It was Friday afternoon and Albert Drecker was on duty at the train bridge that crossed the Passaic River. He had just raised the bridge to allow a boat to pass through. Now he was going to close it again, since a passenger train was due to come by any minute.
Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. Turning, he saw his little boy Peter disappearing in the water under the bridge! He had been playing on the river bank and had slipped and fallen down the steep hill right into the deep water. At the very same time Mr. Drecker heard the whistle of the passenger train in the distance. Although he could not see it he knew that he must get the bridge closed at once or the train would wreck! It would be so easy to save little Peter. He could jump into the water and rescue him. But if he stopped to rescue Peter, the train would wreck and many people would die. What should he do?
Can you imagine the terrible agony he felt as he watched his son struggling in the water and calling for help? Yet Mr. Drecker stayed at his post, controlling the movement of the bridge. Slowly, very slowly it came down. Again he heard the shrill whistle from the passenger train, now much closer. And again he heard the cries from his son, now much weaker.
As the bridge came down into place and was locked, Mr. Drecker dove into the water. He was not even aware of the clatter of the train crossing the bridge above him, as he frantically searched for his son in the black, murky water. He came back up to the surface, gulped some air and dove down again. He could not see a thing. He swam down to the bottom and then downstream from the spot where he last saw Peter struggling. His lungs were nearly bursting and he was almost ready to come to the surface when he felt Peter’s arm. Grasping it, he swam to the surface and pulled Peter’s still body up on shore.
With no one else around to help, Mr. Drecker tried everything he knew to revive his son, but nothing worked. He finally ran for help, but others were not able to revive him either. Little Peter had drowned.
Doesn’t this story make you sad when you think of the father’s love. He had to allow his own son to die in order to save the lives of all those people on the train. Now let’s think about God’s love for you and me. He loves us so much that He gave up His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross of Calvary. It was the only way that men, women, boys and girls could be saved from the punishment that their sins deserve.
This was God’s great question: since all people deserve punishment for their sins, shall they be sent to an everlasting hell, or shall God’s own dear Son, the Lord Jesus, be punished in their place? Thanks be to God for His wonderful love to us that made Him send His own Son into this world to die for guilty, hell-deserving sinners such as ourselves. Albert Drecker did not send his son Peter into the river; he fell in. But, “the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” 1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14). Won’t you accept the Father’s loving gift of His Son to be your Saviour?
ML-03/18/1984