Have you watched The Green Mile lately?  Abby and I watched it the other day and it hit me in a way it never had before….

Granted, it’s a Stephen King movie, so there is an element of weird in it.  But it also a powerful story that gave me a new understanding of what Jesus really did for us….

John Coffey is an enormous black man who is on death row.  He has been falsely accused of murdering two small children.  He is somewhat of a mystery in his quiet demeanor.   A seemingly gentle giant.  But he has a gift.

Throughout the course of the story, there are different opportunities where he is able to take things/people that are broken and restore them.  Whether it be infirmities, pain, or even death itself, he has the ability to suck the yuck out, and take it into himself.  The pain, the ugliness, the horror become his own and he fully feels it’s weight and removes any trace of it’s sting from the other person.  And when he releases it, you see it as a swarm of nasty flying insects that are forever eliminated and vanish into thin air.

But he doesn’t just free the person from their agony and pain.  He breathes new life into them in exchange.  They are fully restored to health and vibrance.  Grief is replaced with joy.  Death is replaced with life.  And now they are able to fully live.

Ultimately, he loses his life for the sins of another.  But not before he has transformed the lives of each person he has touched, either literally or figuratively.

Wow.  That is exactly what Jesus did for us.  Took our sin, our pain, our yuck and carried it.  He took our sins and he bore their enormous weight and agony while dying on a cross.  He destroyed death and it’s power over us.  He eliminated the curse of sin.  And in exchange, He offered us life.  Real life.  True life.  Life that will never end.

But His touch on our lives is a gift.  And it’s our choice if we want to accept it or not.  We can continue to carry all the guilt and pain. We can accept an existence of knowing there is something more, something better.  We can choose to refuse the amazing life He offers.  But He died to make the exchange.  And He lives to give us that gift…

Isaiah 53:5 – “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”