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Saving
Private Ryan
A Dreamworks Picture
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Theme:
Affliction, Redemption, The High Cost of Freedom
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Interesting
Note:
In
comparing these three movies, it is interesting to note
that the number of the redeemed decreases from 1100
to 44 to 1. At
the same time, the picture of “hell” increases
dramatically. Schindler’s
List is hard to watch.
Amistad is perhaps a little more brutal.
Neither, however, compare to the carnage of Saving
Private Ryan.
Comparison
with the Gospel:
The Gospel is a story of redemption.
The enemy, Satan, came to earth, captured and
enslaved mankind (Genesis
3), and built a mighty fortress.
The Bible describes him as the prince of the world
(John
14:30) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians
2:2).
The
triune God has plotted redemption.
The names of those to be redeemed have been
inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation
21:27).
The “elder” (Father) makes the call; the
“younger” (Son) goes in to accomplish it.
The price of redemption is the life of the Son (II
Corinthians 5:21). The
fruit of the redemption is the children of God indwelt by
the Holy Spirit (Romans
8:14-16).
Insights:
Private
Ryan
His three brothers have been killed in combat and his
mother is about to receive all three telegrams on the same
day. This
sacrifice moves General Marshall to make the decision to
send troops behind enemy lines to find the one remaining son
and bring him home. Captain
John Miller and seven enlisted men are selected for this
mission. It is
important to note that Ryan is a private, the lowest rank in
the Army. This
is not an officer or a V.I.P., but one from the lowest level
who is chosen for salvation (Luke
4:18).
Private
Ryan’s name is brought to the attention of General George
C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army.
The High
Cost of Freedom
The
movie begins in a battlefield cemetery. The camera focuses
on the face of a man visiting one particular grave. Then it
shifts to June 6, 1944, and the face of Captain John Miller.
This leads one to believe that the man in the
cemetery is Captain Miller when, in fact, it is James
Francis Ryan, the private he saved. In a very real sense, Captain Miller does live on in
Private Ryan. At
the end, Ryan says, “Every day of my life I think about
what you said to me that day on the bridge.”
Christ
lives on in those He has saved by His Spirit (Romans
8:11). Unlike the movie, one does not “earn this”.
It is a free gift (Romans:
6:23, Ephesians
2:8). However,
it is interesting to ponder how one would live his life had he
come face to face with the same sacrifice as Private Ryan.
The
Mission is the Man
Taking refuge in a church for a couple of hours rest, a
conversation develops between Captain Miller and his Sergeant. In trying to rationalize the men lost (94) under his command,
he states that the important thing is the mission. In losing one of his men, he may have saved two, three, ten,
or one hundred others. The
sacrifice must be made for the mission.
To which his Sergeant replies, “This time the mission
is the man." There will be a high price to save Private Ryan.
Six of the eight men who set out to find him will lose
their lives.
Ryan
is representative of an individual’s salvation.
When God made the decision to redeem His lost children,
He knew the cost would be the life of His Son (John
17:3-6). Christ
was “the sacrifice on the altar of freedom” (Galatians
1:4, Ephesians
5:2). He
purchased men’s freedom with His blood, bringing them out of
the domain of darkness (enemy territory) into the Kingdom of
the Beloved Son (home) - (Colossians
1:13-14). God was willing to make the sacrifice for the man, not the
mission. The
movie is a powerful illustration of the Parable of the Lost
Sheep found in Luke
15: 1-10.
Scripture:
Luke
15
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