Jimmy grabbed another beer and chugged it. He was already three sheets to the wind, but who cares? Tonight was the end of the season, and they had won; this party was for them. It didn’t hurt that he was the star quarterback and had a full ride to Arizona State. This was his night, and he had enjoyed every minute of it. He looked at his watch. It was late and he was ready to go home. “Hey, Bill, Tom, come on,” he said. Bill and Tom, his linebackers and best friends, were a bit hammered also. They grabbed their coats and followed Jimmy out the door.

Jared caught a glimpse of them leaving and ran out the door. “Hey guys, why don’t you let me drive you home. It’s time for me to hit the road also.”

Jimmy turned and looked at him. “Not gonna happen, you pipsqueak.” He laughed at the thought of the smallest guy on the team driving them home.

Jared looked at his three friends. He was the placekicker for the team. He didn’t drink but just came to the party to socialize and celebrate the end of the season. He knew he didn’t have the physical strength to stop Jimmy, and so he got in his car and thought he would follow them to make sure they got home okay. It had rained earlier, and now the temperature was freezing. The road was going to be slick for sure.

Jared waited about thirty seconds before he pulled out of the parking lot after Jimmy left. He then got on the narrow road and stayed a ways behind him. Jimmy was speeding up and he lost sight of them as they rounded a curve. Jared touched his brakes lightly as he came into the turn. His car slowed as he rounded the corner.

“Oh God,” he said as he saw Jimmy’s car up against a tree. The front was smashed in and the back had black smoke coming out of it. He quickly called 911 and then jumped out of the car. He saw that Jimmy, Tom and Bill looked unconscious. He prayed, “Help me God,” as he began shouting at them to wake up. Bill was the first one to start to come around and so he ran and opened his door. He unhooked his seatbelt and began talking to him. Jared helped Bill walk a safe distance and then sat him on the ground. He left him there and returned to the car.

By that time, Jimmy was beginning to come around. He had been protected by the airbag and was mumbling something about being knocked out at the game. Jared started shouting at him to wake up. He removed Jimmy’s seatbelt and half-dragged him out of the car. “Who hit us, dude?” Jimmy said. His legs were like rubber, but Jared managed to get him to where Bill was. He let him fall to the ground and ran back for Tom. By this time, he could see flames shooting out of the other side of the car. He knew he only had a matter of seconds to get Tom to safety.

Jared opened the driver’s side back door and started shouting at Tom. Tom opened his eyes and looked at him. His eyes were glazed over but at least they were open. Jared unhooked his seat belt and pulled him out of the car. He fell to the ground and Jared helped him get up and Tom slowly limped to where the other two were.

Jared set him down, stood, and turned around to look at the car. At that moment, the car blew up and burst into flames. A piece of metal hit Jared in the chest and he was knocked to the ground. He put his hand to his chest and could feel warm liquid coming out where the metal had hit him. He started to lose consciousness and the last thing he heard was the sound of sirens coming to where they were. As the blackness was overtaking him, he thought, “Thank God my friends are safe.”

An hour later, Jimmy lay in the emergency room. He was finally awake and had sobered up enough to know where he was. His parents were there talking to the doctor. They looked worried, and he wondered if he and the other guys were going to be okay. When the doctor left, he said to his parents, “Am I going to be okay? How are the other guys?”

His father had a serious look on his face, “They’re going to keep all of you overnight for observation. The doctor said you can come home tomorrow.”

A few days later, Jimmy lay on his bed. He and Bill had been released the day after the accident and were being watched for symptoms of a concussion. Tom was still in the hospital with a broken ankle and Jared…Jared didn’t make it. He started to cry. Jared, the only sober one at the party, had risked his life to save them from the burning car. Not only had Jared saved his life, he had saved him from causing the death of his friends in the car.

The next morning, he forced himself out of bed to attend Jared’s funeral. He watched as Jared’s parents wept as the pastor spoke comforting words to them. He knew he was going to have to speak to them and tell them how sorry he was for his foolish behavior. But he knew that he would never be able to make it up to them for the loss of their son. The only innocent person that night was Jared, and he was the one who paid the price for his bad judgment. He started to cry; it was not fair, not fair at all.

We can all agree with Jimmy that it wasn’t fair that the one person who was innocent in this story was the one who paid the price for Jimmy’s poor decisions. I hope this parable somehow conveys the truth of what Jesus did for us. The Scripture says, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ” Romans 5: 6 -8. That’s some kind of love, isn’t it? And it’s there just for the asking.