In Ernest Gordon's Miracle on the River Kwai, Japanese soldiers forced Scottish prisoners of war to labor on a jungle railroad. The extreme, harsh treatment wore on the prisoners. They degenerated to barbarous behavior until something sad and amazing happened.  

A shovel was missing. The Japanese officer in charge became enraged. He demanded that the missing shovel be produced, or else. When nobody in the squadron budged, the officer got his gun and threatened to kill all the prisoners on the spot. It was obvious the officer meant what he had said. Finally, one man stepped forward. The officer put away his gun, picked up a shovel, and beat the man to death. When it was over, the survivors picked up the bloody corpse and carried it with them to the second tool check. This time, no shovel was missing. There had been a miscount at the first check point. The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp. An innocent man had been willing to die to save the others! The incident had a profound effect. The men began to treat each other more compassionately and respectfully. When the Allies arrived, the survivors, now human skeletons, lined up in front of their captors and instead of attacking them, insisted: "No more hatred. No more killing. Now what we need is forgiveness." 

I'll trust you to make connections between this story and the Gospel story. Suffice it to say that sacrificial love has transforming power. What's your transformation story?

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