Jason McElwain is only a senior in high school, and he has done two things I’ve never done and certainly never will: sunk six consecutive three-pointers in a varsity basketball game, and sat on Oprah Winfrey’s couch to talk about it.

Jason wasn’t really a player on the varsity team to begin with. He has autism, and was accustomed (and happy) to be on the sidelines, chasing stray balls, gathering up towels, and clapping and encouraging the “real” players at every opportunity. As a reward for his dedication, his coach let him suit up for his very last home game – and to everyone’s shock and surprise, he called Jason to floor with four minutes left in the game.

Then Jason did something I would never have dared to do. He shot the ball! He didn’t just stand by, delighted to let the others play around him. When he got in the game, he got in the game. His first shot was an airball attempt. (Again, I would have quit there, in mortification.) Jason didn’t. He shot again. Another airball. Then on his third attempt, Jason connected on a nothing-but-net three-pointer. The crowd went wild.

In the final minutes of a game he never expected to play, Jason sunk five more three-point shots. His last one ripped the net as the final buzzer went off, and Jason’s “new” teammates carried their hero out on their shoulders. The gymnasium erupted in cheering, foot-stomping mayhem. His parents and his coach wept. When I saw the whole thing on video, I did too.

Jason’s dad said that one of the greatest moments of his life was “watching the kids start cheering, and chanting [Jason’s] name.”

It would be a great story – an incredibly great story – even if I didn’t believe what I believe. But because I believe in another hero in the wings, I love Jason’s story even more.

Seven hundred or so years before his appearing, the prophet Isaiah predicted the coming of another unlikely hero: a savior who would deliver his people from their own sin and guilt. He would be a king, but he wouldn’t look like a king. He would be great, but his greatness would be mostly under wraps. Just like Jason’s.

“He grew up…like a young plant,” said the prophet, “and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men…and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53)

When this king did appear, he made his entrance in a very humble way. He grew up in a small town. His parents were small town people. He didn’t do much to distinguish himself until he was thirty, and when he claimed to be the Messiah, most people didn’t buy it. But he was a hero who waited patiently in the wings.

When his moment came, he seized it. And although it hasn’t happened yet, one day every one will see him for who he really is, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” and his Father will no doubt delight in the sound of them calling his name.

© Leigh McLeroy 2006