“I’ve done all I can; now it is up to you” (Dwight D. Eisenhower to Capt. Johnson of the 101St Airborne, June 5, 1944, 7 p.m., England).
In late May 1944, the naval vessels and transports were being loaded for the vast invasion of the Normandy coast. Winston Churchill, prime minister of England, wanted to go but Eisenhower backed by King George VI forced him to sit home. Eisenhower and all the other top staff had to stay home with him.
But 101St Airborne Lt. Richard Winters took off in his C-47 transport. Ten seconds later another C-47 lifted off, ten seconds later another and another until the air was black with them. When the last one lifted off, Eisenhower’s eyes were glistening with tears. “Well, it’s on,” he said softly as he turned away and headed for his cottage.
In a manger outside of Bethlehem, the Creator of the universe reached the front line. He wasn’t too valuable to risk losing, too old to go, too afraid to die. He had full authority to stay home, but love led Him to become a man and enter His creation. “Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:2121And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)).
At 12:01 a.m. Lt. Richard Winters of the 101St Airborne was winging through the darkness toward Normandy. The whole flight over he had prayed he’d live and wouldn’t fail. Before his boots hit French soil, he’d be more than 5 miles from his objective and his commanding officer would be dead. It would be hours after dawn before he finally arrived at his objective with surprise and the cover of night stripped away. When he arrived with his 11 men, they found themselves facing a battery of 105 mm artillery guns guarded by 50 German soldiers. These men were dug in to a system of interconnected trenches and supported with plenty of mortars and machine guns. Winters had one light mortar, two light machine guns, two submachine guns and five rifles — he attacked immediately. Some of the courage came from the fact they had no idea what they were heading into. This was their first combat experience. As one man said, “I was sure I would not be killed. I felt that if a bullet was headed for me, it would be deflected or I would move.” He would never take those chances again.
But Jesus Christ knew exactly what He was headed into when He became a Man on the front line of combat with sin and Satan. Facing the Roman commander Pilate, who was about to unjustly condemn Him to death, Jesus said, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice” (John 18:3737Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John 18:37)). His wasn’t the courage of a mere man fighting for a great cause. Jesus Christ was about to carry out the unmatched masterstroke of love and sacrifice to honor God and put away sin.
At 8:30 a.m. Lt. Winters and his men launched a quick flanking attack led personally by Winters, while some of his men provided suppression fire with the machine guns and mortars. In the heavy fighting, Winters’ men suffered heavy casualties, including 4 men killed. By the end, the four huge 105 mm artillery pieces aimed at the American landing force lay in ruins and the surviving paratroopers withdrew. Hours later two Sherman tanks rolling up from the beach would finish the job of clearing out the position.
Just outside Jerusalem after darkness had covered the hill of Golgotha for three hours in the middle of the day, Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:3030When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)). The full job of suffering the penalty for sin from a holy God had been completed. No one was required to come and finish the job for Him. Instead He holds out an invitation to all who will believe on Him and His work. Now He offers a just forgiveness for sin to all who will believe on Him as their only escape from the horrible penalty for rebellion against God. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
At 12 midnight, June 6, Lt. Winters wrote in his diary that he “did not forget to get on my knees and thank God for helping me to live through this day and ask for His help on D plus one.” Will you bow your heart in submission to God? “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)). You can simply thank the Lord Jesus for what He’s done for you. Or, like so many on June 6, 1944, you can assume there’s no great personal danger, no need for being prepared for eternity and let your conscience go back to sleep. The options are to receive God’s salvation through faith in Christ Jesus or neglect it and head into the blackness of eternity trusting in your own goodness. Which will it be?