He Died For Me
Story★★★★Dwight L. Moody told of the young man who did not want to serve in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army. When he was drafted, a friend volunteered to go in his place.
The substitution was made, and some time later the surrogate was killed in battle. The same young man was, through a clerical error, drafted again. “You can’t take me” he told the startled officer.
“I’m dead. I died on the battlefield.”…Sure enough, there on the roll was the man’s name, with another name written beside it. The case finally went to the emperor himself.
After examining the evidence, Napoleon said, “Through a surrogate, this man has not only fought, but has died in his country’s service. No man can die more than once, therefore the law has no claim on him.” –Bible Illustrator (Parson’s Technology, 1997), quoted in Fylvia Fowler Kline and Jezaniah Fowler Kline, Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, April-June 2005, (Office of the Adult Bible Study Guide, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD, 2005), 147.
The point
A young man drafted into Napoleon's army has a friend die in his place; when drafted again, Napoleon rules he cannot die twice, illustrating Christ's substitution.