said, “if you will, take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my will, however, but your will be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:41-44)

Bloody sweating is a real medical phenomenon called hematohidrosis. Rarely, in people suffering from extreme levels of stress, blood vessels around the sweat glands can constrict. Then, as the anxiety passes, the blood vessels dilate to the point of rupture. The sweat glands push the blood to the surface, which comes out as droplets of blood mixed with sweat.

Now, if Jesus was willing to voluntarily suffer all of that for no benefit of His own, but merely to benefit sinners and enemies of God, can’t we endure some discomfort, some persecution, some doing with less, and trusting God more? We, who are heading towards an eternal home in Heaven, owe Jesus EVERYTHING.

We were not innocent victims, but guilty people facing a certain eternity in hellfire. Our fight or flight response wrongly told us to flee from God, to run away from the Truth. Or else to attempt to hide from the reality of our sin and our need to be saved. Jesus risked everything to come and rescue us – even when that rescue meant losing His own life.

Just before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus deputized us all as Spiritual First Responders, giving us the command to go and rescue the perishing, bind up the broken, and save the lost. May we have the courage, the strength and the compassion to take up our commission as bravely as the first responders on September 11, 2001.

Be bold,

Jen