Dead Men & Free Men Walking
I’m not one who gets disturbed or has nightmares over movies. The reason is simply that I don’t go to scary movies. Most of my movies experiences revolve around children’s films with my 9 year old daughter. However, several years ago, when I was still in Seminary and newly married, my wife and I went to see “Dead Man Walking.” The movie was about a convicted murderer who was about to be executed. The plot focused on the murderer and his relationship with a Nun who stepped in to intervene on his behalf. However, to no avail. The last 45 minutes or so of the movie chronicled the murderer, played by Sean Penn, and his last few hours alive. It goes into detail with the execution, and depicts the fear that the murderer experienced. This movie really bothered me, because it portrayed every moment of the time leading up to an appointed death sentence. One thing I remember about the movie came from the title. When they took the murderer out of his cell and began to walk him to the execution chamber, a guard cried aloud “Dead Man Walking.”
Fast tracking a bit, on many Friday and some Saturday nights, I like to watch a show called “Lock Up” on a cable news channel. The show profiles life in prison. Recently, however, I discovered something very strange. When a prisoner is set free after serving his sentence and he is being ushered to the gate, the guard cries aloud “Free Man Walking.”
These examples completely overtook my mind as I drew parallels from them, to the life of serving Christ. As committed Christ followers, we are “Dead Men and Free Men Walking,” both at the same time. Let me share some examples from scripture.
In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” We often view the cross as a symbol of freedom as we sing “The Wonderful Cross” and wear them around our necks as jewelry. However, we must never forget that the cross was a nasty and brutal means of torture and of execution in ancient Rome. So as we deny ourselves and take up our cross, as Jesus said, we are daily slaying ourselves to our selfish motives, actions, and lifestyles and we are following Christ in pure obedience. So in that regard we are “Dead Men Walking.”
However, in John 8:35-36 Jesus stated “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” In this beautiful description of redemption, Jesus says through Him, He restores us to the family of God, because sin has separated us from the Father. Also, through this restoration to the family of God, we have true freedom…..However, living a life as a Christ follower who has received that reconciliation with God through Christ, requires complete obedience to Christ as we strive to live for Him. Thus, this takes us back to Matthew 16:24: We must die daily to ourselves in order to receive the full freedom that Jesus provides for us who love Him and who are called according to His purpose.
I know it is a paradox, but aren’t we as Christians, a paradox in motion?
