The Greatest War Hero of All Time

Today is Memorial Day.  This national holiday began after the Civil War in 1868 and was originally called Decoration Day since it began as a practice of decorating the graves of soldiers in the national cemeteries.   Since it originated in the north by those wanting to memorialize the union soldiers who had died, the southern states began having their own Confederate Decoration Day traditions, but by the 20th century the two competing factions merged into a unified Memorial Day to honor all Americans who had died in military service.   After many years of Memorial Day being observed every year on May 30, no matter what day of the week it fell, in 1968 Congress passed a law making 4 national holidays to always be on a Monday to give us four 3-day weekends.  So, Memorial Day is now always on the last Monday of May, and it marks the beginning of summer in America. 

 

Do you have any idea how many Americans have died in combat over our 241-year history? 1.1 Million.

 

So who was the greatest war hero of all time?  The One who willingly took on the marching orders to offer up his own life to save others.  The war that this hero fought in had been going on for about 4,000 years according to the Bible, and he succumbed to his wounds almost 2,000 years ago.   This hero was there when a great rebellion of dark and evil forces first took place, and he was there when those evil forces claimed their first spiritual casualties against a man and a woman named Adam and Eve.  And he was there when the first physical casualty fell—a man by the name of Able.  The war-stories since that time are the greatest stories in the history of the world with other heroes, just ordinary men and women who heard their own marching orders and obeyed.  Heroes like Moses, Joshua, and Gideon whose battle tactics were totally unconventional as he started with an army of 32,000 and whittled it down to 300 to defeat the Mideanites with trumpets, pitchers and torches, a Jewish girl named Esther who risked her own life to save all of her people from being wiped out, and one of our all-time favorite heroes, a young lad named David who defeated the Philistine giant with a rock and a slingshot. 

 

But the fiercest of all battles was fought by our greatest war hero of all time, and the stakes were enormous as the victor of this battle would determine our eternal destiny – either heaven or hell.  Some think this battle was fought only on a hill called Calvary outside the city of Jerusalem, but I really believe that this battle’s victory was decided in a quiet little garden called Gethsemane because that is where our hero made the hard decision to go through with the battle plan of his Father who sent him to defeat the enemy by allowing him to become the sacrificial Lamb, taking the punishment for all of our sins upon himself and to die a horrible, humiliating and horrendous death by crucifixion on a Roman cross.   This war hero’s tour of duty on this earth was completed when he pronounced his own victory on the cross when he proclaimed, “It is Finished!”  But after 3 days of his body laying dead in a tomb our hero emerged victorious as he rose from the dead, having crushed the enemy, and is alive today, preparing a Bride for Himself who He will soon come and gather to Himself where together we will reign with Him, our forever Hero, our General of all Generals, our true Commander in Chief, our King of Kings, and Lord of Lords! 

 

I haven’t told you the name of our greatest war Hero of all time because you already know it—or at least you think you know it, because He has gone by many names—each with a deep meaning for us to ponder.  He first called Himself an odd name to our ears—He said His name is “I Am.”  But His name is also Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, Emanuel, God with us.   You have mostly known Him by a westernized transliteration of His Hebrew name.  We have called Him Jesus, which derived from the Latin Jesu, but if you would like to call him by the name His mother called him, which was the first name He heard with his own earthly ears, and what His little friends called him as a child, and the name His adult Disciples knew even though they respectfully called Him Teacher or Rabbi,  Master or Lord,  then you would know His name is Yeshua which literally is the Hebrew word for “Salvation” for He is our Salvation.   He is our only hope for Salvation, He is our Yeshua.

 

Yes, as Americans we are thankful today for all who have laid down their lives for America. But as Born-again Believers who place our citizenship in the Kingdom of God above any possible earthly citizenship, what sacrificial death do we want to memorialize more than any other?  It’s Yeshua Ha’mashiach.  And when you fully realize what Jesus has done for us, you won’t just memorialize him once a year.  When someone has set you free and given you a new life, forgiven all your sins and given you a glimpse of His glory, you will memorialize-- which means remember-- that person every single day and perhaps even every single hour of your day because you are always talking to him, seeking his guidance, thanking him for this person and praising him for an answer to prayer for that person.

 

Yes, I love our veterans and we want to remember our fallen war heroes.   But our greatest hero named Yeshua did not just lay down his life for his country, he paid the ultimate, ultimate sacrifice for all of the sins of the whole world—anyone and everyone who would hear his call to come follow him. 

 

So after completing his mission so victoriously, our greatest war hero of all time became the greatest army recruiter of all time for the greatest army of all time.  If you are a veteran of our armed forces, thank you for your service to our country.  How were you recruited?  How do most army recruiters work?   Somebody had to point out to you the benefits of signing up!  Promises of steady income, benefits, college education, personal development all played a part in convincing you that joining the military would be a good and wise choice for you at that particular point in your life.

 

But my recruiting efforts, although I am commanded by God to be a recruiter, are no where near the capability of the Greatest Army Recruiter of All Time!  In fact, my best recruiting effort is of no effect without the Holy Spirit of the Greatest Recruiter of all time drawing you and knocking constantly on the door of your heart asking you to allow Him to come in.

 

So how powerful and effective was Jesus when he enlisted his first recruits?   His very presence was so compelling, so inviting that all he had to do was walk up to a couple fishermen and say, “sign up!” and they did!  That ultimately is how God builds his army.  He comes personally to each one of us and says, “Come, follow me.” He doesn’t have to use me to convince anybody or anything about how awesome he really is, but I consider it a privilege and the greatest honor to be able to come and tell you how much I truly believe you need to give your heart to Jesus and follow him.