If stereotypes hold true (which is rarely the case), I might imagine him as a burly, rough-around-the-edges sort of guy. But because of his willing sacrifice, the entire world now recognizes him as the man who endured the pain of chemical burns in order to pull his co-worker to safety.
Just yesterday, Rob Nuckolos jumped waist-deep into a vat of nitric acid when he saw a co-worker fall 40 feet into the corrosive liquid. As a an experienced contractor, Mr. Nuckolos had to have known the probable side effects of nitric acid–severe burns, coughing up of blood, low blood pressure, and possible long-term damage to eyesight. Why, then, did he follow his friend into liquid fire? Because Mr. Nuckolos acted out of love. Not love as emotion or love as a feeling, but love as a noun–an action oriented, selfless giving of oneself despite the cost.
It’s an unbelieveable story–repulsive in its horror and beautiful in its sacrifice–that reminds me of the story of another man. He was a blue-collar worker from Galilee–a town ridiculed for the worthless rabble it produced. But, because of his willing sacrifice, the world knows him as the One who endured the pain of crucifixion in order to offer us salvation.
As the Creator of all things, Jesus knew what he would endure–temporary loss of glory, poverty, contempt, and abuse to the point of being unrecognizable. Why, then, did the King of Kings embrace life as a man? Because he acted out of love–the kind of love meant to bring us safely home.
Greater love has no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friends. John 15:13
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- Worker jumps into vat of acid to save colleague – The Associated Press (drugstoresource.wordpress.com)