June 4, 2007

The Comeback King

A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. —John 14:19 We admire anyone who makes a comeback after failure and defeat. In 2001, Sports Illustrated magazine featured an article on the greatest comebacks of all time. Surprisingly, they selected the resurrection of Jesus as number one. It was stated this way: “Jesus Christ, 33 ad. Defies critics and stuns the Romans with His resurrection.”

How discerning! In any list of history’s comebacks, Jesus’ victory over the grave surely merits first place. Indeed, His resurrection is in a class that soars above any other comeback.

Death ultimately triumphs over life. When a person dies, there is no possibility of renewed existence—at least not in this world. But that wasn’t so with Jesus. He had promised His disciples that after being crucified by His enemies, He would come back to life—triumphing over the grave. Matthew records this in his gospel: “Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things . . . and be killed, and be raised the third day” (16:21). And that is what happened to our Savior.

Jesus Christ’s comeback assures us that we too by faith in Him will come back when we are resurrected from the grave (John 11:25-26).

When Jesus died upon the cruel cross,
“This is the end,” thought many standing by;
But we can put our faith in what He said:
“If you believe in Me, you’ll never die.” —Hess

The empty tomb is the foundation of our faith.

Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22; John 14

SGT. EDDIE RYAN USMC

When the spirit is willing

Wounded Ellenville Marine determined to overcome his injuries

The first bullet struck Cpl. Eddie Ryan above the right eyebrow and bored through the frontal lobes, the seat of personality and memory in his brain.

Traveling at about a half-mile a second, the bullet generated a shock wave that widened as it went. The pressure crushed brain cells into jelly. The hunk of metal slammed into the left side of his skull and shattered. A second bullet came from the opposite direction. It sliced through the back of his lower left jaw and burst out his chin. Ryan collapsed on the Iraqi rooftop in Ramadi where he and two fellow snipers crouched. The Ellenville native was bleeding, unconscious, and bullets rained down around him. It was 7 a.m. April 13. Eddie Ryan was as good as dead. He was 21.

THERAPY AIMS TO PUSH him down that road faster. Most days he has double sessions of physical and occupational therapy. A speech pathologist works with him as well. His days run from 8:30 in the morning to 4 or 5 in the afternoon. It is hard work.

Two therapists pulled at Eddie to get him upright in a machine. Yelps spilled from his mouth until they settled his feet on footpads and hooked up the safety harness around his hips. His forearms rested on a shoulder-high shelf. "Stand up straight," one therapist said and pushed his shoulders back. Eddie did. The day before he had walked down the hallway outside his room with the help of a machine. Like a good Marine, he has set himself a goal to walk. How long, Felicia asks. "Ten weeks," he says.