I've never understood why theater folks tell a performer to "break a leg" just before they go on stage. Seems like the last thing you'd want to do when you're performing. If it's supposed to be some whacked form of "good luck," I think I'm missing something here.
Breaking a leg at the college basketball championships is a really bad idea. That NCAA Tournament - known for some strange reason as "The Big Dance" - is coming down to the final two games.
One team many expected to be there was the Louisville Cardinals. But then, in the must-win game to play for the Final Four, Louisville got a very bad break. Literally.
Their star guard, Kevin Ware, suddenly went down with a season-ending injury. A leg so badly broken that reporters insist on calling it "gruesome." The bone protruding some six inches. Networks deciding to quit showing the excruciating moment when it happened. Louisville's veteran coach wiping tears from his eyes. Players on the floor in tears.
In the middle of it all was Kevin in what must have been agonizing pain. But that's not what he was talking about as his teammates gathered around him. No, he pulled them close and just kept spitting out the same three words...
"Win the game! Win the game!"
When play resumed, Louisville went three minutes without scoring a point. Then they exploded. One player traded his jersey for one of Kevin's. The team and the crowd chanted together, "Ke-vin! Ke-vin!"
Kevin's team went on to an 85-63 blowout victory. And a ticket to play in the "Final Four" for the national championship.
The drama of all this has inspired people far beyond college basketball fans. It's actually reached my heart and inspired me in a somewhat surprising way. No, not to try to be a basketball star. That's hopeless.
But to hear another broken Man giving His team a game-changing challenge.
Because I serve a Savior who was, in His words, "broken for me." For all of us. Broken body. Broken heart. Dying a death so unbearable that we get the word "excruciating" from it. Ex cruces. From the cross.
And now Jesus pulls us close to tell us what to do with the sacrifice He made for us...
"Win the game! Win the game!"
He was broken so we could be healed. He took our sin so we could stop sinning. He gave His life so people with no hope of heaven could have a chance to live forever.
And not long before He left the court, here's what happened: "He showed them His hands and side...Jesus said, 'As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you'" (John 20:20-21). To do what? To "go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" (Mark 16:15). To bring the hope of heaven to people everywhere.
"Finish what I started. Do what I died for. Rescue those I shed my blood for."
Or, in other words -
"Win the game! Win the game!"
We will, Jesus. In Your Name, we will.