Near the end of World War II U.S. troops captured one of the Pacific Islands held by the Japanese. Following the invasion, as the medical corps moved among the dead and wounded, they came upon a Japanese soldier with a terribly injured leg. He could have been left to die, but the stretcher bearers carried him to the tender, which subsequently took him to the hospital ship anchored offshore.
The Japanese was terrified on finding himself helpless in enemy hands. He had been solemnly warned by his officers that all Japanese prisoners were tortured unmercifully by their captors, specially by the Americans. With growing apprehension he watched as first one and then another was wheeled into the operating room.
Finally his turn came, and he was placed on the operating table. Words could not describe the terror written on his face as the doctors examined him and prepared to amputate the shattered limb.
A spinal anesthetic was administered and the surgery swiftly performed. The best possible skill was employed, so that the patient on recovery could wear an artificial limb.
When the operation was completed, it suddenly dawned on the Japanese soldier that the torture tales he had been told were utterly false. Instead, his captors had shown him nothing but mercy and kindness.
The surgeon, having completed his task, bent over the patient and smiled.
Overcome with gratitude, the wounded man with what little strength he had, put his arms around the doctor’s neck. Then with tears streaming down his face, and using the only English word he knew, he exclaimed, “American! Oh, American!”
This story on the one hand illustrates man’s unfounded fear and terror of God, and, on the other hand, his complete ignorance of God’s compassion, mercy and love.
The stretcher bearers, who could have left the Japanese soldier to die, brought him to the one he dreaded the most—to the surgeon, who he believed would take advantage of his helplessness to torture him.
How absolutely wrong he was! On the contrary, his condition only served to draw out the kindness and consummate skill of the only one who could save his life.
It illustrates how we, who are by nature enemies, are reconciled to God by the death of His Son. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. . . . For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:8, 10-118But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:10‑11)).