Here's my magazine article for April:
I
really enjoyed the latest series of the BBC drama 'Sherlock' and
there was one particularly striking scene in the second episode 'The
Lying Detective'. In the previous episode [SPOILER ALERT!] Dr
Watson's wife, Mary, had thrown herself in front of Sherlock when he
was shot at and she died. Watson recognises that Sherlock blames
himself and wants to reassure him. He says “Mary
died saving your life. It was her choice. No-one made her do it.
No-one could ever make her do anything...but the point is: you
did not kill her.” Sherlock then replies quietly “In saving my
life, she conferred a value on it...It is a currency I do not know
how to spend.” (Thanks
to http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/90556.html for the transcript
of the words!)
The theme of
self-sacrifice is a common one in stories, but Easter gives us the
opportunity to focus on the true ultimate sacrifice; Jesus' death on
the cross. Just like Mary, Jesus' sacrifice was freely chosen; he
said “No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly!”
(John 10:18 Contemporary English Version). But more importantly he
died to save our lives. The prophet Isaiah foretold the death of
Jesus in these words: “it
was our grief he bore, our sorrows
that weighed him down... But
he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was
beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were
healed! We—every one of us—have strayed away like
sheep! We, who left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet God laid on him the guilt and sins of every one
of us!” (Isaiah 53:4-6 The Living Bible).
The wonderful good news
of the cross is that Jesus took the punishment that we deserve
because of our sins so that we could be forgiven and be reconciled
with God. The wonderful good news of Easter is that Jesus rose from
the dead so that we too could have a fresh start. This is the
central message of Christianity and if it's true it has huge
implications for each one of us.
Sherlock realises that
Mary thought that his life was valuable enough to be worth saving.
Knowing that Jesus died for us should make us realise that he thinks
we are valuable, that he loves us so much that he gave his life to
take the punishment we deserve. Society often values people based on
their job, wealth, beauty, popularity or usefulness. God loves each
of us regardless of what society thinks of us and amazingly he loves
us even though we rejected him and were his enemies: “God showed
his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were
still sinners” (Romans 5:8 TLB). We don't have to be good enough
for God to love us, he loves us even though we're never good enough.
Which leaves us with
Sherlock's problem: this value on his life is a currency he doesn't
know how to spend. He doesn't know how to live in response to Mary's
act. If we truly understand what Jesus did for us on the cross we
too have to decide how to respond. The great hymn “When I survey
the wondrous cross” gives us the answer. The only appropriate
response to the love that is so amazing, so divine is to give God 'my
soul, my life, my all.' What is your response to the good news of
Easter?
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