Luke 5:18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus.
The movie, Hacksaw Ridge chronicles the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. It tells the story of Desmond Doss, a combat medic assigned to the 77th Infantry Division, tasked with retaking Hacksaw Ridge from the Japanese. Doss is a pacifist. His religious conviction of Thou shall not kill results in ridicule and ostracization from his fellow soldiers. Yet undeterred, Doss determines to serve his fellow comrades.
When the Japanese launch a counteroffensive, hundreds of American soldiers lay strewn across the ridge. Doss hears the cries of the wounded and runs straight into battle, rescuing as many as he can by carrying them—one by one—to the edge of the ridge and lifting them down with a rope. After each rescue, the movie portrays Doss praying, “One more, Lord.” By the end of the battle Doss rescues 75 soldiers.
Another epic movie, Schindler’s List, recounts the efforts of wealthy German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who uses his money to purchase Jews headed to Nazi concentration camps. He managed to avoid Nazi detection and saved over 1,000 Jewish people before his money ran out. At the poignant ending of the movie, he cries bitterly that he didn’t do enough. “I could have gotten one more person. And I didn’t. I didn’t.”
I thought of those two stories the other day as I was reading the fifth chapter of Luke. Friends of a paralyzed man certainly displayed the “one more” mindset. They were so sure Jesus could heal their friend that when the crowd prevented them from entering the house where he was teaching, they carried the man to the roof and dug right through it in order to lower him before Jesus. The Lord healed the man’s paralysis as well as his soul. And “one more” entered the kingdom of God that day.
I don’t want to come to the end of life and wish I could have helped rescue “one more.” I’m neither a medic nor a wealthy industrialist. But I know some hurting, paralyzed people. Paralyzed with bitterness, pride and anger. In my prayer times, I’ve started digging some holes in the roof to present them before Jesus.
I’m asking for one more, Lord. Give me one more.