Though my husband and I are still hanging on to see where the television show LOST eventually takes us, we make no claims to understand what is happening week to week. But clearly as the series is coming to and end, there is a struggle between good and evil, life and death, and questions about who controls history.
In this week’s episode, a character who accidentally killed a man bowed before a priest before being put to death. But the priest refused to absolve him of his sin.
“There must be some way to earn forgiveness,” he said.
This scene captures the desperate cry of all those who have done wrong. “There must be something I can do! There must be some way I can earn the pardon of God not only for what I’ve done, but for who I am!”
Perhaps the answer in the gospel might seem, at first, as harsh as that of the priest in the drama who says there is not enough time to do penance. Because the gospel says, “No, there is no way you can earn forgiveness. Your debt is impossible to pay.” But into this hopeless situation Jesus steps in and says, “I will pay. I will earn your forgiveness by my own sinless life and through my own sacrificial death. I will provide for you the forgiveness you do not deserve and cannot earn.”
I don’t know if the writers of LOST have any sense of what it means to truly be lost, or if the people on the island will get to go home. But I know that the gospel speaks directly to all of us who find that our sin has taken us far away from God. Our hope is not in finding our own way back. Left on our own, we not only cannot find our way back, we have no desire to come back. Left on our own we would sink deeper and deeper into our sin and be lost forever. Our only hope is that the Good Shepherd comes to find us, plucks us out of danger, and carries us on his shoulders into the safety of his fold.
This is exactly what Jesus came to do. He came “to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). He came on a seeking and saving mission, to bring back to God all of those living in rebellion and unbelief—people going their own way. And when he finds one of his lost sheep, he places that sheep on his strong shoulders and carries it home (Luke 15:4-7).
Gospel Coalition
In this week’s episode, a character who accidentally killed a man bowed before a priest before being put to death. But the priest refused to absolve him of his sin.
“There must be some way to earn forgiveness,” he said.
This scene captures the desperate cry of all those who have done wrong. “There must be something I can do! There must be some way I can earn the pardon of God not only for what I’ve done, but for who I am!”
Perhaps the answer in the gospel might seem, at first, as harsh as that of the priest in the drama who says there is not enough time to do penance. Because the gospel says, “No, there is no way you can earn forgiveness. Your debt is impossible to pay.” But into this hopeless situation Jesus steps in and says, “I will pay. I will earn your forgiveness by my own sinless life and through my own sacrificial death. I will provide for you the forgiveness you do not deserve and cannot earn.”
I don’t know if the writers of LOST have any sense of what it means to truly be lost, or if the people on the island will get to go home. But I know that the gospel speaks directly to all of us who find that our sin has taken us far away from God. Our hope is not in finding our own way back. Left on our own, we not only cannot find our way back, we have no desire to come back. Left on our own we would sink deeper and deeper into our sin and be lost forever. Our only hope is that the Good Shepherd comes to find us, plucks us out of danger, and carries us on his shoulders into the safety of his fold.
This is exactly what Jesus came to do. He came “to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). He came on a seeking and saving mission, to bring back to God all of those living in rebellion and unbelief—people going their own way. And when he finds one of his lost sheep, he places that sheep on his strong shoulders and carries it home (Luke 15:4-7).
Gospel Coalition
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