Recently, I started binging a Netflix original called “I AM A KILLER.” Never thought I would start a blog post with that, but here we are.
This documentary series recounts the story of men who are sentenced to death row. These men, their family members and friends, the victim’s family members, and other various investigators are all interviewed. The last 5 minutes are given to the men, and they are allowed to view some of the interview footage from their own family and the victim’s family. Their remorse and shame is heart-wrenching.
One man, tears streaming down his face, said:
“It breaks my heart to know that I will always be remembered for the worst thing I ever did.”
He knew he was guilty. He knew that he was undeserving of grace and freedom. He had been labeled a murderer, and he would die being remembered as just that.
This man, who has spent over half his broken life in prison paying for his crime, are all of us. We are guilty of the unspeakable. On our Richter scale of sin, we may believe our bad hasn’t quite reached calamity-level destruction; yet, even the smallest quiver of wrong impacts and devastates. We have been marked and known for our worst, and the world will always remember us for it.
But Jesus, friends. JESUS.
I imagine Jesus walking into that man’s cell. I can see Him putting his gentle and mountain-moving hand upon his shoulder. Looking straight into the face of Love, the guilty man hears Him say:
“I took care of it, friend. My identity is yours now. Clean and clear.”
Jesus was given death row. Isn’t that strange to think? The sinless lamb was lead to the slaughter. Accused unjustly for crimes unspeakable to that region, he was given death. And He went through with it. He did it for the man on death row. He did it for us. He did it so that the world would have eternal hope and a new identity. We are no longer called by what the world sees and hears. We are called His own, without blemish, holy, and beloved. How precious is that gift? If only we would take ahold of it.
Let’s stop condemning and cursing those who have lost their way. Let’s walk into those cells and speak what is true; they are seen, known, and loved. Because of Jesus, they are new creations, and He is calling them out of the grave.