If I have to say the one thing that grieved the world in July 2018 but had joyful ending is the saving of 12 boys (and their coach) from “The Cave in Thailand.” For further details about this news read the below articles (If you are unaware about it)…
There is a connection to this cave to another cave which
brought rescue to the entire humanity from Sin and darkness. I was so
encouraged by reading the below article which was published in “A Slice of Infinity” from
RZIM ministries. Read it and spread the good news of Redemption.
THE (OTHER) ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
Posted by Aniu Kevichusa, on July 12, 2018
Topic: A Slice of Infinity
Topic: A Slice of Infinity
The story of the twelve Thai boys in the cave, which gripped
the attention and held the breath of the world for over a fortnight, has,
thankfully, ended happily. One is quite aware that this real-life story, as all
such poignant stories, should be taken in its own unicity and integrity. Real
stories are not mere stories to be insensitively and carelessly “used” for
analogical or allegorical purposes—an infraction of which (we) preachers are
often guilty.
And yet, irresistibly, the 18-day saga of the “Dingy Dozen”
is an almost-perfect dramatic enactment of the gospel story. In the first
place, we have the twelve members of the “Wild Boars” football team, who went
on a “wild boar” into the cave. These boys were no ordinary boys. They were all
ably-gifted with fine genes, ample talent, and bright futures. But through a
mixture of daredevilry and delinquency, chance and circumstance, they ended up
where they ended up, precariously perched on a ledge, helpless and
hopeless—“between a rock and a hard place” and “between the devil and the deep
blue sea” rolled into one!
This ordeal and predicament of “The Twelve” is a snapshot of
the human condition, as diagnosed by the Bible. “Twelve Tribes” or “Twelve
Apostles” created good and glorious, but invariably “foolish, disobedient, led
astray, enslaved,” find their way into lostness.(Titus
3:3) They got there on their
own, but they can no longer get out on their own. No way forward. No way back.
No light. No food. No air. No help. No hope:
“Out of the depths I cry out to you, O LORD!”(Psalm 130:1)
Then suddenly: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a
great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light
shone.”(Isaiah 9:2) Not unlike the two British cave-divers—strangers from a distant
land—who came searching for, shone their light on, and spoke to the boys, God,
the Stranger, comes to us, shines his light on us, and asks: “Where are you?”(Genesis 3:9)
The search has ended. But the rescue has only begun.
The tragic death of the Navy SEAL diver, Saman Kunan, brings
us close to what is at the heart of the gospel—namely, sacrifice. In the
process of supplying oxygen canisters to the boys, this hero ran out of air
himself. Jesus, too, came into the world to give us life, and, in the process,
laid down his own. Jesus did not just give us life. He gave us his life.
For greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his
friends.
The tragic death of the Navy SEAL diver, Saman Kunan, brings
us close to what is at the heart of the gospel—namely, sacrifice. In the
process of supplying oxygen canisters to the boys, this hero ran out of air
himself. Jesus, too, came into the world to give us life, and, in the process,
laid down his own. Jesus did not just give us life. He gave us his life.
For greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his
friends.
“When you go home, tell them of us and say: For their
tomorrow, we gave our today.”(This is the famous epitaph in the World War II Cemetery in Kohima,
Nagaland. The authorship is credited to John Maxwell Edmonds.) Even then, the boys still had the waters to traverse, a
baptism to undergo, and the serpentine tunnel to navigate—not unlike the people
of Israel, who, although they had been redeemed from Egypt, still had to face
and pass through the chaos of the sea, navigate the dry and dreary wilderness,
suffer from snakebites, and cross the Jordan River.
So also is the life of those who will follow Christ. We have
been reached and redeemed. But we have a baptism to undergo. We have to
negotiate the rocky perils, pitfalls, and pains of life, face the chaotic
waters of chance and necessity, and endure the choking of the serpentine enemy
of our souls. We often do not see the light at the end of the tunnel.
But like the boys, we have now been supplied food, drink, and
air: God’s word, the Lord’s Table, eternal life. And, as each boy was led and accompanied along the journey back by two expert Navy SEALs, alongside us have also come the seal of God’s Spirit and the sealed Bride of Christ—the Church to guarantee, to guard, and to guide. “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’”(Revelation 22:17)
We may be crawling, but we are moving. We may even be
bleeding, but we are still breathing. We are not out of the tunnel yet, but we
are on our way home. And “creation waits with eager longing for the revealing
of the sons of God”—so that the world, too, may breathe again. (Romans 8:19)
Kethoser (Aniu) Kevichusa is a member of the speaking team at
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Nagaland, India.
Original Source: https://rzim.org/a-slice-of-infinity/the-other-allegory-of-the-cave/
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