For some reason this story came to mind today. I cannot tell you if it is 100% true or not, it has served well as an illustration that sticks in the mind. I am sure it is based on a actual happening. Someone has done a little research on it. There is a English version, a American and a Prussian version. I personally like the Prussian version. You can read this at http://www.snopes.com/glurge/drawbridge.asp
This I would describe as the American version. If possible read the other versions.
There John landed a job at the Mississippi River tending a drawbridge. One summer day [April 5 in one version] in 1937, he took his son to spend the day with him. Wide-eyed and full of questions, Greg watched his father as he raised the bridge to let the ships pass, then lowered it for the great trains to roar across the river.
About noon, John put up the bridge and sat with Greg on an observation platform to eat their lunches. They enjoyed the activity on the waterfront. John dreamed about traveling so he told Greg stories about the ships and where they were headed. He was so caught up in the stories that he lost consciousness of time. Suddenly he was awakened by the shrill whistle of a locomotive. He glanced at his watch, noting that it was nearly time for the Memphis Express.
John made his way to the gear-room, sat on the stool and took the lever in hand. He looked up the river and back down to see if any ships were coming. Then he glanced below ... Wait! No! No! This can't be! Terror gripped him as his heart leaped into his throat and his blood froze in his veins! Evidently, Greg tried to follow his father, slipped off the catwalk and fell into the massive gears below. His leg was caught and as sure as the sun rises in the morning, if the bridge was lowered six tons of revolving metal would grind him to death!
Mind spinning, John frantically sought for answers! He thought, "I'll run back, tie a rope, let myself down..." -- but, no! There was not a third of the needed time.
John moaned! He was trembling and perspiring as his eyes brimmed with tears. The shrill cry of the train whistle was alarmingly close. More than anything, he wanted to spare his son; but if he did many would die! There was no other way to spare their lives! Stricken and overwhelmed with grief, John bowed his quivering head, covered his eyes, and released the lever. The gear room shook as the wheels turned and the great bridge settled down into place. In moments it was over and the Memphis Express came roaring past.
John lifted his head and looked in the train. There a man read the morning news, the conductor was looking at his watch, and a woman in the dining car was feeding her little girl with a long spoon. No one noticed the heart-broken Griffeth. No one was aware of the grieving father or the newly torn body of his dear son. Choking with passion John called out, "What's the matter with you people? I just GAVE MY SON for you! Don't you even care?" Nobody heard; nobody looked; nobody knew and no one responded as the train disappeared across the river.
The heavenly Father watches our own eternity-bound generation as we speed down the rails of life. Without Jesus we too are hopeless and headed for destruction. Our sovereign God "sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9). What an amazing sacrifice as God "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" (Rom. 8:32).
Friend, do you sometimes wonder if God loves you? God's good news to man is this: that question has been settled forever! He points you to "the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). God very definitely established the fact of His love! "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Do you understand, my friend? It required the life of the Son of God to save us! We would hopelessly smash right into eternal destruction without the blood of Jesus! "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5:9).
Sixty years ago, John Griffeth's heart was broken by pain and tragedy! He gave his son to save 400 lives. 2,000 years ago, God gave His own Son to spare millions! "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Heb. 9:28). We may ask, why not "all"? Many attempt to cross that river-of-no-return while rejecting the sufficiency of God's precious Son! Proudly refusing the Son is to say to the Father, "He's not good enough for me!" Why cling to sin rather than allowing the Lord Jesus to bear it? These reject "him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Rev. 1:5). Didn't Jesus warn that the majority will end in the rubble of destruction and few will cross to the wonder of eternal life! (Matt. 7:13-14).
I wonder, friend, are you perhaps as the man totally intent with the news down here - or as the lady with the long spoon oblivious to the danger? Knowing of the sacrifice, will you ignore the crucified Son? We must not insult the One who gave His all! Today we travel the rails of life and the assurance for a safe arrival is free, but the cost is infinite! Jesus paid for our passage through the "sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26). God is so concerned about saving you from the ruins of hell that He gave His "own blood" (Acts 20:28). As Griffeth brokenly cried, "Don't you even care?"
Would you be willing to sit on that train, trusting your own activity to save you apart from the son, or would you confess the son paid it all? Life was not granted because the man paid for his newspaper instead of stealing it that day. Obeying commandments and human acts of love never saved any one. We all fail! Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Will you cross that bridge from death unto life? We must never depend upon good works or church ceremonies to escape condemnation. Trust the Lord alone!
Source - Rev. Chuck Brocka, originally derived from a sermon by Dr. D. James Kennedy; Holwick Illustration #152
The only thing I would point out is that this story happened as a tragic accident, with God it was not an accident that motivated Him, but His love for us and the mutual consent of Christ and His love for us, poor mortals.
Drawbridges and trains do not operate in this manner. The bridge operator would make sure that there is ample time to signal the train that it was not safe to proceed, and the train operator would make sure that there is ample time to stop if the signals said to stop. The operators should go to prison if they actually did something as reckless as this story. There is flawed theology there as well, as Christ did not die as a small child, and not as the result of a sudden tragic accident; and the story even seems to have a theme of universalism, in that everybody on the train was saved from destruction by this ‘sacrifice’, and also they did not have to do anything to receive that ‘salvation’.
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