The Parable of the Push-ups
A boy named Steve was
struggling in school. He been kicked out of several classes, but a kind
seminary teacher finally allowed him into his sixth-period class. One day, the
teacher planned a special lesson. He asked Steve to stay after class so he
could talk with him. The teacher asked, “How many push-ups can you do?”
Steve replied, “I do about two hundred every night.”
“Two hundred?” the teacher said. “That’s pretty good. Do you
think you could do three hundred?”
Steve answered, “I don’t know—I’ve never done three hundred
at a time.”
The teacher said, “Can you do three hundred in sets of ten?”
“Well, I think I can,” Steve answered. “Yeah, I can do it.”
“Good! I need you to do this on Friday.”
Well, Friday came, and Steve went to class early and sat in
front. When class started, the teacher pulled out a big box of donuts. Now
these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts. They were the big, extra-fancy kind,
with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was excited. It was Friday, the
last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the
weekend.
The teacher went to the first girl in the first row and
asked, “Cynthia, do you want a donut?” Cynthia said yes.
He then turned to Steve and asked, “Would you do ten push-ups
so that Cynthia can have a donut?”
Steve said, “Sure,” and jumped down from his desk to do a
quick ten. Then Steve sat again at his desk. The teacher put a donut on
Cynthia’s desk, then went to the next student and asked, “Joe, do you want a
donut?” Joe said yes.
The teacher asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Joe
can have a donut?”
And so it went, down the first aisle, and down the second
aisle, until they came to Scott, the captain of the football team and center of
the basketball team. When the teacher asked, “Scott, do you want a donut?” his
reply was, “Well, can I do my own push-ups?”
The teacher said, “No, Steve has to do them.”
Scott replied, “Well, I don’t want one then.”
The teacher then turned to Steve and asked, “Would you do
ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?”
Steve started to do ten push-ups. Scott said, “Hey! I said I
didn’t want one!”
The teacher said, “Just leave it on the desk if you don’t
want it,” and he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now, by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He
just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be
getting up and down. You could see beads of perspiration on his brow. The
teacher started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a
little angry.
The teacher asked Jenny, “Do you want a donut?” Jenny said
no.
Then the teacher asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so
Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten, and Jenny got a
donut.
By now the students were beginning to say no regularly, and
there were many uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also really putting
forth a lot of effort to get these push-ups done for each donut. Sweat was
dripping onto the floor beneath his face. His arms and face were red from the
effort.
The teacher said he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s
work for those uneaten donut, so he asked Robert to make sure Steve did the
push-ups. The teacher started down the fourth row.
During his class, some students had wandered in and sat
along the heaters on the sides of the room. When the teacher realized this, he
did a quick count and saw thirty-four students in the room. He started to worry
if Steve would be able to make it.
The teacher went on to the next person and the next and the
next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was
taking a lot more time to complete each set.
A student named Jason came to the door and was about to come
in when all the students yelled, “No! Don’t come in! Stay out!”
Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve looked up and said,
“No, let him come in.”
The teacher said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you
will have to do ten push-ups for him.”
Steve said, “Yes, let him come in.”
The teacher said, “Okay, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the
way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?”
“Yes.”
“Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a
donut?” Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason,
bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
The teacher finished the fourth row, then started among
those seated on the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in
a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off
of his face, and by this time there was not a dry eye in the room.
The last two girls in the room were cheerleaders. The
teacher went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a
donut?
Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.”
The teacher said, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that
Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?”
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups
for Linda.
Then the teacher turned to the last girl. “Susan, do you
want a donut?” Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, “Can I help
him?”
The teacher, with tears of his own, said, “No, he has to do
it alone. Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?”
As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the
understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having
done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
The teacher turned to his class and said, “And so it was
that our Savior, Jesus Christ, prayed, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit.’ With the understanding that Jesus had done everything that was
required of Him, He collapsed on the cross and died—even for those that didn’t
want His gift. And just like some of us, many choose not to accept the gift
that was provided for them.”
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| Jesus Praying in Gethsemane (Christ in Gethsemane), by Harry Anderson |
