THE THIRD WORD FROM THE CROSS (11 OF 19)
Scripture: John 19:25-27
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The Third Word from the Cross (11 of 19)
Series: Cross Examination
Wyman Richardson
John 19:25-27
Read John 19:25-27
In June of this year, NBC Chicago ran a story about a shooting that occurred in South Chicago.
A 21-year-old man died Saturday after throwing himself in front of open gunfire in an attempt to shield his mother from the bullets, according to family members.
James Jones and his mother, Alicia Jones, were on their front porch Saturday afternoon in South Chicago when a man walked out of a gangway and fired in their direction, police said.
That is when the 21-year-old made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his mother, throwing himself in front of her, saving her life by shielding her from the array of bullets headed in her direction. By saving her life, he lost his own.
''My sister just so happened to be coming out the front door,'' said Dietra Luckett, Jones' aunt. ''He took his body and put it on top of her body. He covered her body.''
Alicia Jones, 46, was critically wounded but survived. She underwent surgery at Advocate Christ Medical Center. James was dead at the scene, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.
She knows her son saved her life, Luckett said, but doesn't know he's gone. Her sister said she's been asking for him, saying, ''Where's James?''
The mother was still struck by the bullet, but her son's body kept it from killing her, though it killed him. They had not told her that her son was dead at the time of the writing of the article, because they did not want to upset her as she was recovering in the hospital.
It is an unsettling story. The young man who died had his own criminal background, the article went on to say, and the entire incident was gang related. Even so, there is a beauty to a son's instinctive desire to protect his mother, to die in her place, to give her life through his death. And there is, simultaneously, a grueling heartbreak about a mother being h ...
Series: Cross Examination
Wyman Richardson
John 19:25-27
Read John 19:25-27
In June of this year, NBC Chicago ran a story about a shooting that occurred in South Chicago.
A 21-year-old man died Saturday after throwing himself in front of open gunfire in an attempt to shield his mother from the bullets, according to family members.
James Jones and his mother, Alicia Jones, were on their front porch Saturday afternoon in South Chicago when a man walked out of a gangway and fired in their direction, police said.
That is when the 21-year-old made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his mother, throwing himself in front of her, saving her life by shielding her from the array of bullets headed in her direction. By saving her life, he lost his own.
''My sister just so happened to be coming out the front door,'' said Dietra Luckett, Jones' aunt. ''He took his body and put it on top of her body. He covered her body.''
Alicia Jones, 46, was critically wounded but survived. She underwent surgery at Advocate Christ Medical Center. James was dead at the scene, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.
She knows her son saved her life, Luckett said, but doesn't know he's gone. Her sister said she's been asking for him, saying, ''Where's James?''
The mother was still struck by the bullet, but her son's body kept it from killing her, though it killed him. They had not told her that her son was dead at the time of the writing of the article, because they did not want to upset her as she was recovering in the hospital.
It is an unsettling story. The young man who died had his own criminal background, the article went on to say, and the entire incident was gang related. Even so, there is a beauty to a son's instinctive desire to protect his mother, to die in her place, to give her life through his death. And there is, simultaneously, a grueling heartbreak about a mother being h ...
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