D-Day
Scheduled for June 8
June
6th is the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy -- D-Day. In the largest
amphibious crossing of all time, the Allies landed five divisions on the
beaches and began the liberation of Western Europe.
In
a very real sense Communion is a celebration of just such an invasion. Look at
it this way: who is the prince of this world? Satan, of course. He holds the
planet; as Mark Twain once remarked, he “is the spiritual head of four fifths
of the human race, and the political head of all of it.” Into that world came
Jesus, invading, if you will, from heaven itself.
There
are some remarkable parallels between the invasions. Erwin Rommel, the German
commander, was convinced that he had to crush the invasion on the beaches.
Satan, through Herod the King, slaughtered all the babies in the area -- an
attempt to stop the invasion right on the beach itself. By Satan’s rules, it
should have worked. But God intervened. By “chance” at Normandy, Rommel was
convinced the Allies were not coming soon -- the weather was too bad. And it
was awful, except for a one day break on June 6th. Coincidence? God warned
Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt -- just in time.
There
is another parallel. The campaign in Normandy soon turned into a tough fight,
an infantry fight -- until the breakout. Once the Allies broke out, they raced
across France to the Rhine, in a campaign limited only by their ability to
provide gasoline to the trucks. The breakout was planned long before; it was
an essential element of the plan for D-Day and beyond. Eisenhower knew that
the time would come when the Allies would erupt from the beachhead. We too are
in a tough fight, an infantry fight. The enemy is providing stern resistance,
and it would appear to the pessimists among us that Satan is very mighty.
But
wait! The breakout is planned. The Lord Himself shall return to us, and on
that day He will sweep aside all resistance, and every knee shall bow, every
tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Until
that day, we are commanded to remember the sacrifice which Jesus made, the
point of the original invasion. It is important for us to remember that we
celebrate first and foremost the death of Jesus, for in that death our eternal
life was purchased. But in so doing, we also need to remember that we proclaim
His death “until He comes.”
The
invasion was begun in a manger about 2,000 years ago. The infantry fight began
at Pentecost, and continues to this day. But remember: the breakout is
planned. Victory is sure; it is guaranteed by the Resurrection itself.
